Yellowstone Falls

numbers of prey and predator animals can throw off an entire ecosystem. “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe” (Muir, 1911). For example, when looking at the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park it can be found that a minor change can lead to what is called a “trophic cascade”. The simple reintroduction of a small number of wolves changed not only the booming deer population, but the behavior of the deer. This change…

John Colter is one of the greatest explorers of all time. He traveled with Lewis and Clark, hiked 500 miles across Yellowstone, and got attacked by Indians! Tom Murphy is also a great explorer. Just like Colter, he too traveled across Yellowstone, braved out nights sleeping in Yellowstone with the constant threat of predators, and was prepared for anything. Except there's one small detail that separates these two famous explorers. They lived 200 years apart. Although we have explored and know…

National parks are typically created to help protect that lands within it from outside forces such as air pollution, waste and human interaction. The Yellowstone National Park, established Mar 01, 1872, was the first of many national parks created with the goal to protect the natural environment. Some of these parks, like Yellowstone, are important to protect because they hold scientific value. The geysers that are within the park contain “60 percent of the world’s geysers” so many studies…

on the endangered species list, but in Yellowstone National Park wolves had already been hunted for almost a hundred years, the last pack being killed off in 1926. In 1995, eight wolves were relocated from western Canada to Yellowstone, and in the next year, a total of thirty-one wolves were brought in (NPS, 2016). This was the start of what some may call one of the greatest wildlife restoration projects ever undertaken. Twenty years after the fact, Yellowstone is home to approximately 130…

historical background (Dilsaver 5). When one thinks of a national park their mind usually goes to that of Yosemite, Central Park, or some small park nearest them. Unfortunately, many Americans do not realize that battlefields and historic buildings fall under the protection of the national park service. When it comes to preservation parks of nature are a major entity but also historical landmarks. According to Dilsaver national parks offer a wide variety of educational experiences: “…national…

Why is fire an important part of Yellow Stone? How does this seem to affect the habitat of it? What is the history behind fires in Yellowstone National Park? Does climate change play a role? These are all the things that I am going to talk about but first, we need to understand what fire regimes are? A fire regime is a term that gives a common pattern in how fires naturally happen in a certain ecosystem over a longer period of time. “Scientists classify fire regimes using a combination of…

(Introduction) January 27, 2010, Congress confirmed the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Jerry Peak Wilderness Additions Act H.R.1138 that allows for maintenance and management of Sawtooth National Park to ensure that the park is well taken care of. This also helps the park rangers to properly manage the livestock, insects, fires and the overall care of the park. The bill allows for the USDA to properly manage the interior of the park, and keep it from wasting away, which also requires…

whole ecosystem, was the reintroduction of grey wolves (Canis lupus) into Yellowstone National Park in the North West of the United States. The wolves were reintroduced to the park in 1995-1996 and have subsequently recolonised the whole park and some of the surrounding area known as the greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) (Smith et al., 2003). The reintroduction of the wolves has had a great effect on the ecosystem of Yellowstone; the wolves have greatly reduced the numbers of ungulates,…

The reintroduction of the wolf into Yellowstone National Park proved significant to the development and growth of species in and around the park. John Muir once said, “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” Here, Muir believes that when one individual component of a habitat is affected, the rest of the habitat is also affected. This idea can best be described as a keystone species. Keystone species are a species of animal that is involved…

In 1995, 14 gray wolves (Canis lupus) were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park after an absence beginning in the 1920s (Beschta and Ripple 2010). These wolves produced a trophic cascade, where a higher level of food chain affects a lower one. This cascade began by the wolves causing elk (Cervus elaphus) removal and relocation and led to trees quintupling in size. Seeing the positive effects wolves had on trees, more national parks and states began facilitating this natural ecology…