Yellowstone ScienceA quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural sciences

Volume 2 Number 4

Lake Trout InvasionEocene Fossil FindTracking Lions IIWinter History

Yellowstone Science

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tional opportunities, really are.One item of news not included in this

issue’s “News and Notes” is in fact verygood news. The Yellowstone Associa-tion, at its board meeting in early Octo-ber, has funded a third year of Yellow-stone Science. With this issue we com-plete our second year of publication,and we thank not only the YellowstoneAssociation but also the many peoplewho have written for or otherwise con-tributed to this little enterprise. It isapparent that not only does Yellow-stone have an endless number of storiesto tell us, but that we have a more or lessinsatiable appetite to hear them.

We have expanded our “News andNotes” section in this issue of Yellow-stone Science, largely because of im-portant stories that required more thanthe usual few paragraphs. Our leadnews story is a frightening one, aboutthe establishment of non–native laketrout in Yellowstone Lake, one of thelast great strongholds of the Yellow-stone cutthroat trout. We can expect tobe reporting on this story as it developsfor a long time; the unanimous opinionamong the fisheries biologists withwhom we’ve spoken is that Yellow-stone will be dealing with the conse-quences of this regrettable invasion farinto the future.

The death of Ranger Ryan Weltmanis a great loss that affected many parkstaff this summer, all the more becausehe is the second ranger to die in the lineof duty this year. Human tragedies likethese make all the consternation andconfusion over this or that resource is-sue pale to insigificance, reminding usof what is really important here.

Our story about the fossil discoveryalong the East Entrance Road is as ex-citing as the lake trout story is dismay-ing. The collection of plant fossilsopened a small but significant windowon Yellowstone’s remote past, remind-ing us again of how diverseYellowstone’s resources, and educa-

News, Bad and Good

U.S. Geological Survey Plate XXXIX

Spike Geyser Heart Lake Basin

Summer 1994

Yellowstone ScienceA quarterly publication devoted to the natural and cultural sciences

Volume 2 Number 4 Summer 1994

Table of Contents

Yellowstone Science is published quarterly, and submissions are welcome from all investigatorsconducting formal research in the Yellowstone area. Editorial correspondence should be sent tothe Editor, Yellowstone Science, Yellowstone Center for Resources, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone

National Park, WY 82190.

The opinions expressed in Yellowstone Science are the authors' and may not reflect eitherNational Park Service policy or the views of the Yellowstone Center for Resources.

Copyright © 1994, the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education.

Support for Yellowstone Science is provided by the Yellowstone Association for NaturalScience, History & Education, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the

park and its visitors. For more information about the Yellowstone Association, includingmembership, write to P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190.

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Editor

Paul SchulleryArt Director

Renée EvanoffAssociate Editor

Sarah Broadbent Intern

Wendy DespainResearch

Mark JohnsonPrinting

Artcraft Inc.Bozeman, Montana

Bob Wiesner

The Yellowstone LionThe tracking, capture, and handling of lions in therugged backcountry along the northern edge of Yellowstoneproved to be a great adventure as well as an extremely productivescientific study.part two of an interview with Kerry Murphy

Bark eating by Yellowstone ElkResearch following the Yellowstone fires of 1988revealed that some elk are eager to eat the burnt bark oflodgepole pines. New information expands our understandingof that process.by Jeff Henry

Yellowstone's First Winter Wildlife SurveyThomas Elwood Hofer, one of Yellowstone's most colorfulearly guides and observers, skiied through much of the parkin the winter of 1887, returning with a remarkable account ofwintering animals.by Paul Schullery

News and NotesNon-native lake trout invade Yellowstone Lake • East Entranceroad construction uncovers important fossil find • Ranger RyanWeltman dies in boating accident • Hantavirus policy available •Non-wood "boardwalk" experiment in the geyser basin

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On the cover: Like a 3-D mirrorimage, the contours of this fossilleaf are revealed in one of thespecimens found during roadconstruction on the East En-trance Road. See the story onpage 17. Photo by Jim Peaco.

