Nanjemoy Creek is a 13.1-mile-long (21.1 km) tidal tributary of the Potomac River in Charles County , Maryland , United States, located between Cedar Point Neck and Tayloe's Neck. Its watershed area (excluding water) is 73 square miles (190 km), with 2% impervious surface in 1994.
94-446: The Nature Conservancy established its Nanjemoy Creek Preserve in 1978, which protects more than 3,510 acres (1,420 ha) in the watershed . There is a large great blue heron rookery located at Nanjemoy Creek. Blossom Point, a part of Harry Diamond Laboratories , and operated by the U.S. Army, is located on Cedar Point Neck, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) may be present within firing fans, which extend into both Nanjemoy Creek and
188-508: A Chicago, Burlington & Quincy connection opened via Cody and in 1908 a Union Pacific Railroad connection to West Yellowstone, followed by a 1927 Milwaukee Road connection to Gallatin Gateway near Bozeman , also motorcoaching visitors via West Yellowstone. Rail visitation fell off considerably by World War II and ceased regular service in favor of the automobile around the 1960s, though special excursions occasionally continued into
282-469: A New Deal relief agency for young men, played a major role between 1933 and 1942 in developing Yellowstone facilities. CCC projects included reforestation, campground development of many of the park's trails and campgrounds, trail construction, fire hazard reduction, and fire-fighting work. The CCC built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds, and the current system of park roads. During World War II, tourist travel fell sharply, staffing
376-732: A 4-star rating, with a score of 96%, for the 2022 fiscal year. Like many large environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the World Wildlife Fund , the Conservancy includes allowances for hunting and fishing within its management policies. The organization does not totally ban hunting or fishing but defers to state hunting and fishing regulations. The organization publishes The Nature Conservancy magazine ( ISSN 1540-2428 ; six issues per year). In 2003 The Washington Post ran an investigative series about
470-465: A U.S. Army detachment commanded by Lt. Gustavus Doane . The expedition spent about a month exploring the region, collecting specimens, and naming sites of interest. A Montana writer and lawyer named Cornelius Hedges, who had been a member of the Washburn expedition, proposed that the region should be set aside and protected as a national park; he wrote detailed articles about his observations for
564-750: A UN World Heritage Site on September 8, 1978. The park was placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger from 1995 to 2003 due to the effects of tourism, infection of wildlife, and issues with invasive species . In 2010, Yellowstone National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. Justin Farrell explores three moral sensibilities that motivated activists in dealing with Yellowstone. First came
658-401: A comprehensive report, including large-format photographs by William Henry Jackson and paintings by Thomas Moran . The report helped to convince the U.S. Congress to withdraw this region from public auction . On March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed The Act of Dedication law that created Yellowstone National Park. Hayden, while not the only person to have thought of creating
752-437: A fierce furnace fire were burning beneath each one of them; and a hundred geysers, white torrents of boiling water and steam, like inverted waterfalls, are ever and anon rushing up out of the hot, black underworld. By 1915, 1,000 automobiles per year were entering the park, resulting in conflicts with horses and horse-drawn transportation. Horse travel on roads was eventually prohibited. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC),
846-523: A group of fur trappers . After splitting up with the other trappers in 1807, Colter passed through a portion of what later became the park, during the winter of 1807–1808. He observed at least one geothermal area in the northeastern section of the park, near Tower Fall . After surviving wounds he suffered in a battle with members of the Crow and Blackfoot tribes in 1809, Colter described a place of " fire and brimstone " that most people dismissed as delirium;
940-562: A mountain of glass and yellow rock. These reports were largely ignored because Bridger was a known "spinner of yarns". In 1859, a U.S. Army Surveyor named Captain William F. Raynolds embarked on a two-year survey of the southern central Rockies . After wintering in Wyoming, in May 1860, Raynolds and his party—which included geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden and guide Jim Bridger—attempted to cross
1034-613: A network of state natural heritage programs. The Nature Conservancy's efforts include conservation in North America , Central America , and South America , Africa , the Pacific Rim , the Caribbean , and Asia . The Nature Conservancy and its conservation partner, Pronatura Peninsula Yucatán, to halt deforestation on private lands in and around the 1.8 million acre (7,300 km ) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve , along
