Former park ranger housing in Yellowstone National Park, an example of deferred maintenance. This article was originally published in National Parks Traveler. Last month, the Interior Department made an announcement that could have implications for those of us who love parks: In 2020, federal energy disbursements fell by about $3.5 billion, a plunge of 31 percent compared […]
How national park visitors in the United States could help address the need for wildlife conservation efforts beyond park boundaries, using a case study of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
[…] bidders were allowed, would they prevent agencies from properly managing natural resources? Those questions are at the forefront of several debates playing out in my backyard near Yellowstone National Park. In one recent case, a proposed timber sale on state trust lands in the Gallatin Valley near Bozeman, Montana, sparked organized opposition from a […]
[…] Act will provide dedicated funding for overdue maintenance but will not support operational needs. With public land visitation showing no sign of decline—even amidst the coronavirus pandemic Yellowstone National Park recently had its busiest September and October on record—fee revenues look to be a reliable source of funding for many federal sites in the […]
[…] like a human caddisfly hatch all matted together. Then there is the story of three men who were caught in August boiling chickens—of all things—in one of Yellowstone’s thermal hot spring features. It seemed the perfect metaphor for the “Summer of Yellowstone.” Even without the annual influx of international tourists, the park set several […]
[…] of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park This article was originally published in The Hill. “For too long, our national jewels have been neglected,” then-Vice President Joe Biden said while visiting Yellowstone National Park in 2010. “We’re beginning to polish, once again, these national jewels,” he added, in reference to a $750 million stimulus package from the Obama […]
[…] of recreating on public lands, features missing from the previous approach. An impetus for the current fee model was the 1990s closure of a popular campground in Yellowstone National Park that brought in more than enough fee revenue to cover its operating costs; however, the park did not retain the money it generated. All […]
[…] concerns and, thereby, mitigate the perverse incentives that have frustrated the recovery of other species. In 1995 and 1996, the National Park Service introduced 31 wolves into Yellowstone National Park, where wolves had been absent since 1926. Today, more than 500 wolves reside on public and private lands throughout the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Based […]
[…] change brings potential to reduce the conflict between humans and wildlife. Elk rely on the generosity of private landowners as they move along their migration corridors, leaving Yellowstone National Park for the open, agricultural fields of Paradise Valley in search of winter forage. Yet the presence of elk is a disease risk for ranchers, […]
[…] the important role private lands play in benefiting many of the public goods we love, like clean water and abundant wildlife. Conserving wildlife migration corridors in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, creative ways to mitigate the threat of brucellosis, and how we can apply free market environmentalism to improve our public lands management are also discussed.