Yellowstone Science2

Yellowstone Science Interview: Kerry Murphy

The Yellowstone Lion

Kerry and Bob w/kittens

to verify that the lion was not collared.YS So it might take days or weeks tofind a fresh track, even from a lion youknew was in the area?KM That’s right. But remember thatwe worked almost entirely on foot, andthat a lion could range over an area ofmore than 50 square miles during thewinter. There were individual lionswhose sign we saw for as long as 18months before we could catch themwith the dogs. The males were espe-cially difficult. They were easy to de-tect, but hard to catch up with becausethey travelled so far and used so manydifferent watersheds.

So our usual methodology was toleave the trailhead and cover an area

All photos courtesy Bob Wiesner

In our previous issue, we discussedwith Kerry Murphy the history and re-sults of his 5-year study of Yellowstonemountain lions. In this issue, we followKerry through the process of capturing,handling, and releasing a lion. Kerryhas offered to write up more of theresults of his team’s work for futureissues of Yellowstone Science, and welook forward to that information. Ed.

YS Let us follow you on a typical dayas you captured a lion. Let’s say it’s alion that you haven’t captured before,but you’ve seen tracks, so you know it’sin the area. Lead us through the wholeprocedure.KM Remember first of all that lions arepretty vulnerable to hounds once a goodfresh track is located. Even an other-wise poor hound that can follow a set of

lion prints made in 2 or 3 inches of softsnow can tree a lion with fair success.And with good dogs, it’s 95 to 99 per-cent certain. So we start with that cer-tainty, once we find a good fresh set oflion prints.YS Where did you start, when youtracked lions in the park?KM We used the usual trailheads thatgave us access to the best lion countryon the northern range: Blacktail ponds,Hellroaring, Slough Creek, Soda Butte,and Trout Lake. We recorded where wehad seen old sign of uncollared lions,and we revisited those areas in search offresh tracks. We just kept returninguntil we finally cut a track that we couldfollow, one that was only 2 or 3 daysold. We just hoped that it was the trackof the uncollared lion whose sign wesaw before. We used our radio receiver

Part Two: The long day of a lion hunter

Bob Wiesner, Kerry Murphy and somefourth-generation study subjects.

Summer 1994 3

either by making a loop or by walkingacross country to another vehicle wehad shuttled to a second trailhead, or toa backcountry cabin. We traveled aloneor in teams of two.

For instance, one person might walkdown Oxbow Creek, another downBlacktail Creek itself, and somebodyelse might walk up the YellowstoneRiver from Gardiner. We would stayovernight at the lower Blacktail cabin[on the Yellowstone River. Ed.], thenwork on the other side of the river thenext day. We kept in touch by radio. Ifwe located a fresh track of an uncollaredlion, we could release our dog, and theother team members would have to catchup.

Sometimes teams of two people wouldtravel together with the hounds. We didthat a lot during the early years of thestudy when a lot of unmarked cats ex-isted in the population. Once we hadmarked most of the adult lions, it mademore sense to split up and search alonefor uncollared individuals, then team uponce they were located.YS Describe your equipment.KM We kept it all organized in backpacks. I usually was the person whodarted the lion, so I carried the druggingequipment. The person who climbedthe tree to secure the lion usually carriedthe climbing spurs, the rope, the climb-ing belt, and the rest of the climbinggear. We usually shared the radio-tracking equipment.

I carried 28 to 33 pounds of equip-ment, and my partner carried about 35.Of course that included all our extraclothing, lunch, and emergency kits—matches, an extra hat, extra gloves, etc.Sometimes our packs weighed as muchas 45 pounds, when we carried snow-shoes and some extra items.YS What kind of dogs did you use?KM We used coon hounds or lionhounds of all breeds. The breed didn’tmatter as long as the dog performed wellon lions, wouldn’t chase elk or deer, andwas reasonably easy to handle.YS What do good lion hounds cost?KM We paid as much as $2,500. Typi-cally, we would pay about $2,000.YS People often think that lion huntinginvolves large packs of hounds whichhowl and run through the woods scaringthe daylights out of everything. Thissounds pretty alarming in a nationalpark. But it wasn’t really that way onthis study; you only used one or twodogs.KM That’s a good point. Usually wewould work with two dogs. Sometimeswe would have three along, but we didn’twant to have to handle any more dogsthan necessary. When we had to carryall that equipment through rough coun-try, we found ways to simplify the op-eration, and extra hounds were the firstitems to get left at home, especially dogsthat were hard to handle.YS Did you keep them on the leash untilyou found a track?