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#17327987309991128-419: A park in the region, was its first and most enthusiastic advocate. He believed in "setting aside the area as a pleasure ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people" and warned that there were those who would come and "make merchandise of these beautiful specimens". Worrying the area could face the same fate as Niagara Falls , he concluded the site should "be as free as the air or Water". In his report to
1222-794: A translation of the Hidatsa name Mi tsi a-da-zi ("Yellow Stone River"). Later, American trappers rendered the French name in English as "Yellow Stone". Although it is commonly believed that the river was named for the yellow rocks seen in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone , the Native American name source is unclear. The human history of the park began at least 11,000 years ago when Native Americans began to hunt and fish in
1316-579: Is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho . It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in
1410-601: Is a topographic feature that separates the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean water drainages. About one-third of the park lies on the west side of the divide. The origins of the Yellowstone and Snake Rivers are near each other but on opposite sides of the divide. As a result, the waters of the Snake River flow to the Pacific Ocean, while those of the Yellowstone find their way to the Gulf of Mexico . The park sits on
1504-652: Is an effort to plant one billion trees across the globe in forests with the greatest need and has been operating since 2008 to plant trees in Brazil, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, and the United States. As part of the overall campaign, The Nature Conservancy pledged to plant 25 million trees as part of the launch of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)'s Billion Tree Campaign. This campaign encourages individuals and organizations to plant their own trees around
1598-555: Is believed to be linked to the somewhat older volcanism of the Snake River Plain. Yellowstone is thus the active part of a hotspot that has moved northeast over time. The origin of this hotspot volcanism is disputed. One theory holds that a mantle plume has caused the Yellowstone hotspot to migrate northeast, while another theory explains migrating hotspot volcanism as the result of the fragmentation and dynamics of
1692-600: Is one of the largest high-elevation lakes in North America and is centered over the Yellowstone Caldera , the largest super volcano on the continent. The caldera is considered a dormant volcano . It has erupted with tremendous force several times in the last two million years. Well over half of the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in Yellowstone, fueled by this ongoing volcanism. Lava flows and rocks from volcanic eruptions cover most of
1786-565: Is the largest and most famous megafauna location in the contiguous United States . Grizzly bears , cougars , wolves , and free-ranging herds of bison and elk live in this park. The Yellowstone Park bison herd is the oldest and largest public bison herd in the United States. Forest fires occur in the park each year; in the large forest fires of 1988 , nearly one-third of the park was burnt. Yellowstone has numerous recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping , boating , fishing, and sightseeing . Paved roads provide close access to
1880-419: Is up to 400 feet (120 m) deep and has 110 miles (180 km) of shoreline. At an elevation of 7,733 feet (2,357 m) above sea level, Yellowstone Lake is the largest high-elevation lake in North America. Forests comprise 80 percent of the land area of the park; most of the rest is grassland . The Continental Divide of North America runs diagonally through the southwestern part of the park. The divide
1974-427: The 2013 United States federal government shutdown . The expansive cultural history of the park has been documented by the 1,000 archeological sites that have been discovered. The park has 1,106 historic structures and features, and of these Obsidian Cliff and five buildings have been designated National Historic Landmarks . Yellowstone was designated an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976, and
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#17327987309992068-508: The Absaroka Range . The park is 63 miles (101 km) north to south, and 54 miles (87 km) west to east by air. Yellowstone is 2,219,789 acres (8,983 km ; 3,468 sq mi) in area, larger than either of the states of Rhode Island or Delaware . Rivers and lakes cover five percent of the land area, with the largest water body being Yellowstone Lake at 87,040 acres (352 km ; 136 sq mi). Yellowstone Lake
2162-495: The Committee on Public Lands , he concluded that if the bill failed to become law, "the vandals who are now waiting to enter into this wonder-land, will in a single season despoil, beyond recovery, these remarkable curiosities, which have required all the cunning skill of nature thousands of years to prepare". Hayden and his 1871 party recognized Yellowstone as a unique place that should be available for further research. He also
