Yellowstone National Park
Katie Fehribach, Dave
Luketic, Maureen McBride,
and Erik Elam
Location
 Yellowstone National Park is located in Idaho,
Wyoming, and Montana
 It spans 3,472 square miles
 96% of the park is located in Wyoming
 Another 3% is in Montana
 And 1% is in Idaho
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First and oldest National Park
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Geography
The continental divide of North
America runs diagonally through
the southwestern part of the
park
The park sits high upon a plateau and is nearly surrounded by
mountain ranges on all sides of the Middle Rocky Mountains
The major feature of the Yellowstone Plateau is the Yellowstone
Caldera, which is nearly filled with volcanic debris. Within the
caldera lies most of Yellowstone Lake which is the largest highelevation lake in North America
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 The park is famous for its various geysers, hot
springs, and other geothermal features --and is
home to grizzly bears, wolves, and free-ranging
herds of bison and elk. It is the core of the Greater
Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the largest intact
temperate zone ecosystems remaining on the planet.
 Long before any recorded human history in
Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an
immense volume of ash that covered all of the
western U.S., much of the Midwest, northern
Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific Coast.
The eruption dwarfed that of Mt. St. Helens in
1980 and left a huge caldera.
 The park was named for the yellow rocks seen in the
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone - a deep gash in the
Yellowstone Plateau that was formed by floods
during previous ice ages and by river erosion from
the Yellowstone River.
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Mountain Ranges that Surround the
National Park:
* Gallatin Range (to the north-west
* Beartooth Mountains (to the north)
* Absaroka Mountains (south-east corner)
* Teton Mountains (to the south)
* Madison Range (to the west)
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Some things to do…
Fishing
Biking
Boating
Backpacking and Backcountry Camping
Yellowstone has a designated backcountry
campsite system, where each campsite has
a maximum limit for the number of people
allowed per night. The maximum stay per
campsite varies from one to three nights
per trip.
Horseback Riding
Picnicking
Hiking
History of Yellowstone
National Park
 Timeline of Yellowstone
 THE ICE AGE: 300,00 to 8,500 Years Ago
 Three glaciers swept through leaving behind the present
landscape.
 This ice slowly melted around 15,000 years ago
 The melted ice left behind broad hills, lake sediments of silt,
sand, and gravel, large river valleys.
 Yellowstone Hotspot
 Located under the eastern Snake River Plain
 The volcanic activity in Yellowstone also added to it unique
features and landscape
 Caldara Formed 2 Million to 600,000 Years Ago
 A huge volcanic blast created the Yellowstone Caldera, an
enormous crater more than 1,000 square miles in area and
1,000 feet deep.
History Of Yellowstone
National Park
 The Native American Minnetaree tribe called the river "Mi tsi
a da zi," which means "Rock Yellow River.“
 Yellowstone is historically credited to the Native Americans
who lived in and around the park area.
 The Yellowstone River has high yellow rock cliffs along its
banks in the northern area of the present day park.
 French fur trappers translated this to "Yellow Stone." and
Yellowstone was named.
History of Yellowstone
National Park
 Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic
eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western
U.S. The eruption dwarfed that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980.
 This eruption formed the many beautiful geological features formed
what is present day
1872 - On March 1, President Ulysses Grant signed into existence the world's
first national park.
 "set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and
enjoyment of the people”
 Yellowstone National Park at first was 2.2 million acres of wilderness
1894 -- The Lacey Act was passed by Congress, giving full protection to
wildlife in Yellowstone Park.
1929 -- The east boundary and northwest corner of the Park were enlarged
Geologic Features
Geysers
Hot Springs
Mud Pots
Fumaroles
Rivers
Geysers
Geyser Basins
1) Norris Geyser Basin
2) Upper Geyser Basin
3) West Thumb
4) Midway
5) Lower
Famous Geysers
1) Old Faithful
2) Steamboat Geyser
3) Euchinus Geyser
4) Great Fountain Geyser
5) Castle Geyser
How Do Geysers Work?
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Geysers need water, heat and pressure to
work.
A geyser is a hole in the ground that often
releases bursts of steam and hot water.
When water seeps into the ground it can
get heated up deep beneath the earths
surface by boiling hot liquid rock – magma.
When water gets heated it expands and
rises. The water particles move around
really quickly and the water rushes to
escape.
When the water finds a place to escape out
of the ground it usually does it in a rush and
that’s when a geyser is formed
Hot Springs
 Mammoth Hot
Springs
Terraces
Travertine
Limestone
How a Hot Spring Works
Fumeroles
 Steam Vents
Black
Growler
Steam Vent
Mud Pots
 Indian, Artist, and Fountain Paint Pots
 What Causes Mud Pots
Rivers and their Features
- Yellowstone River
- Firehole River
- Gibbon River
Wildlife
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The Grizzly Bear is a
powerful predator, capable of
out sprinting a horse, and
weighing as much as 350-600
pounds. Grizzlies are
omnivorous, meaning they eat
both meat and plants. In
Yellowstone, grizzlies feed on
elk, trout, bison carrion,
pinenuts, grasses, roots, and
berries.