KM Usually, except when we let thehounds cast freely on bare ground dur-ing winters with poor snow and whenwe knew we were close to a lion.YS How many hours old was a “fresh”track?KM Tracks made the night before ormore recently were considered fresh.We released the hounds if we felt theycould tree the cat before dark. We didimmobilize lions in the dark if we hadto, when we were comfortable with it.YS Once you found the track andunleashed the dogs, could you keep upwith them?KM No, but we could listen for theirbarking or follow their tracks in thesnow. We also used telemetry equip-ment on the dogs, so we could locatethem that way if we needed to.YS How fast were the hounds on a goodtrack?KM The dogs covered the country atleast three times as fast as we did. Wealways said that their biggest advan-tage was that they possessed 4-wheeldrive. But really it’s their speed andstamina for running that puts distancebetween them and you. That’s whythey were able to tree the lion to beginwith. Per unit weight, they have muchgreater lung capacity than do the cats.And of course it’s much greater thanours, too.YS Were you ever there when the dogsfirst caught up with the lion?KM Occasionally we saw the final

The loads and the rugged terrain varied little between winter and summer lion tracking. Left: Kerry and Todd Fredericksonon a summer recapture. Right: Jay Tischendorf, John Murnane, and Kerry during a snowstorm tracking session.

Yellowstone Science4

circle around and pick up the track againand away they would go.YS Is tracking in the park different thanin other places?KM Yes, in several ways. Lion huntingin much of the northern Rockies is typi-cally done using motorized vehicles onroads covered by snow. We were disad-vantaged because we almost always hadto walk to reach lion habitat, so wecould cover less country in a day. Butwe also had advantages, because wecould choose our own travel routesthrough the best lion habitat. This meantthat we looked for lions where theyspent most of their time. Consequently,many of the tracks of uncollared lionswe located were very fresh. In somecases, the tracks told us that the lion hadseen us or heard us coming, long beforewe discovered its presence. The disad-vantage of working from roads is thatyou don’t get to dictate where the roadgoes. Consequently, you spend a lottime outside the best lion habitat.YS What was the procedure once youarrived at a location where the houndshad treed an uncollared lion?KM We had a protocol for how toapproach a treed lion and what to dowhen we got there. The basic procedurewas to leash the dogs, dart the lion withdrugs that would immobilize it and makeit safe to approach, and then have some-one secure it in the tree with a rope andlower it to the ground.YS Why did it matter how you ap-proached a tree containing a lion?KM It mattered to the lion because lionsare usually afraid of people. If weapproached down a slope from abovethe lion, it might feel threatened when itsaw us at eye level, jump out unneces-sarily, and run off. It was best to ap-proach the tree from below.YS What next?KM We quietly looked over the situa-tion. We would want to know the sizeand sex of the lion. Was a shot with adart safe to the lion? Was the tree safeto climb? If the lion fell from the tree,would it fall on rocks or soft snow? Wetried to think through the entire opera-tion and anticipate all the possible com-plications.YS What might cause you to call it off?KM If the lion was low in the tree, it

KM We had some that went a minute,and some that went on for 8 or 9 hours.When the chases were long, that wasn’ttime exclusively in actual pursuit of ajumped lion. It was mostly time thedogs spent following the track untilthey caught up with the lion.YS Did the lions use evasive maneu-vers at times?KM Occasionally they circled back andcrossed their own tracks behind thehounds. We noticed that females withkittens would often cross in front of thedogs to divert attention to themselvesand away from the kittens. That was anadvantage of working more than onehound, or at least, more than one goodhound; they solved problems morequickly and kept the pressure on the cat.YS Did the lions understand that it wasthe tracks that gave them away? Forexample, did they jump across windfallto break up their scent trail?KM I think that after several pursuits,the lions somehow understood that itwas the line of scent produced by theirtrack that the hounds were using toovertake them. Sometimes they climbeda tree, jumped to another tree, thenclimbed down, and ran off, apparentlyin an effort to confuse the hounds.Houndsmen call this “tree-tapping”.YS The dogs would think the lion wasstill up in the first tree he climbed?KM Right. They would get to the treeand start barking. They often could notsee the lion anyway, but their treeinginstinct caused them to stay in the im-mediate area. Again, that’s where itwas advantageous to have more thanone hound. Inevitably, one dog would

