Yellowstone National Park Issues

Established in 1872 as America's first national park, Yellowstone has the largest collection of geysers in the world, and countless other natural features. There are also many issues within Yellowstone National Park, including bison, wolves, invasive species, snow mobiles, recreation, water quality, bioprospecting, fires, and climate change. Some of the most interesting issues to me are the aquatic invaders, recreation, and wolves in Yellowstone.


Aquatic Invaders
In the 1880's, the US Fish Commission stocked non-native fish in some park waters. Four trout species were introduced: Brown, Brook, Rainbow, and Lake. The Rainbow Trout hybridized and diluted the genetic diversity. All four also compete with native trout, the Cutthroat trout, and even prey on them, too. It was found that one Lake Trout can eat 41 Cutthroat Trout per year. This is an astounding number, and will surely lead to a major decline in the native trout population if no action is taken. It has been predicted that if nothing is done about the invasive trout species, that the Cutthroat population will fall to 10% of historic highs. This has the potential to be an ecological disaster. The Cutthroat Trout is important in Yellowstone because many other species rely on it. For example, the Grizzly Bear and Bald Eagle depend directly on the Cutthroat Trout for a portion of their diet. These predators cannot eat the Lake Trout instead because they do not have access to them. The Lake Trout live at much deeper depths than the Cutthroat Trout, and the Lake Trout spawn in the lake instead of the shallow tributaries. The Lake Trout are also much larger than the Cutthroat trout, which makes it difficult for some predators to catch and eat them. There is some progress being made as far as controlling the Lake Trout populations. 200,000 have been removed by gill-netting since 1990. There are also regulations encouraging fishing for Lake Trout, and 9,000 have been caught per year. There is also research going into more aggressive control efforts. The Lake Trout and other non-native fish species probably can't be totally eradicated, but must be managed.

Other aquatic invaders include the New Zealand Mudsnail and the microorganism that causes whirling disease. Whirling disease is caused by a microscopic parasite that can infect fish like trout and salmon. It attacks developing cartilage of young fish, and causes deformities of bone structures. For example, it can cause a deformed head and tail, as well as discoloration. The deformities in the head and tail cause the fish to demonstrate whirling swimming behavior. The fish are unable to feed normally, and it makes them easy to prey on. Whirling disease was first described 100 years ago in Europe. It most likely came to US in fish products and started spreading rapidly. There is little info on how the parasite moves, which causes a problem because we are not able to control it as well. There is a serious infection in the Yellowstone River and Pelican Creek, which is detrimental to the Cutthroat Trout population that is already experiencing problems. Whirling disease has been called the most significant threat to wild, native, and non-native trout populations in Montana. No treatment exists for the trout or the contaminated water at this time.

The New Zealand Mudsnail is also affecting wildlife in Yellowstone because they are forming dense colonies on aquatic vegetation and racks along streambeds in the park. These invaders crowd out native aquatic insects, which is what the fish like to eat. The mudsnails are also consuming lots of algae, which the fish also like to eat. This is causing even more problems for the fish at Yellowstone. There are strategies being looked into for dealing with these pests. They most likely arrived accidentally via unaware boaters and fishermen who came from someplace else and didn't clean off their boat. It would be wise for Yellowstone to create more stringent regulations for the cleaning of boats and equipment before they're allowed in the water at the park.


Recreation & Tourism

There are many other problems caused by tourism and recreation at Yellowstone National Park. First of all, the number of visitors is a problem by itself. The high number of visitors throughout the year is not giving the resources time to recover. The number of tourists is also starting to become a burden to the park because they have to try and find a way to accommodate all of these people. Most of the people don't even want to hike and explore the park, they just want to walk around and go to the gift shop. This means that more infrastructure must be built to accommodate lazy park-goers, which costs money that could be better spent, and destroys wildness in the park. Creating a balance between preserving the park and allowing people to enjoy it has proven difficult.

Another issue that coincides with tourists is the use of snowmobiles in the park. Snowmobiles pollute the air with emissions that are harmful for the ecosystem. They are also extremely noisy, which disrupted the natural peace and quiet in the park. During the winter, the animals in the park are already under stress from harsh conditions. The snowmobiles add unnecessary stress, especially for bison, who congregate in areas where the snowmobiles are allowed to pass. The traffic of snowmobiles harasses the animals in the park, causes unsafe conditions, and pollutes the air. The snowmobiles also degrade the land. Thankfully, a recent federal court decision repealed the Bush administration decision that allowed twice the amount of snow mobiles in the park. We hope to see the number of snowmobiles continue to decline. Another similar issue is the number of SUVs entering the park and polluting the air. This is especially a problem in the summer months, when the most tourists come to visit the park. There will probably always be a challenge of balancing the number of visitors and disruption of nature in the park. Everyone wants to come and see it, but the park can only handle so much before the environmental quality beings to degrade.

The Reintroduction of Wolves
The Grey Wolf has a role in all animal populations in Yellowstone. They kept populations of prey in check, such as elk and foghorn fawns down. They also increased the number of beavers and helped the bears because they were able to take part in the feast from carcasses. However, this ecological connection was not well understood in the beginning of the park. The Grey Wolf was eradicated in the 1930's because farmers were losing their cattle to wolves. The National Park Service allowed people to hunt the wolves because they were seen as dangerous predators. In 1926, the last wolves were killed. This affected the ecosystem in a number of ways. The wolves compete for prey and kill the weakest animals, which improved populations of those animals. Without the wolves, the elk population started to grow too high, and they were overgrazing the land. This prompted the park to consider letting people hunt the elk. Then the park started to consider the reintroduction of wolves. The North American Wolf Reintroduction Act soon followed. Starting in 1995, the National Park Service captured Grey Wolves from Canada and brought them to Yellowstone. First they only brought 14 wolves, then 7 more. The elk population shrunk faster than expected, and the coyote population also declined. The fox populations increased due to the help they were getting from animals killed by the wolves. The Grey Wolf was then removed from the endangered species list in 2008. Although this was a success for Yellowstone National Park, some wolves ended up outside the park and began attacking cattle. Therefore, the issue still remains somewhat controversial.