From Grizzlies to Geysers:Creating the Atlas of

Yellowstone

Ann Rodman, Andrew Marcus, Jim Meacham, Alethea Steingisser, & Carrie Guiles

Yellowstone National Park & University of Oregon

The Atlas Concept The Atlas of Yellowstone will be a

comprehensive, authoritative reference.

~300 pages that are 9.5” wide by 13.5” tall, including:• introductory materials• topical coverage – the majority

of the atlas• 42 reference map pages• index

The Atlas Concept - contents

Human and Economic Geography

Yellowstone in the WorldEarly MapsAmerican IndiansArcheologyExplorationHistory of the ParkManaging the ParkEarly TourismPopulation Density and GrowthIncome and EducationEconomic ActivityLand Ownership

Themes for all topics

Variations Connections Human Imprint Importance

Physical Geography

LandformsCross-sectionsGeologyGeothermal ActivityGlaciationClimateWaterVegetationFire HistoryWildlife

The “variations” themeThe Yellowstone environment is constantly changing over time scales

ranging from the geologic to the almost instantaneous

and over spatial scales ranging from the microscopic to the regional.

The “connections” themeYellowstone does not exist in isolation.

Yellowstone influences places far removed from the park boundaries.

What occurs in other places affects Yellowstone

The “human imprint” theme

The unintentional consequences of human actions, and the subsequent efforts taken to address those consequences.

The interplay of human and natural processes

Grizzly bears

Cutthroat trout

The importance of Yellowstone

For inspiring conservation and

preservation efforts locally and throughout

the world.

The Atlas Concept – page pairs

Process – working with experts

What are the big stories?

Is there data?

Is the data accessible?

Map, graph, chart, or text?

Make the story clear.

Process – capturing the stories

Flip Chart list

Mockup

Mock-up – Bison page

08/05

Draft 1 – Bison page

12/06

Draft 2 – Bison page

01/07

Draft 3 – Bison page

02/07

Draft 4 – Bison page

03/07

Draft 5 – Bison page

09/07

Process – Data SourcesNOAA Thermal Springs of the US Database

YELL Thermal Inventory

YELL Thermal

Inventory

Low Resolution Thermal Imagery

High Resolution

Thermal

Imagery Geyser

observations (historical and

electronic)

USGS

Process – Production workflow

• Gather Content/Data• Yellowstone, Universities• Internet• Publications

• Data Exploration• ArcGIS

• Map Design• Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop• Natural Scene Designer

• Final map designs and page layout• Adobe Illustrator

Weekly meetings anddaily emails

Early Maps1860

1870

18691872

1865

1871 - Hayden

Early Explorers

First Euro-American contact, 1806-1813

Journeys of a Trapper, 1835 – 1840

The Search for Gold, 1863 – 1970

Exploration, 1860 – 1870

Surveys, 1871 - 1872

American Indians

Glaciation

Rivers

1988 Fires

Wildlife Distribution

New Reference Maps – 1:200K

New Reference Maps – 1:100K

Acknowledgements

Contributions by:

Many, many subject matter experts and cartographic technicians

Yellowstone National Park, Allan Cartography, UO Department of Geography, UO InfoGraphics Lab, Montana State University, MSU Big Sky Institute, University of Wyoming,

Editorial team:W. Andrew Marcus, Senior EditorJames E. Meacham, Cartographic EditorAnn Rodman, Yellowstone Editor

Alethea Steingisser, Cartographic Production

Seed Funding provided by: Yellowstone Park Foundation, Canon USA, and University of Oregon