(Yeah, I’m behind. Tell me news.)
New Year’s felicitations from Yellowstone National Park.
The Yellowstone in winter is best, the old timers tell me. I agree.
Details:
Published on Jan 1, 2015
Winter landscapes in Yellowstone inspire artist and NPS employee Lynn Bickerton Chan. Produced by NPS/Neal Herbert. 600
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Geography - Physical, National Parks, Public Lands, Travel, Yellowstone | Tagged: geography, Public Lands, Travel, Yellowstone National Park | 
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Posted by Ed Darrell
Photo after photo, I come increasingly to understand why my oldest brother, Jerry, wanted to spend his life and eternity in the Yellowstone.
Wholly apart from the thermal “features” and geological wonders, the area is just smashingly beautiful day in and day out, in even the mundane areas away from the celebrated features.
Here’s a part of the Madison River, just flowing through its streambed, at sunset.
Yellowstone National Park’s Twitter feed: Spring sunset on the Madison River. pic.twitter.com/8nZSxJvBeZ
Leave a Comment » | photography, Public Lands, Travel, Yellowstone | Tagged: Madison River, photography, Public Lands, Travel, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Tweet from the Department of Interior: 142 years ago today, @YellowstoneNPS became America’s first national park. RT to wish them a very happy birthday! pic.twitter.com/drka6iq0Tc
Ken Burns called the National Parks probably the best idea America has had.
Certainly a great idea — really born on this day, 142 years ago, with the designation of Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone NP contains the world’s largest collection of geysers. It is the heart of the largest, nearly-intact temperate zone ecosystem on Earth as well, contained in 3,468 square miles (8,983 km²), a laboratory and playground for geologists, geographers, botanists, zoologists, and almost anyone else who loves the nature and the wild.
Only 142 years old? In the U.S., we have more than 300 units in the National Park System, now, including National Historic Places as well as the best of the wild. Around the world, how much land has been saved, for the benefit of humanity, by this idea? Not enough.
What’s your favorite memory of Yellowstone? What’s your favorite feature?
More:
From National Geographic: Great Fountain Geyser in Yellowstone, the first U.S. national park, erupts every 9 to 15 hours, shooting water up to 220 feet high. Photograph by Michael Melford
3 Comments | Conservation, History, National Parks, Nature, Travel, Yellowstone | Tagged: Conservation, History, Nature, Travel, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Certainly you’ve remembered to put your flags up for Memorial Day.
This is what it looks like at Officers Row, at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park:
Yellowstone National Park “On this Memorial Day, American Flags are proudly displayed on Officers’ Row in Mammoth Hot Spring as we remember those who gave their lives in military service to our country. (dr2)”
More:
Leave a Comment » | Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, National Parks, Yellowstone | Tagged: Flag etiquette, Fly Your Flags Today, History, Memorial Day, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
This is a heckuva research project: What is the sound ecosystem of the Yellowstone?
Film from Yellowstone National Park:
The film was produced by Emily Narrow for NPS, with financial assistance from the Yellowstone Association.
From NPS:
Published on Jul 13, 2012
Many people come to Yellowstone to see the fantastic landscapes. Wise visitors also come to experience the amazing soundscapes. This video provides some insight into the value of natural sounds in wild places and how the park is monitoring those sounds as well as the sounds created by humans.
Nothing matches the sound of a western river, to my mind. I love the sound of the tumbling waters, and it was on one of those roaring creeks that we scattered the ashes of my Yellowstone-loving oldest brother Jerry Jones.
Classic, vintage poster for Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Montana, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Other sounds will captivate you. The rush and gush of the geysers, and the gurgle and plop of heated pools rivets you for a while. Once you hear the chuff of an interested grizzly bear, you don’t forget it. And while it can be scary if you’re relatively alone on the trail, the howl of the wolf tells you about the wilderness in a way no other sound ever can. The honks of the geese, the trumpets of the swans, the grunts of the bison, the scolding of the many different squirrels and chipmunks, the slap of a trout jumping out of the river — these are all worth making the trip.
After you go, these sounds will lovingly haunt your life. You’ll smile when you remember them.
I hope you can go soon. (I hope I can go, soon.)
Sad note: Only 1,553 people have watched this video since last July. Can you spread the word a bit?