The elk is the most abundant
of the big game animals of
Yellowstone Park. Oftentimes
reaching the size of a large
horse, elk can be seen
throughout Yellowstone yeararound. The cows and calves
oftentimes travel in large
groups of a hundred or more
during the summer months,
while the males tend to travel
by themselves or in very small
groups, feeding on grasses
and tree twigs.
 Moose browse on twigs and leaves.
Willows are an important food source,
and moose also feed on submerged
aquatic plants. Moose are dark in color
ranging from brown to black. The moose
also has long legs which are an
adaptation to the thick marshes where
it feeds and to a habitat that is
covered by deep snow much of the
year.
 The bison (often referred to as
buffalo) is truly a majestic animal. An
adult bull bison may be six feet tall at
the shoulder and weigh 2,000 pounds.
Females look like the males except that
they are smaller and have more slender
horns.
Undoubtedly, one of the more popular
species now found in Yellowstone Park is
the gray wolf (Canis lupus). The adult
male gray wolf stands 26 to 38 inches
high at the shoulder and is usually 40 to
58 inches in length (excluding the tail).
Males are 15 to 20 percent larger than
females. The weight of gray wolves
varies from 40 to 175 pounds.
Although the coyotes fur varies in color,
the majority of adults have grizzled grey
coats with a white underbelly, bushy tail,
and reddish hair on their legs. On
average, coyotes weigh between 30 and
40 pounds, about half that of a wolf.
 Mule deer, also known as
black-tail deer, are ideally
suited to the rugged slopes
of the Rocky Mountains. A
large number inhabit the
park in summer, but most
migrate to lower
elevations, or "winter
range" outside the park in
the winter.
 Bald eagles are one of two
species of eagle in
Yellowstone, the other is
the golden eagle. They are
raptors and carnivores,
seeking a diet of fish,
waterfowl, rodents and
small mammals. They also
scavenge from the
carcasses of large animals
such as elk and bison.
Viewing Wildlife
 Yellowstone's abundant and
diverse wildlife are as famous
as its geysers. Habitat
preferences and seasonal
cycles of movement determine,
in a general sense, where a
particular animal may be at a
particular time. Early morning
and evening hours are when
animals tend to be feeding and
thus are more easily seen.
 Use binoculars or telephoto
lenses for safe viewing and to
avoid disturbing them. By
being sensitive to its needs,
you will see more of an
animal's natural behavior and
activity. If you cause an
animal to move, you are too
close!
Forest Fire in Yellowstone
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1988 -- The worst fire season in Yellowstone's history took place.
Several small wild fires ignited in Yellowstone National Park. Initially
they met the conditions of the prescribed natural fire policy and
were allowed to continue burning
The conditions of the fires quickly changed
Nearly 800,000 acres of Yellowstone were burned in the summer.
The fires burned some 1.4 million acres in the Yellowstone ecosystem
between June and October.
Forest Fire in Yellowstone
 On the worst single day, August 20, 1988,
tremendous winds pushed fire across more
than 150,000 acres spreading the fire
 25,000 firefighters and $120 million dollars
did little to stop the massive flames.
 Yellowstone has an average of 22 fires each
year.
 Vegetation has adapted to fire and in some
cases is dependent on fires.
 Fire is a major role in the development of
the unique ecosystem.
Wildfires
 Landscapes such as those
seen in Yellowstone have
long been shaped by fire and
not just the cool, creeping
ground fires often
described as "good" for
grass production. The
natural history of fire in the
park includes large-scale
conflagrations sweeping
across the park’s vast
volcanic plateaus, hot, winddriven fires torching up the
trunks to the crowns of the
pine and fir trees at several
hundred-year intervals.
Fire Adapting Plants
 Many of Yellowstone’s plant species are fire-adapted.
Some (not all) of the lodgepole pines (Pinus contorta),
which make up nearly 80% of the park’s extensive
forests, have cones that are serotinous sealed by resin
until the intense heat of fire cracks the bonds and
releases the seeds inside. Fires may stimulate
regeneration of sagebrush, aspen, and willows, but the
interactions between these plants and fire is
complicated by other influences such as grazing levels
and climate. Though above-ground parts of grasses and
forbs are consumed by flames, the below-ground root
systems typically remain unharmed, and for a few years
after fire these plants commonly increase in
productivity.
Wildfire of 1988
 In the first sixteen years of Yellowstone’s natural fire policy
(1972-1987), 235 fires were allowed to burn 33,759 acres. Only
15 of those fires were larger than 100 acres, and all of the fires
were extinguished naturally.
 The summer of 1988 turned out to be the driest in the park’s
recorded history. By July 15, only 8,500 acres had burned in the
entire greater Yellowstone area. Still, due to continued dry
conditions, on July 21 by which time fire activity had become
noticeable to park visitors and to the national media the decision
was made to suppress all fires. But within a week, fires within
the park alone encompassed more nearly 99,000 acres, and by
the end of the month, dry fuels and high winds combined to
make the larger fires nearly uncontrollable.
Sources
 www.nps.gov
 http://www.yellowstone-natl-park.com/
 http://www.yellowstone.net/