Wolves Rebound in Yellowstone

The demise and rebirth of the grey wolves in Yellowstone National Park began in 1926 when the original wolves were completely eliminated.    

Once the wolves were gone the elk began to take over,  the conditions of Yellowstone began to decline rapidly.  The elk multiplied, and the plants and trees were overburdened with over grazing. The woodlands were literally munched into oblivion, and the destruction of the landscape affected the remaining species of animals in the park

With the rapid increase in the number of elk, the condition of the land eroded and plant life deteriorated.. Without wolves, the population of coyotes increased dramatically, which led to a decline in the number of pronghorn antelope. The dwindling vegitation included willow trees, which affected the number of beavers in the park, and without the work of the beavers, an entire ecosystem was altered. 

Finally in  January 1995, after years of debate, fourteen wolves were captured in western Alberta, Canada and relocated to Yellowstone into three packs in the Lamar Valley in the northeast area of the park.  

The chart at right shows the success of the relocation and the expansion of the wolf packs into new areas.  


Today, there are more than 300 grey wolves in and around Yellowstone National Park.

Revisiting Our National Parks

One of my visions of future camping trips includes exploring a few more of the national parks, including once again our very own in Oregon, Crater Lake National Park seen below.

First on my list is Yosemite National Park. It was way back in 1864 that the U.S. Congress ceded land in the Yosemite Valley to California to create a state park. (I think the Tea Party opposed the bill, but it still passed.)  Unofficially, it was the first federal park designated as a  sanctuary to preserve the natural landscape and wildlife, but it was not the first National Park. 

The trivia question this week:  What was the first National Park and when was it created?

Our first national park was created in 1872 and is located in the northern Rocky Mountains within a few miles of the first trickles of three different rivers that make their way down and into the Columbia, the Missouri, and the Colorado rivers.   It is not only the first National Park in the U.S. it’s the world’s first national park.  It has five park entrances, 9 visitor centers, 49 picnic areas, more than 1700 campsites, and 97 trailheads

It is larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined and is jolted by more than 2,000 earthquakes each year. 96% of the park is located in Wyoming, 3% is in Montana, and 1% is in Idaho  It has more than 300 geysers, 240 waterfalls, and 10,000 thermal features.  The record high temperature was 98F in 1936 and the record low was 66 below zero in 1933.

The name of the park derives from the native Americans who lived in the area and called its river Mitsiadazi.  French fur trappers in the 1800s translated this to Yellow Rock, and today we call it…..Yellowstone National Park.