2256-501: The Conservancy a model of ethical standards for nonprofit organizations. After service as The Nature Conservancy's president for one year, Brian McPeek resigned on May 31, 2019, after a report on an internal investigation of sexual harassment was revealed by Politico and two other senior executives were ultimately dismissed based on its findings. On June 7, 2019, Mark Tercek , CEO since 2008, announced his resignation following
2350-528: The Continental Divide over Two Ocean Plateau from the Wind River drainage in northwest Wyoming. Heavy spring snows prevented their passage but had they been able to traverse the divide, the party would have been the first organized survey to enter the Yellowstone region. The American Civil War hampered further organized explorations until the late 1860s. The first detailed expedition to
2444-854: The Gallatin Range to the northwest, the Beartooth Mountains in the north, the Absaroka Range to the east, the Teton Range to the south, and the Madison Range to the west. The most prominent summit on the Yellowstone Plateau is Mount Washburn at 10,243 feet (3,122 m). Yellowstone National Park has one of the world's largest petrified forests , trees which were long ago buried by ash and soil and transformed from wood to mineral materials. This ash and other volcanic debris are believed to have come from
2538-956: The Guatemala–Mexico border . They brokered the protection of 370,000 acres (1,500 km ) of tropical forest in Calakmul . In another program, TNC is working to protect wildlife habitat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In 2007, the Nature Conservancy made a 161,000-acre (650 km ) purchase of New York forestland from Finch Paper Holdings LLC for $ 110 million, its largest purchase ever in that state. In June 2008, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land announced they reached an agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres (1,300 km ) of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company for $ 510 million. The purchase, known as
2632-524: The Gulf oil spill . Writer and activist Naomi Klein has strongly criticized The Nature Conservancy for earning money from an oil well on land it controls in Texas and for its continued engagement with fossil fuel companies. The Nature Conservancy responded by arguing that it had no choice, under the terms of a lease it signed years prior with an oil and gas company and later came to regret. In 2020, Bloomberg published an article claiming that some of
2726-561: The Helena Herald newspaper between 1870 and 1871. Hedges essentially restated comments made in October 1865 by acting Montana Territorial Governor Thomas Francis Meagher , who had previously commented that the region should be protected. Others made similar suggestions. An 1871 letter to Ferdinand V. Hayden from Jay Cooke , a businessman who wanted to bring tourists to the region, encouraged him to mention it in his official report of
2820-609: The Henry's Fork Caldera and depositing the Mesa Falls Tuff . Each of the three climactic eruptions released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles away. The amount of ash and gases released into the atmosphere probably caused significant impacts on world weather patterns and led to the extinction of some species, primarily in North America. A subsequent caldera-forming eruption occurred about 160,000 years ago. It formed
2914-620: The Lava Creek Tuff , a welded tuff geologic formation . The most violent known eruption, which occurred 2.1 million years ago, ejected 588 cu mi (2,450 km ) of volcanic material and created the rock formation known as the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff and the Island Park Caldera . A smaller eruption ejected 67 cu mi (280 km ) of material 1.3 million years ago, forming
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3008-664: The Mississippi Valley , indicating that a regular obsidian trade existed between local tribes and tribes farther east. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition entered present-day Montana in 1805 they encountered the Nez Perce , Crow , and Shoshone tribes who described to them the Yellowstone region to the south, but they chose not to investigate. In 1806, John Colter , a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, left to join
3102-541: The Montana Legacy Project , is part of an effort to keep these forests in productive timber management and protect the area's clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits. As a follow-on, in 2015 The Nature Conservancy made a $ 134 million transaction to purchase 165,073 acres (668.03 km ) – of forests, rivers and wildlife habitat in
3196-592: The Yellowstone Plateau , at an average elevation of 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. The plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains , which range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet (2,700 to 3,400 m) in elevation. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 feet or 3,462 metres) and the lowest is along Reese Creek (5,282 feet or 1,610 metres). Nearby mountain ranges include
3290-662: The subducted Farallon Plate in Earth's interior. The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest volcanic system in North America, and worldwide it is only rivaled by the Lake Toba Caldera on Sumatra . It has been termed a " supervolcano " because the caldera was formed by exceptionally large explosive eruptions. The magma chamber that lies under Yellowstone is estimated to be a single connected chamber, about 37 miles (60 km) long, 18 miles (29 km) wide, and 3 to 7 miles (4.8 to 11.3 km) deep. The current caldera
