YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK PUBLIC SAFETY - 1999
Yellowstone National Park (YNP) is protected by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of Interior. (DOI is a nationwide Federal agency). Police, fire, and emergency medical services are provided by members of the YNP Division of Visitor and Resource Protection.
YNP spreads out over 3,472 square miles of rugged wilderness amonst which are scattered 5 major developments / villages and 7 smaller developments. On a busy summer night 350 fulltime NPS employees, 4000 seasonal employees, and 13,000 guests will call YNP home. There are more than 1,500 structures in YNP - including - 8 multistory hotel/lodges, 40 multi story dorms for workers, 5 large warehouses, 14 stores, 8 steam plants, 3 large restaurants, 35 propane tank farms, 23 gasoline stations, 2 LP gas service stations, 460 house trailers, 180 NPS employee homes.
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Division of Visitor and Resource Protection
1994 Info - 54 permanent law enforcement rangers - 66 seasonal law enforcement rangers - 4 SCUBA certified rangers - 603 motor vehicle accidents - 572 basic EMS calls - 145 ALS calls - 43 patients transported via helo ambulances from Idaho and Montana - NPS has 29 First Responders, 83 EMTs, and 10 Park Medics - Clinics at Old Faithful and Mammoth - Hospital at Lake Village - 11 ranger stations - 9 ambulances - 1 YNP Comm Center with 8 staffers.
Radio Freqs - ?166Mhz - ?164Mhz - ?411 links - ?414Mhz links
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Branch of Emergency Services
Structural Fire Units - 1994
Mammoth Village
Eng 1 - 1993 Pierce 1250 GPM / 750 gal tank
Eng 2 - 1991 Pierce 1250/600
Rescue - Jaws
Haz Mat Trailer
Tower Village
Eng 21 - 1964 International 500/250
Beartooth Village
Eng 22 - 1960 Jeep 500/250
Madison Village
Eng 32 - 1964 International 750/200
Old Faithful Village
Eng 45 - 1991 Pierce 1250/600 - ?Jaws
Eng 46 - 1971 Ford 1000/500
Eng 47 - 1990 LMC All Trac - snow tractor - 500GPM
Grant Village
Eng 51 - 1977 International 750/500
Eng 52 - 1971 Ford 1000/500
Lake Village
Eng 61 - 1983 Pirsch 1000/500 - ?Jaws
Eng 62 - 1975 Ford 1000/500
Haz Mat Trailer
Canyon Village
Eng 85 - 1979 International 750/500
East Entrance Ranger Station
Fire Trailer - ?200 gallons with pump
NorthEast Entrance Ranger Station
Fire Trailer -
Beckler Ranger Station
Fire Trailer
South Entrance Ranger Station
Fire Trailer
May 1995 - have 1 set of Jaws and 2 portapowers - 911 + pagers are used - new Mammoth Fire Station being built
Wildland Fire Protection
1 helo onduty in the summer plus 2 wildland engines
March 1999 Update from the Park Fire Management Officer - 11 structural engines - 2 wildland engines (a Model 61 and a 200 gallon sliponpumper on a pickup truck chassis) - 1 contract helo based at Mammouth in the summer - YNP owned horses and mules are not used by fire mgmt crews but they are used by trail mtnce crews and police officers
6/99 Hiring - seek Forestry Technician Dispatcher - GS4 - $19,000 to $21,000 salary - ?shared position between Resource Management Division and Visitor Protection Division - is assistant dispatcher for Mammoth Emergency Operations Cache - handles helo ops and fire suppression - assists on park emergencies - works under the Fire Dispatcher - operates radios and computers - wildfire operations - dormitory housing is provided and required - (there is a clinic in Mammoth for health care)
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March 2000 State of the Park Report
The entire State of the Park report is available (in PDF format) at www.nps.gov/yell/stateofthepark.htm
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Email Addresses for Yellowstone Natl Park - April 2000
Bison Danger - Geyser Explodes - Roads Open - May 8, 2000
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Thorofare Ranger Station - July 2000
A few months ago a sports utility vehicle manufacturer contacted Brattleboro, Vermont-based Cartographic Technologies and asked the following question: what inhabited place in the lower 48 states is the most distant from a publicly maintained road? Susan Boswell, president of Cartographic Technologies, took up the challenge. Pouring over Census Bureau records, Boswell was surprised to discover just how highly built-up America is. And after crunching the numbers, Boswell found the answer: the most remote inhabited place in the lower 48 states is the Thorofare Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park.