More:
Leave a Comment » | Environment, Environmental protection, National Parks, Natural history, Nature, Yellowstone | Tagged: Ecology, National Park Service, Nature, Science, Sound, Wildlife, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Additional CO2 and warmer weather will help plants, the climate change denialists say. That’s not what we see, however. Turns out CO2 helps weeds, and warmer weather helps destructive species, more than it helps the stuff we need and want in the wild.
For example, the white-bark pine, Pinus albicaulis:
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From American Forests:
With increasingly warm winters at high elevations in the West, a predator that has stalked forests for decades has gained the upper hand. It is mountain pine blister rust, an invasive fungus. Combined with mountain pine beetles, which kill hundreds of thousands of trees per year in the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), the environmental health of the Rocky Mountains and neighboring regions is in danger. To make matters worse, the species most susceptible to these two threats, the whitebark pine, is also the most vital to ecosystem stability, essential to the survival of more than 190 plant and animal species in Yellowstone alone.
First debuted at SXSW Eco, this video tells the story of our endangered western forests and how American Forests and the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee are working toward their restoration and protection for future generations.
Learn more: http://www.americanforests.org/what-we-do/endangered-western-forests/
More:
Whitebark Pine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Whitebark Pine, cones and needle cluster (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Whitebark pine’s distinctive, almost-black cone. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Leave a Comment » | Climate change, climate_change, CO2, Environment, Environmental protection, Forestry, Global warming, Travel, trees, Yellowstone | Tagged: American Forests, Climate change, CO2, Conservation, Environmental protection, Forestry, Global warming, Science, Travel and Tourism, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Department of Interior erupts at Instagram again:
Moonrise over Mt. Everts, near Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park – Dept of Interior photo
Department of Interior tweeted that the photo was posted at Instagram — no other big details:
A full #moon rises over Mt. Everts near Mammoth Hot Springs in #Yellowstone National Park.
With more than 300 properties including the “Crown Jewels” of the National Parks, with employees carrying cell phones, it must be an interesting job to pick one photo to post on Instagram on any given day. I wonder who makes the selection.
(I wonder whether anyone will glance quickly, and misread “Mt. Everts” as “Mt. Everest.”)
More:
3 Comments | National Parks, photography, Travel, Yellowstone | Tagged: Department of Interior, Instagram, National Parks, photography, Travel, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
It seems like just a few months ago that Kathryn the Trophy Wife™ and I honeymooned in Yellowstone National Park, for a glorious January week. On more than one occasion we had Old Faithful all to ourselves — it seemed like such an indulgence.
Seems just a few months ago, but that was before the 1988 fires, before our 1989 vacation there, before our 2004 ceremony casting the ashes of brother Jerry and his wife Barbara to the Yellowstone winds.
Will Yellowstone be there for our children, and for our grandchildren, as it has been for my lifetime? The Nature Conservancy produced a 16-minute film showing much of the glory of winter of the place, and talking about the problems.
For the deer, elk and pronghorn in and around Yellowstone National Park, surviving the winter means finding adequate food and areas with low snow accumulation. But this critical winter range is increasingly threatened by energy and residential development. At stake is the very future of the Greater Yellowstone region’s iconic wildlife. This film highlights the voices of those working together to save these magnificent herds: ranchers, conservationists, scientists and others. http://www.nature.org/yellowstone
Growing up in the Mountain West, I learned to appreciate the stark beauty of the cold northern desert — but seldom is that beauty captured on film so well as it is here. Phlogiston Media, LLC, made a remarkable, beautiful film, about a remarkable, beautiful land threatened by gritty, banal and mundane development.
This movie has been viewed only 542 times when I posted it. Spread the word, will you?
4 Comments | Conservation, Energy, Environment, Environmental protection, National Parks, Urban Sprawl, Urbanization, Wilderness, Wildlife, Yellowstone | Tagged: Conservation, Environmental protection, Gas Drilling, Natural history, Pronghorn Antelope, The Nature Conservancy, Urbanization, Wildlife, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Yes, it’s a tease. Drat. Just a trailer for the film.
But how exquisite is just the trailer!
Yellowstone National Park Orientation Film (excerpt) from Northern Light Productions on Vimeo.
Northern Light Productions made the film for the “Canyon Visitor Education Center in Yellowstone National Park. The film offers a compelling overview of the ‘big picture’ geology that has shaped and continues to influence Yellowstone and its ecosystem.”