3384-520: The 1870s and 1880s, Native American tribes were effectively excluded from the national park. Under a half-dozen tribes had made seasonal use of the Yellowstone area- the only year-round residents were small bands of Eastern Shoshone known as " Sheepeaters ". They left the area under the assurances of a treaty negotiated in 1868, under which the Sheepeaters ceded their lands but retained the right to hunt in Yellowstone. The United States never ratified
3478-884: The Cascade Mountain Range of Washington and in the Blackfoot River Valley in Montana. The Conservancy also acquired this land from Plum Creek, including 47,921 acres (193.93 km ) in the Yakima River Headwaters in Washington and 117,152 acres (474.10 km ) in the Lower Blackfoot River Watershed in Montana. Nature United is the Canadian affiliate of The Nature Conservancy. Nature United
3572-584: The Conservancy's CEO, Jennifer Morris, charging that The Nature Conservancy was overly supportive of logging interests and the use of wood products as a natural climate solution . TNC is a member of the Forest Climate Working Group alongside wood product companies like Weyerhaeuser and Enviva , and other conservation organizations like the Trust for Public Land and American Forests . The Charity Navigator gave The Nature Conservancy
3666-490: The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Financing for this effort was organized by The Nature Conservancy's impact investing unit called NatureVest. NatureVest was created in 2014 with founding sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase with the stated goal of sourcing and putting to work at least $ 1 billion of impact investment capital for measurable conservation outcomes over three years. For their work on
3760-525: The Nature Conservancy with allegations of improper dealing and other improprieties that the Nature Conservancy contested. In part, the Post alleged the Conservancy had, time and again, bought ecologically significant tracts of land, attached some development restrictions and then resold the properties to trustees and supporters at greatly reduced prices. The sales were part of a program that limits intrusive development but generally allows buyers to build homes on
3854-626: The Nez Perce were friendly to the tourists and other people they encountered in the park; some were not. Nine park visitors were briefly taken captive. Despite Joseph and other chiefs ordering that no one should be harmed, at least two people were killed and several wounded. One of the areas where encounters occurred was in Lower Geyser Basin and east along a branch of the Firehole River to Mary Mountain and beyond. That stream
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3948-579: The Park Protection Act, which saved the park. The Lacey Act of 1900 provided legal support for the officials prosecuting poachers. With the funding and manpower necessary to keep a diligent watch, the army developed its own policies and regulations that permitted public access while protecting park wildlife and natural resources. When the National Park Service was created in 1916, many of the management principles developed by
4042-789: The Potomac River. The rural community of Nanjemoy is in the area around Nanjemoy Creek. The following variant names have been listed on the Geographic Names Information System by the United States Geological Survey . The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy ( TNC ) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia . As of 2021, it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in
4136-777: The Seychelles debt restructuring , The Nature Conservancy and JPMorgan Chase were given the FT/ITC Transformational Business Award for Achievement in Transformational Finance. The award is given by the Financial Times and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) for ground-breaking, commercially viable solutions to development challenges. The Nature Conservancy's "Plant a Billion Trees" campaign
4230-586: The Society to dissolve the committee and in 1946, Shelford and his colleagues formed the Ecologists' Union. The latter group eventually took the name "The Nature Conservancy", in emulation of the British agency of that name, which pursued a mission of conserving open space and wildlife preserves. The Nature Conservancy was incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization on October 22, 1951. As
4324-621: The US. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has over one million members globally as of 2021 and has protected more than 119 million acres (48 million ha) of land in its history. As of 2014, it is the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. The Nature Conservancy developed out of a scholarly organization initially known as the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA
4418-803: The Yellowstone area was the Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition of 1869, which consisted of three privately funded explorers. The Folsom party followed the Yellowstone River to Yellowstone Lake. The members of the Folsom party kept a journal and based on the information it reported, a party of Montana residents organized the Washburn–Langford–Doane Expedition in 1870. It was headed by the surveyor-general of Montana Henry Washburn , and included Nathaniel P. Langford (who later became known as "National Park" Langford) and