events of the chase, like the dogs actu-ally coming up behind the lion. Thisoccurred, say, when we were on theother side of a canyon from the cat.Houndsmen say the lion is “jumped”when it actually moves in response tothe dogs. We learned a lot about howthe cats reacted. Surprisingly, they of-ten did little running—just trotted a fewyards and climbed a tree. But some-times it was an all-out foot race.YS What kinds of things affected thelength of the chase?KM Chases on bare ground were al-most always longer than on snow. Usu-ally, the lions treed in a mature coniferwith numerous limbs to stand on. Thejob of the hounds was to hold the lion inthe tree until we got there.YS In following the hounds, could oneperson follow the tracks and the otherperson follow the sound?KM We followed the action using tracks,sounds, and telemetry. Sometimes weeven got to the tree before the houndsdid. It depended on how fresh the trackwas and whether following the tracks ofthe lion seemed necessary.

There were important decisions in-volved in determining how to reach thelion. If we all left the lion’s track andwent directly to where we could hearthe hounds were, we might not see some-thing important, such as a kill the lionhad made. On the other hand, we mightneed to get to the dogs quickly to helpthem find a lost lion track on bare ground.YS What was the time range of thechases, say from the time that you let thedogs loose to the time you caught upwith them with the treed cat?

Kerry investigating a network of wintertracks on Slough Creek.

Hounds are sometimes radiocollaredso that they are easier to follow.

Summer 1994 5

Scott trying to redirectrecovering lion

"chicken leg maneuver"

Bob Weisner with Jammer, obviously avery enthusiastic hound.

might jump out as soon as the dart hit it.Under the influence of the drug, it thencould fall off a cliff if the terrain in thearea was rocky. In other cases, the treeswere too dangerous to climb or wethought a drugged lion might fall out ofa tree before we could secure it.YS We should also keep in mind thatyou’re usually doing this in the winter,and you’ve been running after the dogsfor a while. You have to think of yourown welfare here, too.KM Right. We immediately put onwarmer clothes after we got to the lion,and we sometimes carried sweaters forthe dogs. We lost body heat quickly.Sometimes it was difficult to functionafter even 30 minutes when tempera-tures were well below zero. That com-plicated matters, especially for the per-son climbing the tree.YS What were the other immediaterisks?KM There was always the possibilitythat a lion would climb down the treeand face the dogs, particularly if it wasa kitten. Kittens presented special prob-lems because of this behavior and be-cause they were less coordinated thanthe adults. Kittens might not climb treeswhen pursued, and might even face thedogs on the ground. Or, they might notclimb high enough to be out of reach ofthe dogs. All this was because theywere less comfortable with the heightsthan the adults. And because of theirsmaller size, they could be easily in-

Scott Relyea aiming a drugged but re-covering lion in a safer direction.

tional dosages.YS What was the best place to hit thelion?KM We would usually try to place thedart in the ham of a rear leg. Usually,the shots were relatively easy, but occa-sionally we had to make shots, of say,60 feet.YS So assuming you hit the lion prop-erly with the dart and, the lion stayed inthe tree, what happened next?KM Once the lion received the drug, wenoted the time and began watching forits first effects. We were looking forsome evidence that the drug was work-ing—mostly a wobbly or drooping heador a slumping body. We didn’t want aclimber to start up the tree until weknew that the lion received at least somedrug. At that point, we were attemptingto balance the safety of the climber, whocould get hurt by the cat, and the safetyof the lion, which might fall from thetree within minutes if not securedpromptly by the climber. These weredifficult decisions and they made fortense moments. A lot was at stake. Theclimber would take a step or two up thetree and we would watch from below tosee how the lion responded.