Big picture geology? How about making this film available to schools to talk about geology, geography, and history?
Yellowstone National Park annually gets about three million visitors. Yellowstone is one of those places that ever American should see — but at that rate, it would be more than 100 years before everybody gets there.
We need good, beautifully shot, well-produced, interesting films on American landmarks in the classroom.
How do we get this one freed for America’s kids, Yellowstone Park?
1 Comment | Geography - Physical, geology, History, National Parks, Natural history, Technology in the classroom, Travel, Video and film, Yellowstone | Tagged: Classroom technology, Education, film, geography, geology, History, Natural history, Travel, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Inside Yellowstone noted just three earthquakes in the Yellowstone swarm in a 24-hour period covering most of Saturday.
It wasn’t the End of the World as Old Faithful Knows It, after all.
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) suggests the swarm continues, however — but doesn’t suggest anyone should be too concerned about it.
As of January 26, 2010 9:00 AM MST there have been 1,360 located earthquakes in the recent Yellowstone National Park swarm. The swarm began January 17, 2010 around 1:00 PM MST about 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the Old Faithful area on the northwestern edge of Yellowstone Caldera. Swarms have occurred in this area several times over the past two decades.
There have been 11 events with a magnitude larger than 3, 101 events of magnitude 2 to 3, and 1248 events with a magnitude less than 2. The largest events so far have been a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.7 and 3.8 that occurred after 11 PM MST on January 20, 2010.
The first event of magnitude 3.7 occurred at 11:01 PM MST and was shortly followed by a magnitude 3.8 event at 11:16 PM. Both shocks were located around 9 miles to the southeast of West Yellowstone, MT and about 10 miles to the northwest of Old Faithful, WY. Both events were felt throughout the park and in surrounding communities in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
See the University of Utah Seismograph Stations for the most recent earthquake data and press releases. The team is working 24/7 to analyze and communicate information about the swarm. Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph network can be viewed online at: http://quake.utah.edu/helicorder/yell_webi.htm.
You can get the information from the horse’s mouth (Dragon’s Mouth?) — some enterprising earth sciences, geography or general science teacher can probably work up a great assignment for students to deal with the data and make sense from them.
Ground deformations in the Yellowstone Caldera, from satellite photos, in 2005 - Geology.com image (This isn't really directly related to the earthquake swarm, but it's a cool image.)
Update, March 12, 2011: This post has been mighty popular over the last week. Can someone tell me, in comments, whether this post was linked to by another site? Why the popularity all of a sudden — even before the Japan earthquake and tsunami? Please do!
8 Comments | Disasters, Geography - Physical, geology, National Parks, Natural history, Natural resources, Science, Volcanoes, Yellowstone | Tagged: earthquakes, Montana, Science, Wyoming, Yellow Volcano Observatory, Yellowstone | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Stop me if you’ve heard this one:
Earthquake swarm hits the area of the Yellowstone Caldera, around Yellowstone Park; wackoes start predicting the End of the World As We Know It, at least for West Yellowstone, Montana, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Unless they are Bobby Jindal, and they predict that the quakes didn’t even happen.
Oh, yeah — that was the series of earthquake swarms in late 2008 and early 2009, right?
Not exactly. It’s happened again.
YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT
Thursday, January 21, 2010 2:26 PM MST (Thursday, January 21, 2010 2126 UTC)Yellowstone Volcano
44°25’48” N 110°40’12” W, Summit Elevation 9203 ft (2805 m)
Current Volcano Alert Level: NORMAL
Current Aviation Color Code: GREENThe earthquake swarm on the northwest edge of Yellowstone Caldera that began on January 17, 2010 continues.
PRESS RELEASE FROM YVO PARTNER UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SEISMOGRAPH STATIONS
Released: January 21, 2010 2:00PM MST
This release is a continuation of information updates building upon our two previous press releases on the ongoing earthquake swarm on the west side of Yellowstone National Park. The University of Utah Seismograph Stations reports that a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 3.7 and 3.8 occurred in the evening of January 20, 2010 in Yellowstone National Park.
The first event of magnitude 3.7 occurred at 11:01 PM and was shortly followed by a magnitude 3.8 event at 11:16 PM. Both shocks were located around 9 miles to the southeast of West Yellowstone, MT and about 10 miles to the northwest of Old Faithful, WY. Both events were felt throughout the park and in surrounding communities in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.
