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Mountain Journal
What Yellowstone Lake Water Levels Can Tell Us About The Supervolcano
EDITOR'S NOTE: Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Scott K. Johnson, science communication associate with the EarthScope Consortium. The importance of tide gauges is apparent to anyone who has lived near a coastline, but...
When Humans Assert Their Oversized Egos On The Land
As trophy homes invade beloved public viewsheds, Richard Knight says the West has become an exploiter's paradise. EDITOR'S NOTE: It is happening literally before our eyes in every corner of the scenic rural West: people who believe their money or ego entitles them to the best views in a valley, by building dream homes where previous generations have refrained from selfishly imposing their presence. They are doing it without seeming to reflect on how their actions are ruining the scenery and sense of common aesthetic connection for everyone else. The following essay by Richard Knight, in this week's edition of Writers on the Range, is poignant, for it speaks to a common, sorrowful lament felt by many. —Mountain Journal.
Will Climate Change Leave Big Sky High and Dry of Powder?
Globally renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker headlines release of Big Sky SNO Climate change Action Plan and panel discussion moderated by MoJo's Joseph T. O'Connor. Big Sky, Montana was born half a century ago as a winter destination resort for snowsports enthusiasts but by the middle of this century will there still be sufficient snowpack to sustain not only the abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities known today, but also the winter economy?
What's The Real Future For Grizzlies In Greater Yellowstone?
Say the words “grizzly bear” in a crowded room and you’re bound to attract attention. Indeed, in America grizzlies are synonymous with Yellowstone National Park. For 35 years, Dr. Christopher Servheen was on the front lines of trying to save grizzly bear populations in the Lower 48 states. The fact that grizzlies were brought back from the brink in Yellowstone and the surrounding ecosystem, thanks to hard work from a wide array of advocates and the protective might of the federal Endangered Species Act, ranks among the greatest wildlife conservation success stories in history. Many consider it a miracle.
Art Turned Loose: Yellowstone Bison, Grizzlies And Wolves To Roam American Cities
With its astonishing array of public wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is an American treasure recognized around the world. Now Lori Ryker of Livingston, Montana, wants people living in distant urban areas to realize their voices matter in protecting the region’s amazing trove of biological diversity. Ryker’s tool for...
How Yellowstone's Grand Canyon Came To Be
The history of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone began more than 600,000 years ago with a massive eruption. EDITOR'S NOTE: Yellowstone Caldera Chronicles is a weekly column written by scientists and collaborators of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. This week's contribution is from Michael Poland, geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey and Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
When You Go Looking For Nothing, You Can See Everything
In the woods behind the Murie Ranch in Grand Teton Park, Susan Marsh received a lesson from elk on how to become one with nature. I once participated in an exercise that seemed at first unrelated to the subject of the three-day seminar I was attending—ecology of the gray wolf—at the Murie Center in Grand Teton National Park. On the final morning, our assignment was to rise from our bunks while it was still pitch black, walk in silence along a trail that led to the Snake River, and find a place to sit alone. There we would attend the dawn.
How Bills To Stop Killing Coyotes With Snowmobiles Went Down In Flames
Former Montana lawmaker questions what kind of religious people who worship Creator would condone torturing living products of creation?. Among the proudest moments in my young, coming-of-age years were two events: passing the hunter’s safety test as a newly minted teenager in the Upper Midwestern state where I grew up, and earning the state-issued permit to drive a snowmobile, which I got prior to securing an auto driver's license, so I could get to hockey practice on outdoor ice in winter.
Honoring Ospaye: It's About Finding Our Family Of Understanding In Nature
In a brand new poem for 2023, Lois Red Elk reflects on MoJo's 'Night of the Wolves' and an ever-expanding circle of like-minded friends. Loving the Montana winter so far, so much frost and surprising sky aura. Even some of the birds are staying this side of Mni S'os'e. I...
'In Their Own Words': Dorothy Bradley delivers memorable speech, calls for courage in Yellowstone
In a stirring speech to close out MoJo's 'Night of the Wolves' event, Bradley brought the crowd to its feet. EDITOR'S NOTE: Dorothy Bradley brought down the house to conclude Mountain Journal's "Night of the Wolves" event on Jan. 10, 2023, at The Ellen Theatre in downtown Bozeman, Montana. With poise and humor, she stood at the podium and talked about the responsibility we all have—and the courage required—to stand up and fight for the survival of Greater Yellowstone and planet Earth itself. Bradley, the highly respected educator, conservationist and former eight-time Montana state representative, sees the work purely as "a job to be done." MoJo awarded her one of the first four Conservation Courage awards at the end of the evening.
