Place: Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming)
Threat: Inadequate Funding, Failure to Protect Species, Snowmobiles
 Often described as "America’s best idea," Yellowstone
was the world's first national park. Located in the rugged
mountain country of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho,
Yellowstone is one of the last remaining vestiges of
American wilderness in the lower 48 states.
Yellowstone Park contains the greatest variety of
geothermal features on Earth, one of the most extensive
petrified forests, and diverse wildlife including the grizzly bear and free-roaming herds of
bison, elk, moose, bighorn sheep and mule deer. The Park is also home to bald eagles,
trumpeter swans, and a renowned trout fishery. Yellowstone Park is headwaters to three
major river systems: the Yellowstone, Green and Snake rivers.
Recognizing these values, the United Nations has declared Yellowstone a World Heritage
Site and International Biosphere Reserve. About 10 million visitors a year come to
Yellowstone to experience this place like no other on Earth.
Unfortunately, the natural splendors of Yellowstone face a growing list of threats from
Bush administration attacks on policies designed to conserve the park and its natural
resources:
- The Administration has failed to address the continuing threat to Yellowstone’s
bison – the last genetically pure, free-roaming herd in North America numbering
fewer than 4,000 animals. Every winter hundreds of these animals are slaughtered
at the request of livestock producers when they wander outside the park in search
of food.
- Due to past reintroduction efforts and stringent protections, Yellowstone’s
endangered gray wolf and grizzly bear populations have witnessed significant
growth in recent years. Unfortunately, the Bush administration announced its
intention to eliminate federal conservation measures for these species, threatening
the future health of these populations.
- The Bush administration has consistently failed to provide adequate funding to
the Park Service to protect Yellowstone’s natural wonders, thus undermining the
agency's ability to maintain facilities and the visitor experience for American
families. Outdated or inadequate sewage systems threaten the park's rivers,
streams, and wetlands. Yellowstone’s native cutthroat trout, which have
dramatically declined in numbers because of invasive species and disease, also
face an uncertain future unless the Park Service receives adequate funding to
protect them.
- The Bush Administration continues to ignore the findings of several studies as
well as the recommendation of the National Park Service to phase out
snowmobiles completely in Yellowstone. By supporting efforts to reverse the
phase-out policy the Bush Administration threatens the Park with increased air
and noise pollution, harms wildlife, and creates health risks for visitors and
employees alike.
"With each of these actions, the Bush administration is threatening the natural splendor of
America’s premier National Park," says Tracie Weber with the Sierra Club in Jackson,
Wyoming. "We must act now to protect the grizzly bears, wolves, bison and landscapes
that have come to symbolize Yellowstone National Park."
Sierra Club Contact:
Tracie Weber, Wyoming: (307) 733-4557
Steve Thomas, Wyoming: (307) 672-0425
Additional Info:
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