Yellowstone is an amazing place full of mystery and wonderment. As John Muir said, A thousand Yellowstone wonders are calling, 'Look up and down and round about you!'" and for the past few years I have done just that when living and working in Yellowstone. I have seen wolves walk by my car in the moonlight and bison peering into my living room window. I will always cherish my time in Yellowstone, and feel thankful for the experiences and people I encountered in the park.

But my home has always been Yosemite and the Sierra—indeed all of California. From the magnificent waterfalls and imposing granite of Yosemite Valley, to the surreal desert landscapes of Joshua Tree and Death Valley, to the breathtaking coastline of Point Reyes. Although I am sad that my time in Yellowstone has come to an end, I am excited about returning to California—and in an exciting and rewarding role—as the National Wildlife Federation’s new California Director.

You can follow my new adventures on my new blog: Up and Down California.

Goodbye, Yellowstone! I will miss you.

Yellowstone wolf 778M being captured during this year's research Photo: Yellowstone Wolf Project

“I’ve handled hundreds of wolves, so I have sort of gotten hardened to the process. He was something—not just another wolf. As a scientist you always take the viewpoint that you can find answers. And for the first time I thought that this is a wolf who truly has secrets.”

Smith points out that 760M lives in the most remote area of the Yellowstone and of the lower 48 states. “I just started thinking in my head as I looked at him that this is the kind of wolf that remoteness produces.” At 147 pounds, 760M replaces the previous record holder for the largest wolf in Yellowstone, 495M, who weighed in at 143 pounds. But as Smith observes, 495 is still a pretty remarkable wolf. “495M is a pro. He’s doing great. We think he’ll turn 7/8 in April, so he’s past his prime, but he’s still hunting bison. And that is what is interesting about wolves, there is no such thing as a generic wolf.”

Doug Smith darting wolf 780M during winter research this year in Yellowstone Photo: Yellowstone Wolf ProjectHis research this year also showed that after two consecutive years of declines, the wolf population has largely stabilized in Yellowstone. The northern range wolves suffered the most declines in prior years, but the decreases have leveled off according to the most recent counts. And with this stabilization, Smith believes the ecosystem as a whole is becoming more balanced.

“When wolves weren’t in Yellowstone the system was out of whack because there were tons of elk and tons of coyotes and other things suffered as a result. Now there’s greater balance among both plant and animal species. I imagine this is more what Yellowstone was like before it got changed because of European humans.”

Smith also commented about the blame wolves receive for reducing elk populations. “It’s incredibly painful dealing with people who don’t like wolves and say they have devastated the elk herd. And it’s difficult to talk to people who just want Yellowstone to be an elk farm. Yes, with carnivores you have fewer animals to hunt. But this is the way it was in Yellowstone before we interfered. When we start killing predators because we want more animals to hunt, it becomes agriculture. Is that what we want the forests and the landscapes of the west to be, a big farming operation? I don’t want the world to be so highly manipulated that we have no place where wild nature can just be.”

The full interview with Douglas Smith will be published in National Parks Traveler on April 7.

Roosevelt Arch in Yellowstone National Park (photo by Beth Pratt)

“The headwaters of the Yellowstone River…is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale…and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”

With this pronouncement by the United States Congress on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Yellowstone Park Protection Act. Yellowstone became the world’s first national park and “America’s Best Idea” was born.

National Parks have been an integral part of my life—from my father taking me to see whales on Cape Cod National Seashore, to spending college summers hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, to providing inspiration for my writing, space for my joyful wanderings, and an impetus for my career as an environmental leader. The tranquility I experience while hiking in places like Tuolumne Meadows or Hayden Valley feeds my soul with sustenance as essential to my existence as food or water.

So take time today to celebrate the birthday of Yellowstone—and of all our national parks. And if you are looking for a good birthday present for Yellowstone, consider donating to the National Parks and Conservation Association—a great non-profit that helps safeguard our parks for future generations. 

Does Zisa, the late season bison calf who beat all the odds, deserve to die?

I recently wrote a lament for one bison that had been shot as part of a failed test to allow the animals to wander freely outside the park's north entrance. Seems I'll be kept busy writing eulogies for these magnificent animals this winter.