'Real' Wolves, Yellowstone and Humans’ Place in the Discussion Revealed at ‘Night of the Wolves’
When Mike Phillips cupped his hands around his mouth on Jan. 10, 2023 and began to howl, the theater erupted in a chorus of wolf howls, bringing two storied guests to the stage for a conversation that won’t soon be forgotten. The sold-out event, a Mountain Journal production called...
A True New West Grizzly Bear Dilemma
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article was first published in summer 2022 as part of a collaboration between Mountain Journal and Mountain Outlaw magazine. The purpose of the story was not to exacerbate a deepening challenge but rather making people aware of the problem, its cause and highlight the vital importance of personal responsibility and out of the box thinking among elected officials and those in government. Pretending the conflict will go away through inaction, especially in this age of social media, is naive. Pay attention to the sidebar at the end of the story to read a code of conduct for bear watching in Tom Miner Basin. The issue remains unresolved and it is a prime example of where wild nature and human responsibility must meet in the New West. As Malou Anderson-Ramirez wrote in a recent blog post on the Tom Miner Basin Association website, she understands the beauty of wild creatures like grizzly bears, but that we must tread lightly and stay informed.
Howl With Us At Night Of The Wolves
On Tuesday, January 10 at 7 pm, noted retired Yellowstone wolf biologist Doug Smith and wildlife advocate Pat Byorth will talk the truth of Yellowstone's famous packs. You as a valued Mountain Journal reader are invited to join us for a howling good evening that honors Dr. Doug Smith, who recently retired from his leadership post overseeing wolf conservation in Yellowstone National Park. He will be joined by Pat Byorth, a respected aquatic resources advocate for Trout Unlimited, who recently served on the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission and who grappled with the state's controversial wolf hunting and trapping season that resulted in the annihilation of Yellowstone's Phantom Lake wolf pack just outside the park.
The ‘Energy Gap’ Nobody Wants to Tussle With
EDITOR'S NOTE: In the column below, Dave Marston explores energy options facing an American West that is using increasingly more electricity and asks whether fossil fuels should be replaced by renewable energy sources. But can renewables alone handle the load? In the GYE, Yellowstone National Park holds more than 10,000 geothermal features. Couldn't we pull this energy from the earth and use it to power the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem? Not so fast. While many locations across the globe utilize geothermal power for electricity, Yellowstone, as a national park, is off limits to development.
Gobbledygook? Are Feel-Good Words Failing The Cause Of Wildlife Conservation?
Those who toss around terms like "sustainability" often struggle to explain what they really mean in the context of protecting America's private and public wild lands. We hear the word spoken and written all the time, ubiquitously, by federal and state land management agencies, conservation groups, business people, ranchers, farmers and politicians.
Let's Make 2023 A Year Of Thoughtful, Courageous Action For Wildlife
Wildlife researchers April and Lance Craighead say good things are happening to protect crucial habitat, but it's not enough. Developers, recreationists must be part of the solution. A Guest Essay. by biologists April and Lance Craighead. The start of a new year always seems to be a time of reflection...
The Fall Line: Journalism Exists to Debunk Myths
In the American West, facts are critical for understanding Greater Yellowstone. EDITOR’S NOTE: The fall line is the most direct path down a mountain. If you drop a snowball on the peak, its steepest path is down the fall line. In skiing, it’s where you want to live. Geologically speaking, it’s where hard bedrock meets softer soil and drops in elevation and what you might avoid unless you’re a boater looking for waterfalls or rapids.
An Interview With Yellowstone Winterkeeper Steve Fuller
When the snow piles up and the remote interior of Yellowstone is buffeted with minus 50 windchills, Fuller says it's his favorite time to dwell in wonderland. EDITOR'S NOTE: While the weather outside has been frightfully cold, windy and snowy to begin the winter of 2022-2023, Steven Fuller, the legendary "winterkeeper" of Yellowstone and a Mountain Journal columnist, is in his element moving through the frozen maw of our oldest national park. MoJo founder Todd Wilkinson had a conversation with him. Enjoy it below. Also read MoJo's profile of Fuller, which has been read around the world and appears in the 2022 book Ripple Effects: How to Save Yellowstone and America's Most Iconic Wildlife Ecosystem.
'Paradise Lost': Sublime Beauty Meets Shifting Climate
In this photo of the week, we congratulate Jake Mosher for delivering a stunning image of the Gallatin Range which just won a national prize—and it causes us to think. Congratulations to nature photographer Jake Mosher for his award-winning image "Paradise Lost." The alluring picture, captured in the Gallatin Mountain Range south of Bozeman, shows a summer wildflower bloom and in the background wildfire smoke.
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