4512-477: The administration of the park was transferred to the National Park Service , which had been created the previous year. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance , and researchers have examined more than a thousand indigenous archaeological sites . Yellowstone National Park spans an area of 3,468.4 sq mi (8,983 km ), with lakes, canyons, rivers, and mountain ranges . Yellowstone Lake
4606-415: The administrative records of Yellowstone, as well as resource management records, records from major projects, and donated manuscripts and personal papers. The archives are affiliated with the National Archives and Records Administration . Yellowstone National Park occupies a roughly square parcel of volcanic complex that jogs slightly beyond the northwestern corner of Wyoming. Approximately 96 percent of
4700-536: The army were adopted by the new agency. The army turned control over to the National Park Service on October 31, 1918. In 1898, the naturalist John Muir described the park as follows: However orderly your excursions or aimless, again and again amid the calmest, stillest scenery you will be brought to a standstill hushed and awe-stricken before phenomena wholly new to you. Boiling springs and huge deep pools of purest green and azure water, thousands of them, are plashing and heaving in these high, cool mountains as if
4794-427: The atmosphere and stabilize global climate. The Nature Conservancy has over one million members across the world as of 2021 . As of 2014 , it was the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. The Nature Conservancy has ties to many large companies, including those in the oil, gas, mining, chemical and agricultural industries. As of 2016 , its board of directors included
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#17327987309994888-461: The command of George Armstrong Custer , was assigned to organize and lead an expedition to Montana and the newly established Yellowstone Park. Observations about the lawlessness and exploitation of park resources were included in Ludlow's Report of a Reconnaissance to the Yellowstone National Park . The report included letters and attachments by other expedition members, including naturalist and mineralogist George Bird Grinnell . Grinnell documented
4982-465: The companies (such as JPMorgan Chase, Disney , and BlackRock ) that purchase carbon credits from The Nature Conservancy were purchasing carbon credits for forests that did not need protection. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy partnered with Amazon to compensate local farmers for restoring and protecting rainforests in Para, Brazil . In 2022, a group of 158 conservation, environmental, and social justice non-profit organizations signed an open letter to
5076-561: The early 1980s. Ongoing poaching and destruction of natural resources continued unabated until the U.S. Army arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs in 1886 and built Camp Sheridan . Over the next 22 years, as the army constructed permanent structures, Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort Yellowstone . On May 7, 1894, the Boone and Crockett Club , acting through the personality of George G. Vest, Arnold Hague, William Hallett Phillips, W. A. Wadsworth, Archibald Rogers, Theodore Roosevelt , and George Bird Grinnell were successful in carrying through
5170-427: The early-to-mid-19th century, organized exploration did not begin until the late 1860s. Management and control of the park originally fell under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Interior , the first Secretary of the Interior to supervise the park being Columbus Delano . However, the U.S. Army was eventually commissioned to oversee the management of Yellowstone for 30 years between 1886 and 1916. In 1917,
5264-607: The federal land-use restrictions. After the park's official formation, Nathaniel Langford was appointed as the park's first superintendent in 1872 by the Secretary of Interior Columbus Delano , the first overseer and controller of the park. Langford served for five years but was denied a salary, funding, and staff. Langford lacked the means to improve the land or properly protect the park, and without formal policy or regulations, he had few legal methods to enforce such protection. This left Yellowstone vulnerable to poachers , vandals , and others seeking to raid its resources. He addressed
5358-511: The finalization of the first ever debt swap in Seychelles aimed at ocean conservation. The new protected area increases the country's marine protected waters from less than 1 percent to more than 30 percent including support for the creation of the second largest Marine Protected Area in the Western Indian Ocean. The debt swap deal was made possible through a partnership with the Seychelles Ministry of Finance, support of debt-holding nations including France, and grants from private organizations led by