A district judge in Montana ruled today that the 500 Yellowstone bison being held outside the park's north entrance could be sent to slaughter as their removal would not threaten the long term survival of the herd. Even though the slaughter of the bison was "distasteful" (the judge's word) it was still an acceptable method in managing the animal.

It's been rumored that the little bison calf I've been reporting on, Zisa, is a part of the 500 bison on death row. This little guy, born late in the winter, beats all the odds in surviving only to be sent to slaughter because..because why? A bureaucratic plan for which I can find no justification. Bison are killed because of the fear of them transmitting brucellosis to cattle, but from the reports I have read, there has never been a single documented case of this transmittal and the more likely culprit is elk.

So why are we indiscriminately slaughtering 500 of Yellowstone's bison? Do these bison truly deserve to die? They left the park because it's a tough winter and they went in search of food. Government officials-please rethink your decision. These animals are part of the last continuous herd of wild bison in America. They are part of our heritage. They don't deserve to be condemned to death. They deserve our reverence and protection.

I stood and gazed at the captured bison this evening and simply cried. And I realized how powerless I felt that I could do nothing for them. Yellowstone--the world's first national park--is the best protected place on the planet. But what good is "America's Best Idea," if we can't keep the magnificent bison wild and free.

Please take action now to save Yellowstone's bison with one of these groups:

Buffalo Field Campaign

Defenders of Wildlife

Natural Resources Defense Council

I never tire of gazing at bison in Yellowstone. I find them magnificent creatures and they are inextricably linked for me to a prehistoric time when 60 million of their ancestors roamed in endless herds across North America (one explorer noted a sea of buffalo that stretched 20 miles wide).

In the winter I salute their tenacious survival skills, and smile when I see a bison "snow angel," the marks in the snow left from them brushing their head from side-to-side in search of sparse forage underneath. Somehow these 2,000 pound animals scratch out a living in Yellowstone's extreme winter by eating mostly dead plants--what we would consider the equivalent of munching on cardboard.

May is my favorite time in Yellowstone, as bison give birth to what some visitors mistake for "little orange dogs." Although an adult bison can't really be described as cute, a bison calf is pretty darn adorable. Last year a bison calf was born in my front yard and another in the snow right outside my office. When my parents visited Yellowstone, they witnessed a grizzly bear take down a bison calf at Old Faithful-- and saw members of the herd brave the danger and go back to try and unsuccessfully retrieve the calf.

And if one needs a further testament to the intrepid spirit of this remarkable animal, we need only recall the story (and look again at the photos) that went viral last year of a bison, badly burned from a fall in a hot spring, who still managed to outrun a hungry grizzly bear.

On this blog, for the most part, I prefer to steer away from opinion and instead inspire others by simply sharing the wonders of Yellowstone. Yet when I read this evening that one of the test bison I had written about in my prior post was killed as a result of it not staying within the prescribed safe area, a profound sadness overcame me.

Last week marked the beginning of what many heralded as a new era of bison tolerance on the northern range of Yellowstone when a test group of bison were released and allowed to roam outside the park boundary for the first time in decades. Yet not even a week later one of the herd is slaughtered for refusing to move from private property adjacent to the newly designated protection corridor.

This has been a very snowy winter and even the lower elevations of the park near Gardiner have received above average snow. The bison was probably hungry and tired and had no conception that his quest for greener pastures would result in death. The punishment doesn't seem to fit the crime. Bison with ancestors who once roamed the entire continent don't perceive property lines, they see the world in terms of survival and migrate where they find a food source. So why was this bison shot? Allegedly to prevent the spread of brucellosis to livestock, although most sources I have consulted say there has never been a documented case of a bison spreading the disease to cattle.

The Yellowstone bison are part our our national heritage, they are the last continuous descendants of the mighty wild herds of bison that once wandered our country. In the early 1900s, bison had dwindled from the 60 million animals that existed prior to the mid 1800s to less than two dozen hiding out in Yellowstone. In one of the most significant conservation measures of our time, the park restored the herd back to health, and today over 3,000 bison call Yellowstone their home.

When confronted with the historical mass slaughter of the great bison herds, most of us express dismay. And although it was only a single bison shot this weekend, I feel the same sadness. Have we still not learned to cherish wildness and the specialness of wild creatures? If even one bison can't find protection in the last sanctuary for his kind, then we as a people may need to rethink our priorities.