After the climber got up close to thegroggy lion, he secured himself with thesafety belt by looping it around thetrunk of the tree and then snapping itback into a loop on the belt around hiswaist. This allowed him to work withboth hands free. He then secured thelion with a critical piece of equipmentcalled the dally. This was a 3-foot ropewith a taut-line hitch at each end, and aloop tied in the middle. It had the shapeof an inverted “Y.” The hitches workedlike slip-knots. They fit around thehocks of the lion, a knot for each foot.The loop in the middle attached to the60-foot capture rope. This was thebrainchild of Jay Tischendorf, whoworked on the study the first 2 years. Itwasn’t anything fancy, but it was a greatidea because it greatly reduced the timerequired to secure the lion during thecritical moments it might fall from thetree.

The climber would have one end ofthe dally already connected to the cap-ture rope via a carabiner. Once theslipknots were tight, the lion was secure.

jured by the dogs in a fight. The sub-adults and adults, which might weigh70 pounds or more, could easily keepour one or two dogs at bay. We usedonly a single small hound when wepursued young kittens.YS Once you had a lion in a tree and yousaw that everything looked right, howdid you proceed?KM We usually discussed a gameplan—how to respond to various sce-narios that might occur after the dart hitthe lion. Everybody knew what to do.

Topography in the area was impor-tant: if the darted lion jumped from itstree and came under the influence of thedrug on the ground, were there cliffsand precipices from which it might fall?And how fast could we traverse thecountry to reach the lion and preventthat from happening? Who would trackthe lion if it jumped out of the tree?Who would come along later with thehounds on leashes? There were lots ofthings to consider, lots of opportunitiesfor mistakes that potentially affectedour success and the safety of the lion. Ithink the captures went smoother be-cause we tried to think it through aheadof time.

Once we settled those questions, weleashed the hounds away from the treecontaining the lion, so the cat couldrelax a bit. I think quiet conditionsreduced the apprehension of the lion,which helped us get the desired effectsfrom the immobilizing drugs. Thishelped keep the captures as simple aspossible, and reduced the need for addi-

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case, we gave them an additional doseof drug. If the lion was completelyunconscious, we disconnected it fromthe rope, and took it to a flat site we hadpreselected. We tied the dogs fartherback at this point, because they weren’tneeded any more.

We immediately checked the lion’stemperature, pulse, and respiration. Wemade sure it was breathing normally.We looked for signs of shock by check-ing for responses of the pupils to lightand for good circulation in the gums.We had one person who primarily moni-tored the lion, telling us how it wasresponding, and how much time re-mained before it would recover fromthe anesthesia. We usually had half anhour to 40 minutes to work before thecat began to struggle.YS Once the lion was secure, what wereyour goals?KM Fitting the radio collar was prob-ably the next most important job, and itpresented some interesting challenges.With a young lion, it had to be looseenough to allow for growth of its neck,but not so loose it would fall off or gethung up in sticks and branches at groundlevel. Sometimes we added a cottonlink to the collar, which deterioratedand would eventually allow the collar tofall off.YS How long did the radio in the collarkeep transmitting?KM The transmitters in the collarstypically lasted 2 1/2 years. The smallerexpandable collars that we put on kit-tens would last about 9 months. As thekitten grew, we recaptured it and re-

Young kittens can be safely and hu-manely restrained in a bag.

our capture operations. Their perfor-mance during the 3 to 10 minutes theyhad to climb the tree and secure the liondetermined the health and survival ofthe cat, themselves, and indirectly, thatof the project. They deserve a lot ofcredit.YS What happened when the lionreached the ground?KM That depended first of all on thelion and its condition. We had lionsreach the ground in various stages ofanesthesia. Sometimes they were partlyalert and clawing at the ground. In that

Above: Maneuvering an anesthetizedlion through the branches. Right: Car-rying a kitten to the ground.