5452-430: The fires, leading to a systematic re-evaluation of fire management policies. The fire season of 1988 was considered normal until a combination of drought and heat by mid-July contributed to an extreme fire danger. On " Black Saturday ", August 20, 1988, strong winds expanded the fires rapidly, and more than 150,000 acres (610 km ; 230 sq mi) burned. On October 1, 2013, Yellowstone National Park closed due to
5546-496: The land area of Yellowstone. The park is the centerpiece of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem , the largest remaining nearly intact ecosystem in the Earth's northern temperate zone . In 1978, Yellowstone was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Hundreds of species of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been documented, including several that are either endangered or threatened . The vast forests and grasslands also include unique species of plants. Yellowstone Park
5640-696: The land. The buyers then gave the Conservancy cash that was roughly equivalent to the amount of the discounts. That allowed the new owners to take significant tax deductions for charitable gifts. The Nature Conservancy suspended a range of practices shortly after the articles ran including these sales, licensing its logo to corporations whose executives sat on the Conservancy's governing board and council, all new logging and other "resource extraction activities" such as oil and gas drilling on its nature preserves, and all new loans to employees. The Conservancy launched an independent review that issued its final report in 2004, calling for sweeping reforms aimed at making
5734-469: The laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate, or settle upon, or occupy the same or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed there from ... Approved March 1, 1872. Signed by: There was considerable local opposition to Yellowstone National Park during its early years. Some of
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#17327987309995828-420: The locals feared that the regional economy would be unable to thrive if there remained strict federal prohibitions against resource development or settlement within park boundaries and local entrepreneurs advocated reducing the size of the park so that mining, hunting, and logging activities could be developed. To this end, numerous bills were introduced into Congress by Montana representatives who sought to remove
5922-404: The major geothermal areas as well as some of the lakes and waterfalls. During the winter, visitors often access the park by way of guided tours that use either snow coaches or snowmobiles . The park contains the headwaters of the Yellowstone River , from which it takes its historical name. Near the end of the 18th century, French trappers named the river Roche Jaune , which is probably
6016-442: The mountain country of present-day Wyoming, including the Grand Tetons , after joining F V. Hayden 's Geological Survey in 1873. Yount is the first national park ranger, and Yount's Peak, at the head of the Yellowstone River, was named in his honor. These measures still proved to be insufficient in protecting the park, as neither Norris nor the three superintendents who followed, were given sufficient manpower or resources. During
6110-413: The national parks. In a paper known as the Leopold Report , the committee observed that culling programs at other national parks had been ineffective, and recommended the management of Yellowstone's elk population. The wildfires during the summer of 1988 were the largest in the history of the park. Approximately 793,880 acres (3,210 km ; 1,240 sq mi) or 36% of the parkland was impacted by
6204-469: The northern entrance area in 1883, which helped to increase visitation from 300 in 1872 to 5,000 in 1883. The spur line was completed in fall of that year from Livingston to Cinnabar for stage connection to Mammoth , then in 1902 extended to Gardiner station , where passengers also switched to stagecoach . Visitors in these early years faced poor and dusty roads plus limited services, with automobiles first admitted in phases beginning only in 1915. By 1901
6298-438: The organization grew, the organization focused largely on buying as much land as possible in the name of conservation with little scientific research conducted on land before being purchased. Patrick Noonan served as President from 1973 to 1980 and spearheaded major land acquisitions, fundraising and decentralized growth of state programs. In 1970 the organization hired its first staff scientist, Robert E. Jenkins Jr., who helped
6392-422: The organization refocus its mission to conserving natural diversity. With Noonan's support, in 1974 Jenkins began to partner with state governments to develop state-by-state inventories which assembled and stored data on the "elements" of nature (e.g. rare species and natural communities) and on "element occurrences" (the specific locations where they occur), which later morphed into the Natural Heritage Network ,
6486-452: The park area itself as the central part of Yellowstone is the massive caldera of a supervolcano. The park contains 290 waterfalls of at least 15 feet (4.6 m), the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River at 308 feet (94 m). Three deep canyons are located in the park, cut through the volcanic tuff of the Yellowstone Plateau by rivers over the last 640,000 years. The Lewis River flows through Lewis Canyon in