These two earthquakes are part of an ongoing swarm in Yellowstone National Park that began January 17, 2010 (1:00 PM MST). The largest earthquake in the swarm as of 12 PM, January 21, 2010, was a magnitude 3.8. There have been 901 located earthquakes in the swarm of magnitude 0.5 to 3.8. This includes 8 events of magnitude larger than 3, with 68 events of magnitude 2 to 3, and 825 events of magnitude less than 2. There have been multiple personal reports of ground shaking from observations inside the Park and in surrounding areas for some of the larger events (for felt reports, please visit http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/). Earthquake swarms are relatively common in Yellowstone.
The swarm earthquakes are likely the result of slip on pre-existing faults rather than underground movement of magma. Currently there is no indication of premonitory volcanic or hydrothermal activity, but ongoing observations and analyses will continue to evaluate these different sources.
Seismic information on the earthquake can be viewed at the University of Utah Seismograph Stations: http://www.seis.utah.edu/.
Seismograph recordings from stations of the Yellowstone seismograph network can be viewed online at: http://quake.utah.edu/helicorder/yell_webi.htm.
Anyone who has felt earthquakes in the swarm are encouraged to fill out a form on the USGS Community Felt reports web site: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/dyfi/.
This press release was prepared by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory partners of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Utah, and the National Park Service: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/
—The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a partnership of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah to strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Peter Cervelli, Acting Scientist-in-Charge, USGSpcervelli@usgs.gov (650) 329-5188
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) was created as a partnership among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah to strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region. Yellowstone is the site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park. YVO is one of the five USGS Volcano Observatories that monitor volcanoes within the United States for science and public safety.
Here’s the map as of Sunday night, January 24, 9:10 p.m. MST (where the observatory is located); while this map may update here, you may want to click over to the observatory for more information (click on the map):
Yellowstone National Park Special Map, showing earthquakes in last week.
Eruptions has a short post on the swarm. Volcanism, which covers volcanoes better than Sherwin-Williams covers the world, has a short post, probably appropriate to the newsworthiness. Stoichiometry mentions them. Not much to say yet, right? Yellowstone Insider doesn’t seem too alarmed.
In mass media, The Billings (Montana) Gazette notes that these quakes are probably just shifting rocks, and not volcanic activity. The headline in the Bozeman (Montana) Daily Chronicle captures the news: “Earthquake Swarm Suggests Just Another Day in Yellowstone.”
Meanwhile, Scott Bowen at True/Slant sounds just a little alarmist. Ralph Maughan sets the right tone: “No, it doesn’t mean the end is near.” The tinfoil hat concessions probably won’t make nearly the money they did a year ago.
Outside of the Yellowstone and Intermountain areas, students will probably ask about 2012. Tell them the Mayans didn’t know anything about Old Faithful.
Resources:
Shake a little news to the rest of the world:
4 Comments | Current History, Disasters, Geography - Physical, geology, History, History of Science, Natural history, Natural resources, Tinfoil Hats, Travel, Volcanoes, Woo, Yellowstone | Tagged: disaster, earthquakes, geography, geology, History, Science, Volcanoes, Woo, Yellowstone Caldera, Yellowstone National Park | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
Ralph Maughan’s Wildlife News reports that Maximus, an 800-pound grizzly bear thought to be Montana’s second largest, was illegally killed recently.
The poacher shot the bear about four weeks ago. A reward has been offered for information leading to the capture of the poacher.
Can you tell a grizzly from a brown bear? Chart from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Update, 1-30-2010: The chart linked to above has disappeared in a website redesign. Below is a crude representation of the chart I made from a U.S. Fish and Wildlife information sheet on grizzlies, here.
How to tell a grizzly from a black (.pdf download)
Grizzly bear/black bear identification chart, adapted from USFWS by Ed Darrell, Millard Fillmore's Bathtub
4 Comments | endangered species, Geography - Physical, Natural history, Science, Wildlife, Yellowstone, Zoology | Tagged: Crime, endangered species, geography, Grizzly Bear, Hunting, Maximus, Montana, Natural history, Poaching, Science, Wildlife | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell
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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
(The Life of Reason, vol. 1: Reason in Common Sense)
Ed Darrell on Texas's Colorado River
Come on in, the water's fine. Come often: Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 