Located in the southeastern corner of Yellowstone, the Thorofare Ranger Station is 20 miles away from the nearest road. The station, located near the Continental Divide, consists of a cabin, barn and corral. Ranger Lloyd Kortge mans the station, living in the cabin part of the year. To get to the station, one has to go Yellowstone's East Entrance road and head south by horseback. The shortest route from the East Entrance road is 32 miles by trail.
Boswell's findings are important for several reasons. For starters, they reveal that even the remote areas of America are not very remote. In her own words, roads are very pervasive and "uncomfortably close." And secondly, the findings clearly portray what many of us who live and work in the Yellowstone region already knew: despite the traffic jams that clog the roads in the summer months, Yellowstone National Park is yet a wild and untamed wonderland once one steps into the backcountry.
http://www.yellowstone.net
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27 August 2000 - The Columbus OH Dispatch runs a major article detailing the consequences of the 1988 fires on YNP. Multiple tree saplings are now growing throughout the burnt areas. A bigger threat is seen from the advances of non-native fauna and flora. (Bottom line - the fires of 1988 did not have a major impact on the animals nor the vegetation on YNP). Fire breaks constructed during the 1988 fires have helped to contain wildfires burniing during the hot, dry summer of 2000. (I have the newspaper article in storage at 45peter/yellowstoneXXXXXX)
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BECHLER AREA DEVELOPMENT PLAN - by National Park Service - October 2000
Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael V. Finley has announced that the park is soliciting comments on the issues and alternatives to be considered in an environmental assessment (EA) for a development concept plan (DCP) for the Bechler area. Visitor facilities and employee housing at Bechler are inadequate. The park is proposing construction of a new visitor contact station that adequately accommodates visitor services, emergency services, and storage. Housing for seasonal employees is also needed.
The Bechler area is located 26 miles from Ashton, Idaho, at the end of a twelve-mile gravel road, and is not accessible by any of the major park roads. Employees living at Bechler provide information and emergency services to visitors, protect park resources, and provide boundary patrol in this isolated region of the park.
The average annual number of visitors to the Bechler Ranger Station is between 5000 and 6500. Many visitors come from Jackson, Wyoming; Idaho Falls, Island Park, and Rexberg, Idaho. Backcountry use in the area is significant. Bechler is a major trailhead for hikers and horseback riders traveling through the backcountry to Old Faithful.�
One ranger and only three or four visitors can be accommodated in the existing 11' x 13' ranger station. The building is unheated and uninsulated. Employees typically reside in the historic soldier station (a duplex) and a trailer. The four-room trailer provides sleeping quarters only. The trailer has no plumbing, so employees share the kitchen and bathroom in the duplex.
The DCP/EA is being written in preparation for future development at Bechler. If funding should become available through the Fee Demonstration program to build a new visitor contact facility or if funding becomes available through the National Park Service trailer replacement program or through other funding sources to build employee housing, the planning and compliance process will be complete.
To assist the National Park Service with the Bechler Area DCP/EA, you are invited to comment on the issues and identify alternatives or other concerns that need to be considered in this process. Please send your comments by November 3, 2000 to: Planning Office, Bechler Area DCP/EA, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. The EA should be available for public review fall/winter 2000.
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www.yellowstone.net/wildfires2000.html - info on the fires of 2000 and fire ecology
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Updated - 1 April 2000 - added SOTP - 8 May 2000 - added bison danger - 11July00 - Thorofare RS - 26Aug00 - 88 Fire effects - 10Oct00 - Bechler + wildfires 2000 link
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