Grand Teton

Creature Feature: The American Marten

The American Marten is a rare North Woods animal that you'll probably never see, save for paw prints in the snow. This brown, bushy-tailed little critter, which looks something like a cross between a mink and a house-cat, was prized for its luxurious fur and darn near trapped to extinction in the United States during the 19th century. Today, despite habitat losses and related problems, the American Marten still inhabits much of its historical range.

Centennial Projects: Fighting Mosquitoes in Grand Teton National Park

Fighting mosquitoes is one of the ways the folks at Grand Teton National Park want to mark the National Park Service's centennial in 2016. Really.

NPS Snowmobile Plan for Yellowstone, Grand Teton Bucks Science, the Public, and Itself

Yellowstone National Park planners seem to have shunted aside science, the public, even their own management guidelines, in their desire to see more snowmobiles in the park by backing a final Environmental Impact Statement on snowmobile use that favors more of the machines in the park than have been in use in recent years. Yet to be seen is whether Park Service Director Mary Bomar will override Yellowstone officials.

If You Have to Ask the Price, The Ahwahnee And Jenny Lake Lodge Are Probably Out of Reach

Earlier this summer we ran a list of the Top 10 Lodges in the park system. Admittedly it's a "soft" list, one that definitely is not objective. But what some might find objectionable are the nightly costs for staying in some of these places.

Is There Any Better Time to Visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton Than Fall?

Fall is one of my favorite times to head to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The aspen glades are igniting in gold, maples add a splash of rouge, the conifers a dense green background, and the sky overhead often is clear and blue. Animals are on the move as well, with the elk moving into their rut, bison heading to river bottoms, bears foraging to bulk up, and wolves following the bison and elk.

Dry Conditions Blamed For Bear Problems in Grand Teton, Yosemite

Unseasonably dry conditions are believed to be behind bear problems in both Grand Teton and Yosemite national parks this year, according to officials in those parks.

Grand Teton Puts Down Another Bear

It's beginning to sound like open season for black bears in Grand Teton National Park. For the third time in less than a month rangers have killed a black bear that had grown too accustomed to tying humans to food. This time the bear was a 60-pound male.

Another Black Bear in Grand Teton Put Down

Grand Teton National Park officials have had to kill another black bear that had become accustomed to linking humans with food. This is the second bear in less than a week that park officials killed because it had become habituated to human food.

Grand Teton Bears, Update

I recently was wondering how many citations Grand Teton National Park rangers have handed out to folks for either feeding bears or making food available to them. Well, so far this year 43 warnings have been written, along with 63 citations.

Black Bear Put Down in Grand Teton. How Many Visitors Ticketed For Providing Food?

A press release from Grand Teton National Park arrived in my in-box this morning, informing me that a 6-year-old female black bear had been put down because it had become habituated to human food. While the release gave a pretty good history of the bear's short life, it never mentioned how many tickets have been written to park visitors and employees for making food available to bears in the park.

91st Anniversary for National Park Service

91 years ago today, Congress approved a bill which is now simply known within the Park Service as the Organic Act. On August 25th each year, those close to the parks recognize today as Founder's Day. There are a number of events happening around the country in honor of the day, here are just a few.

Vice President Cheney To Dedicate Grand Teton Visitor Center

If you're planning to be in Grand Teton National Park on Saturday, you'll be sharing the park with the vice president of the United States, the Department of Interior secretary, and the National Park Service director. All will be at Moose to dedicate the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.

Protecting Grand Teton from Drilling Projects

Wyoming is home to some of the Lower 48's greatest energy resources, particularly natural gas. The southwestern corner of the state currently is the hot spot in terms of energy exploration, and one area companies have their eyes on is the Wyoming Range. Some Interior Department officials, however, are opposed to drilling there, saying it could be detrimental to Grand Teton's wildlife and scenery.

Blue Angels Fly By Grand Tetons

The Blue Angles buzzed past the Grand Tetons on Wednesday for a photo opportunity. Park regulations ask that no plane fly closer than 2000 feet above the ground.

Fire Danger Rating In Yellowstone, Grand Teton "Very High" and "Extreme"

Precipitation in the Rockies has been below normal, temperatures have been above normal. Those two conditions alone are creating very dangerous fire conditions in the national parks. In Yellowstone and Grand Teton, for example, officials have rated the fire danger at "extreme."

The Essential Grand Teton

Grand Teton National Park holds up western Wyoming's border, soaring to nearly 14,000 feet. While the young crags with their snowfields hold your eye, there's much more to do in this park than grab a rope and ice axe and climb to the roof.

Senate Appropriations Committee Backs Snowmobiles in Yellowstone

What do the National Park Service hierarchy and members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee know about snowmobiles and their impacts that Yellowstone's scientists, the Environmental Protection Agency, and seven former NPS directors don't know?

EPA Takes Issue With Yellowstone's Winter Use DEIS

The EPA in its formal comments to the Yellowstone snomobile DEIS says the parks' preference to allow as many as 720 snowmobiles in Yellowstone on a daily basis in winter "may not ensure adequate resource protection" and would result in much more pollution than the snowcoach-only alternative.

Secretary Kempthorne Won't Oversee Snowmobile Decision

Apparently Mr. Kempthorne won't get involved. You see, it turns out that the Interior secretary has recused himself from taking any action on the snowmobile plan because of his former role as governor of Idaho, which holds a stake, albeit small, in the outcome of this issue, which leaves the door open for Lynn Scarlett to step in.

Grizzly Attacks Man in Grand Teton

By now you've probably heard about the grizzly attack in Grand Teton National Park. Fifty-four-year-old Dennis VanDenbos was out for an early morning hike yesterday on the Wagon Road below the corrals at Jackson Lake Lodge and surprised a sow and her three cubs.

Yellowstone's Winter Use Plan: Comment Now

Time is running out to comment on Yellowstone's winter-use management plan. The deadline is midnight, local time, tomorrow night. You can comment online at this site. For what it's worth, here's what I had to say:

Yellowstone's Snowmobile Public Meetings

While most of the attention on national parks has been focused this week on the roll-out of Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's report on the Centennial Initiative, there was other news involving parks.

Top Trails: Yellowstone & Grand Teton

You'll find all sorts of charts that let you know whether a particular hike is one-way or roundtrip, steep or level, good for mountain bikers or equestrians, child friendly, and on and on. In fact, the charts and their symbols are so plentiful that the book actually takes a section to explain how to use this information.

Colter Bay Cabins: Nice, But Hot

So you want to visit Grand Teton National Park but are wondering where to stay.

National Parks With Kids

What I liked about working on National Parks With Kids is that it allowed me to take a slightly different look at the parks. For sure, parks are family friendly. But when you're trying to guide families with young kids into the parks, well, you can't focus on 18-mile round-trip hikes and scaling the Grand Teton.