http://www.greateryellowstone.org/news Latest News From the Greater Yellowstone Coalition en-us Tue, 10 Jun 2009 09:41:01 GMT Weblog Editor 2.0 5 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1407 Editor's note: This was a tragic convergence of circumstances that took place just outside of Yellowstone  National Park in 2010. A federal judge in Cheyenne, Wyo., has rejected the federal government’s claim that it can’t be sued over the fatal bear mauling of a Park Ridge man near Yellowstone National Park. Erwin F. Evert — a 70-year-old botanist who had lived with his wife in a cabin nearby for part of the year for several decades — was killed by a 430-pound grizzly on June 17, 2010, in Shoshone National Forest, east of Yellowstone. The bear was recovering from tranquilizers administered by federal researchers. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1407 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1400 Editor's note: GYC continues to support snowcoaches for over-snow motorized travel in Yellowstone. CODY, Wyo. — Planners and managers from Yellowstone National Park, including Superintendent Dan Wenk, have been visiting gateway communities this week to host meetings about their ongoing efforts to develop a long-term winter-use plan for the park. The first meeting was Monday in Cody, where many attendees said they worried that regulations, including one draft proposal to manage over-snow vehicle traffic by “sound events,” would unfairly restrict access to the park. Efforts to nail down a long-term winter-use plan have been complicated for more than a decade by public debate and court challenges over issues like snowmobile traffic and avalanche management on Sylvan Pass, between Cody and Fishing Bridge. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1400 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1403 Editor's note: A thoroughly readable piece on the Yellowstone grizzly bear from Doug Chadwick, who spoke at GYC's Annual Meeting this past September on wolverines. Chadwick recounts the great story of the Yellowstone grizzly bear and the threats to its survival in the region. As he points out, threats against the Yellowstone grizzly bear have been reduced but remains vulnerable. Enjoy! This is a fine piece on one of the country's great animals — the Yellowstone grizzly bear. On a midsummer tundra day in Alaska, I hiked to a hillside overlooking a cascade. The waters thrummed and thundered, somersaulted and sprayed rainbow mist. Throngs of arm-length salmon leaped the opposite direction, fighting to reach spawning grounds closer to the mountains. Amid that tumult, nearly sixty grizzly bears muscled along parting the currents like boulders, plunged open-mouthed into eddies, swiped at flying fish, mock-wrestled in the shallows, and napped on the shores next to watchful bald eagles and gulls. The place was as alive as it is possible to be, and it made me feel the same way. I dropped down to the base of a rock ledge for a fresh view. Shortly after noon, a bear suddenly appeared around the corner. It was coming my direction fast – too fast for me to do anything but press back against the stone and keep still. Closer, closer. I stopped breathing. I felt the fur of the grizzly’s shoulder brush my chest, and … To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1403 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1404 Editor's note: Mountain goats were introduced into the region for enhanced hunting. They have moved into the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. JACKSON — Non-native mountain goats have gained a foothold in parts of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem and could threaten native bighorn sheep, including the Teton Range bighorn sheep herd, biologists say. Researchers from Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have joined forces to study the hardy, aggressive invaders, which have likely begun breeding in the Teton Range. “They don’t get much attention,” said Bob Garrott, director of Montana State University’s Fish and Wildlife Ecology and Management Program, and leader of the research effort. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1404 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1399 Editor's note: Scott Christensen spoke at a GYC-hosted event that included renowned fly fisherman Craig Mathews of West Yellowstone. It all started in the early 1980s while playing the license plate game during a family vacation in Yellowstone National Park. You know the game — see how many different states’ plates you can spot while touring the park. Before long, I noticed that many of the cars were from Utah. The trend was still there during our most recent trip to the world’s first national park. For those keeping track we counted about 34 states. Through the years I’ve calculated that two or three vehicles out of 10 in the park have Utah plates. During early spring and late fall, the number has been as high as five out of 10. Utahns love Yellowstone and its surrounding areas, so I wasn’t surprised to see a strong turnout for a recent gathering organized by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) at the Alta Club in downtown Salt Lake City. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1399 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1402 Editor's note: The wolverine is one of the most remarkable animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem — and also an indicator of the region's ecological health. CODY, WYO. -- What breeds every other year, claims 300 square miles of terrain, lives at 9,000 feet elevation in harsh winter conditions, and fends off grizzly bears for scraps of spoiled meat? The Gulo gulo, or wolverine, of course. It sounds like the makings of a riddle, but eight years ago, as a team of biologists set out to study the wolverine, they were hard pressed to answer even basic questions surrounding the elusive animal. With some pushing to list the wolverine as a threatened or endangered species, the lack of data was troubling. Even if the wolverine was listed for protection, no one at the time knew how to conserve the species. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1402 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1406 Editor's note: Keeping Sylan Pass open for snowmobiles makes no sense from safety and fiscal standpoints. CODY, Wyo. — Park County commissioners remain at odds with the National Park Service over its new proposals to regulate winter use in Yellowstone Park. At their weekly meeting Tuesday, commissioners accused the agency of ignoring their comments when writing its new winter-use plan, saying little in the draft document reflects concerns they shared with the agency last year. As in past years, snowmobile access — guided and unguided — lies at the center of the debate. Commissioners believe the Park Service is “chipping away” at motorized winter use with the intent of discontinuing it altogether in the future. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1406 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1405 Editor's note: Idaho has some of the weakest water-protection laws in the nation. POCATELLO • A federal agency is facing scrutiny of its approval of Idaho’s water protection guidelines. On Tuesday, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition filed a civil case against the Environmental Protection Agency in U.S. District Court in Pocatello. According to court documents, the environmental group is asking a federal judge to order the EPA to set aside its backing of Idaho’s anti-degradation implementation methods. The guidelines list standards needed to keep pollution damage from mounting over time in Idaho’s bodies of water. The agency approved the policy in August 2011, but GYC says Idaho’s rule doesn’t do enough and violates the Clean Water Act. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1405 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1401 Editor's note: This is GYC's press release on our anti-degradation litigation in Idaho. IDAHO FALLS  — Citing a clear need to strengthen protections for Idaho’s cleanest waters and its world-class fisheries, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition on Tuesday filed a lawsuit in federal district court challenging what the regional conservation group describes as one of the nation’s weakest water-pollution regulations. GYC is asking the court in Pocatello, Idaho, to set aside the Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of new state rules that allow the polluting of Idaho’s waters without required state agency and public review. Idaho’s so-called “antidegradation” law is in direct conflict with the Clean Water Act, and fails to protect the state’s most pristine rivers, streams and lakes. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1401 http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1397 Editor's note: The State of Idaho continues to seek ways to skirt clean-water laws on behalf of industry and agriculture. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition filed a lawsuit Tuesday morning against the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection Agency, stating that Idaho's "antidegradation" laws confilt with the Clean Water Act. The press release said this conflict does not protect Idaho's water without mandatory reveiw by state and private agencies. To read the entire story, click here. http://greateryellowstone.org/news/index.php?id=1397