The capture rope was long enough toextend to the ground, where it was beingheld tight by one of us. At that point wemight have had a tiger by the tail, but atleast it was secure from falling. Ifpossible, the climber put a hood over thelion’s head.YS Was the hood to keep the lion calm?KM Partly. The drugs we used didn’tnecessarily cause the lion to close itseyes, so it needed protection from abra-sion as it was being lowered and whenon the ground. Mark Johnson, a veteri-narian who worked for us on the project,made the hoods out of elastic cloth. Itwas essentially a tube with snaps at oneend. It slipped over the head and couldbe snapped snug, but allowed the noseto stick out so the cat could breatheasily.

But as you said, it was also importantbecause it cut down on visual stimuli tothe cat. It also protected the eyes fromdirect sunlight.YS How did you lower the lion out ofthe tree? Did the person on the groundjust feed more rope?KM We worked it that way sometimes.Or the tree climber, if he was in a goodposition, could lower the lion himself.Usually, the climber started the process.He would get the lion uncoupled fromthe tree by releasing the grip the lion’sclaws had on the tree. But once the lionswung free out over a branch or a limb,the folks on the bottom could work therope. If the lion became tangled in

limbs as it was lowered, the climberwould go down and work it free.

Ultimately, there were two criticalelements of smooth captures. The firstwas the correct placement of the dart onthe first attempt. Poor first shots im-mensely complicated the procedure,because the lion might move higher inthe tree or jump out upon impact of thedart. These things necessitated the useof additional darts and more stress forthe lion, particularly if hounds wereused to tree the cat a second time.

The second element was the abilityand confidence possessed by the personclimbing the tree. As it turned out, wewere blessed with some really good treeclimbers on this project: JayTishchendorf, Scott Relyea, BrianHolmes, Greg Felzien, and JohnMurnane. These people were crucial to

Summer 1994 7

beautiful young collared lion

Kerry and Brian Holmes with F-5, the oldest lion in thestudy. She successfully raised one litter of kittens and isbelieved to be one of the population founders.

placed that collar with another largerexpandable collar—one large enoughfor yearling males and fully-grown adultfemales.

Once the collar was on and working,we installed tags in the ears. This wasuseful for identification purposes if thelion reappeared later without its collar.We also tattooed an identification num-ber in the ears, which was a permanentmark.

We took a lot of measurements andgot a blood sample, which we will use toestablish paternal relationships amongthe kittens and adult lions using DNAanalysis. Those data will be extremelyvaluable to our work on lion socialecology.YS How do you weigh a big lion in thewilderness?KM We suspended the scale from a treebranch or a walking stick and securedthe lion with the dally or cradled it in atarp. The smaller kittens could be liftedand weighed by one person.YS How much did the adults weigh?KM Our biggest male was 173 pounds.He had a full stomach. A young adultmale, say 2 to 3 years old, would weigh140 to 155 pounds; a yearling maleabout 130 pounds. The biggest femalewe weighed was 132 pounds. She waspregnant and full of elk meat. A typicaladult female weighed about 100 pounds.A yearling female, in her first winter ofindependence, weighed 65 to 80 pounds.YS Once you completed your work,how did you leave the lion? Did you

stay around and monitor it until it wascompletely out of the drug?KM If we finished the measurementsand the lion was lying quietly, we movedaway about 50 yards and waited for thelion to become mobile. If the terrainwas rocky, we carried the lion to a safeplace. If the lion became mobile beforewe finished the work, we let it move offby itself. Again, if the terrain lookeddangerous, we stirred the lion awayfrom danger by positioning ourselvesbetween the cliff and the lion and clap-ping our hands if necessary to get thelion to change directions.

We were especially concerned nearrivers. If a lion tried to swim when halfimmobilized, it might drown. We also

had to worry about ravens or coyotestaking advantage of the lion’s awkward-ness and immobility during the earlyportion of the recovery period. That’swhy we watched the lion recover froma distance. When the cat was able todefend itself and gained sufficient coor-dination, we headed for home.YS Did you ever lose any lions in theseoperations?KM We were very fortunate. We mademore than 170 captures and never lost alion. Kitten captures involved just physi-cal restraint rather than immobilizingdrugs. We did have three injuries, butbased on our exams of the cats duringsubsequent captures, the injuries werenot serious in the long term.