6580-469: The park. In the northwest section of the park, new geysers were found, and many existing hot springs became turbid. It was the most powerful earthquake to hit the region in recorded history. In 1963, after several years of public controversy regarding the forced reduction of the elk population in Yellowstone, the United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall appointed an advisory board to collect scientific data to inform future wildlife management of
6674-409: The poaching of buffalo , deer , elk , and antelope for hides : "It is estimated that during the winter of 1874–1875, not less than 3,000 buffalo and mule deer suffer even more severely than the elk, and the antelope nearly as much." As a result, Langford was forced to step down in 1877. Having traveled through Yellowstone and witnessed land management problems, Philetus Norris volunteered for
6768-411: The position following Langford's exit. Congress finally saw fit to implement a salary for the position, as well as to provide minimal funding to operate the park. Norris used these funds to expand access to the park, building numerous crude roads and facilities. In 1880, Harry Yount was appointed as a gamekeeper to control poaching and vandalism in the park. Yount had previously spent decades exploring
6862-568: The practical problems park administrators faced in the 1872 Report to the Secretary of the Interior and correctly predicted that Yellowstone would become a major international attraction deserving the continuing stewardship of the government. In 1874, both Langford and Delano advocated the creation of a federal agency to protect the vast park, but Congress refused. In 1875, Colonel William Ludlow , who had previously explored areas of Montana under
6956-512: The region. During the construction of the post office in Gardiner, Montana , in the 1950s, an obsidian point of Clovis origin was found that dated from approximately 11,000 years ago. These Paleo-Indians , of the Clovis culture, used the significant amounts of obsidian found in the park to make cutting tools and weapons. Arrowheads made of Yellowstone obsidian have been found as far away as
7050-564: The relatively small caldera that contains the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake. Since the last supereruption, a series of smaller eruptive cycles between 640,000 and 70,000 years ago, has nearly filled in the Yellowstone Caldera with 80 different eruptions of rhyolitic lavas such as those that can be seen at Obsidian Cliffs and basaltic lavas which can be viewed at Sheepeater Cliff . Lava strata are most easily seen at
7144-535: The resignation of McPeek. On June 10, Luis Solorzano, executive director of The Nature Conservancy's Florida-based Caribbean chapter, became the fifth senior official to depart the organization. On June 11, The Nature Conservancy's board chairman Thomas J. Tierney announced that board member and former US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell would serve as interim CEO, effective September 2019. Yellowstone Yellowstone National Park
7238-453: The retired chairman of Duke Energy , and executives from Merck , HP , Google and several financial industry groups. It also has a Business Council which it describes as a consultative forum that includes Bank of America , BP America , Chevron , Coca-Cola , Dow Chemical , Duke Energy , General Mills , Royal Dutch Shell , and Starbucks . The organization faced criticism in 2010 from supporters for its refusal to cut ties with BP after
7332-694: The scenic resorts and baths in England, Germany, and Switzerland. THE ACT OF DEDICATION AN ACT to set apart a certain tract of land lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River as a public park. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming ... is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under
7426-652: The south, and the Yellowstone River has carved two colorful canyons, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in its journey north. Yellowstone is at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain , a great bow-shaped arc through the mountains that extends roughly 400 miles (640 km) from the park to the Idaho-Oregon border. The volcanism of Yellowstone
7520-533: The supposedly mystical place was nicknamed " Colter's Hell ". Over the next 40 years, numerous reports from mountain men and trappers told of boiling mud, steaming rivers, and petrified trees, yet most of these reports were believed at the time to be a myth. After an 1856 exploration, mountain man Jim Bridger (also believed to be the first or second European American to have seen the Great Salt Lake ) reported observing boiling springs, spouting water, and
7614-583: The surrounding ecosystems. The Heritage and Research Center is located at Gardiner, Montana, near the north entrance to the park. The center is home to the Yellowstone National Park's museum collection, archives, research library, historian, archeology lab, and herbarium . The Yellowstone National Park Archives maintain collections of historical records of Yellowstone and the National Park Service. The collection includes
