[…] faced by the National Park Service (NPS). Notable projects include a $113 million investment in Tidal Basin seawalls at the National Mall, improvements to historic housing at Yellowstone National Park, and the replacement of the Transcanyon Waterline at Grand Canyon National Park. But despite the infusion of over $4 billion, the deferred maintenance backlog […]
[…] steadily over time, so has political salience of the issue. Today, many of the units with the highest amounts of deferred maintenance are older parks, such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon, with infrastructure largely constructed in the mid-20th century. Other units, including Gateway National Recreation Area, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the National […]
[…] wherever possible. The investment will address safety hazards, reduce future maintenance costs, and preserve famous landmarks, including the renowned Japanese cherry trees that blossom each spring. Fort Yellowstone and Old Faithful Historic Housing, Yellowstone National Park Some of the historic structures that house employees in Yellowstone date to the 1800s, and many of them […]
[…] already been successfully deployed on private lands. PERC’s elk occupancy agreements, for example, have helped conserve and restore critical habitat for elk herds migrating through the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Similar models can help provide conservation benefits on public lands while balancing existing uses. The fact is that people value conserving public land parcels through […]
This article was originally published in The New York Times. Each fall and winter, thousands of elk from Yellowstone National Park leave behind the deep snows of the park’s harsh and unforgiving high country and descend to surrounding ranch lands to feed on native grasses. Access to this forage is vital to maintaining the […]
[…] landowners while conserving biodiversity. Here, we present a range of innovative tools that have effectively been used to “de-risk” wildlife occupancy of private lands in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Lessons learned from these risk reduction strategies inform conservation more broadly by highlighting the importance of economic and risk-management considerations to wildlife conservation on private […]
[…] the nation’s capital to testify on a variety of issues. And while in recent years those issues have included conserving world-renowned wildlife migration corridors in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, addressing an overabundance of wild horses on public rangelands, and reforming the Endangered Species Act to make the law more effective at recovering wildlife, PERC’s […]
[…] reason that some parks, especially bucket-list destinations that draw tourists from abroad, have struggled to keep up with surges in visitation. Examples abound. Wastewater treatment facilities near Yellowstone’s Old Faithful are in need of repair. Maine’s Acadia National Park has 20 bridges that need to be rehabilitated. Campground bathrooms need updating at Yosemite. Miles […]
[…] development in fencing since the settling of the American West. The event, “Cattle and Conservation: The Future of Virtual Fencing,” was held in partnership with the Beyond Yellowstone Program, headed up by elk ecologist Arthur Middleton, who serves as chief wildlife advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. Seated at the table were experts […]
[…] discuss how an emerging technology could facilitate conservation on western landscapes. Earlier this month, PERC co-hosted The Future of Virtual Fencing: Cattle and Conservation with the Beyond Yellowstone Program. The largest gathering of its kind, the workshop convened more than 40 key leaders and stakeholders from across the technology, ranching, government, philanthropic, academic, and […]