7708-579: The survey. Cooke wrote that his friend, Congressman William D. Kelley had also suggested " Congress pass a bill reserving the Great Geyser Basin as a public park forever". In 1871, eleven years after his failed first effort, Ferdinand V. Hayden was finally able to explore the region. With government sponsorship, he returned to the region with a second, larger expedition, the Hayden Geological Survey of 1871 . He compiled
7802-461: The total land area of Yellowstone National Park is located within the state of Wyoming. Another three percent is within Montana, with the remaining one percent in Idaho. Montana's portion of Yellowstone contains multiple trails, facilities and swimming holes, while the Idaho portion of the park is completely undeveloped. The irregular eastern boundary of the national park follows the height of land along
7896-534: The traditional log cabin style with design features of a modern style. During the late 1980s, most construction styles in Yellowstone reverted to the more traditional designs. After the enormous forest fires of 1988 damaged much of Grant Village , structures there were rebuilt in the traditional style. The visitor center at Canyon Village , which opened in 2006, incorporates a more traditional design as well. The 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake just west of Yellowstone at Hebgen Lake damaged roads and some structures in
7990-516: The treaty and refused to recognize the claims of the Sheepeaters or any other tribe that had used Yellowstone. The Nez Perce band associated with Chief Joseph , numbering about 750 people, passed through Yellowstone National Park in thirteen days in late August 1877. They were being pursued by the U.S. Army and entered the national park about two weeks after the Battle of the Big Hole . Some of
8084-435: The utilitarian vision of maximum exploitation of natural resources , a characteristic of developers in the late 19th century. Second was the spiritual vision of nature inspired by Romanticism and the transcendentalists in the mid-19th century. The twentieth century saw the biocentric moral vision that focuses on the health of the ecosystem as theorized by Aldo Leopold , which led to the expansion of federally protected areas and
8178-430: The world and record this action on the website as a tally. Its "Plant a Billion Trees" campaign in Brazil aims to restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest by planting native trees on 2.5 million acres (10,000 km ) that have been deforested . The Plant a Billion Trees campaign has also been identified as a tool to help slow climate change with forest restoration being an effective way to help regulate emissions in
8272-567: The world. The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features , especially the Old Faithful geyser , one of its most popular. While it represents many types of biomes , the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion . While Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years, aside from visits by mountain men during
8366-406: Was created by a cataclysmic eruption that occurred 640,000 years ago, which released more than 240 cu mi (1,000 km ) of ash, rock and pyroclastic materials. This eruption was more than 1,000 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens . It produced a caldera nearly 5 ⁄ 8 mi (1.0 km) deep and 45 by 28 miles (72 by 45 km) in area and deposited
8460-440: Was cut, and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously in Yellowstone and other national parks. To accommodate the increased visitation, park officials implemented Mission 66 , an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities. Planned to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66 construction diverged from
8554-483: Was encouraged to preserve it for others to see and experience it as well. In 1873, Congress authorized and funded a survey to find a wagon route to the park from the south which was completed by the Jones Expedition of 1873 . Eventually the railroads and, sometime after that, the automobile would make that possible. The park was not set aside strictly for ecological purposes. Hayden imagined something akin to
8648-701: Was founded as a Canadian charity in 2014, building on decades of conservation in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, the organization has field staff located across the country. Nature United supports Indigenous leadership, sustainable economic development, and large-scale conservation, primarily in the Great Bear Rainforest, Clayoquot Sound, the Northwest Territories, and northern Manitoba. In December 2015, The Nature Conservancy announced
8742-419: Was founded in 1915, and later formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, headed by Victor Shelford . The primary aim of Shelford was to find areas of land that would be beneficial for long-term research. By the 1930s, Shelford and his colleagues such as Aldo Leopold increasingly sought to advocate for conservation. The divide in viewpoints regarding scholarship or advocacy led
8836-553: Was named Nez Perce Creek in memory of their trail through the area. A group of Bannocks entered the park in 1878, alarming park Superintendent Philetus Norris. In the aftermath of the Sheepeater Indian War of 1879, Norris built a fort to prevent Native Americans from entering the national park. The Northern Pacific Railroad built a train station in Livingston, Montana , as a gateway terminus to connect to
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