During a capture operation, the animal'steeth were examined, and gum circula-tion was monitored to ensure the ani-mal was not going into shock.

M-38 being weighed. DNA blood analy-sis is being done to determine paternalrelationships for this lion, who was asecond-generation study animal.

Lion M-38 was first captured at 4 weeks of age and wassubsequently monitored as a kitten, subadult, and adult for 31/2 years until he was killed by a hunter.

Yellowstone Science8

picture of boulder fieldKerry G. and dogs

comfortable with working and navigat-ing in the dark. But there were timeswhen we weren’t sure we were going toget to a cabin or the truck without aproblem. The latest we got out was 2a.m. Even the old cans of salted baconyou find in the ranger cabins look prettygood by then.YS Can you summarize your philo-sophical thoughts about the Yellow-stone work?KM Looking back, the work was prettyintense. I could not imagine workingmuch harder on a project for as long.Except for the loss of Greg Felzien, Ithink the quality of the data we col-lected easily justified, in the long run,what we put ourselves and the lionsthrough. I know that from some previ-ous experiences of my own, and inlooking at other projects, the end doesnot necessarily always justify the means.A field effort has little prospect of suc-cess unless it starts with a good andrealistic study design, and a commit-ment to both quality fieldwork and acompleted write-up. A successful workis a completed work—start to finish.The best technique, all the late nights inthe field, and great hounds won’t amountto much if the data just sit in our files.We have lots of good information towork with and I think this project will bea lasting contribution, assuming thewrite-up is as successful as the field-work.YS And after that? What do you want

YS You frequently express your con-cern for the animal, and it’s obviousfrom your capture record that you werevery careful not to harm them. But youalso mention learning new things as theproject went on. How did your captureand handling procedures evolve overtime?KM Most of the improvements cameby objectively critiquing our operationin the field and by trying to anticipateproblems before they occurred. We putour heads together on how to avoid theglitches. Then once we saw that thechange was useful, it wasn’t very longbefore the old pattern had disappearedentirely among the capture teams. Ithink the open-mindedness to improveour methods and good communicationwere at the heart of our success.

We also invited a veterinarian andtwo veterinary students to assist somecaptures and give us feedback. As Imentioned, we also grew a lot due toMark Johnson, a wildlife veterinarianwho brought his veterinary expertise tothe project. It was really nice having avet to consult with at any time.YS You give the impression that nomatter how much experience you had,you never for a moment felt you couldrelax and treat lion captures as routine.KM Remember the type of conditionsunder which we did the work. Usuallywe did all this in cold weather, in dark-ness or dusk, and often in rough terrain.Even under the best conditions of ter-rain, temperature, and light, just thenature of the capture operation was of-ten potentially dangerous because theanimal was high above ground andclimber and cat were subject to falling.There is an important difference be-tween immobilizing mountain lions intrees and other carnivores in snares ortraps. As John Murnane pointed out[John worked on this study, as well asworking on several grizzly and blackbear studies elsewhere. Ed.], the lionpicks the place of the immobilization bywhat he chooses to do after he hears thehounds. He also picks the time, oftenlate in the day or in the dark, as aconsequence of the country in which helives and the logistics that are involvedin lion research.

In bear or wolf work, the trapperintentionally picks an advantageous trap

site and normally checks the set in themorning. This means that the trapperusually has more control over the situa-tion, particularly since the animal isconstrained by the snare or trap whenthe trapper arrives. Trappers can selecttrap sites that allow both a safe ap-proach and exit if the bear gets out of thesnare or a mother bear returns to defenda cub in a trap. Lion captures are a lotmore unpredictable because the lion isnot initially restrained and the variableof rough terrain further complicatesmatters. Usually it wasn’t getting hurtby the lion that concerned us, it was thecountry.YS You talked about finishing up witha cat after dark. Most people probablydon’t realize the enormous differencebetween hiking on a backcountry trailand engaging in the sort of cross-countrywork you did with no convenient trailsto use. That made travel in darkness orbad weather more difficult. When youfinished with a lion later than usual, didyou ever just stay where you were untilmorning? Were you always confidentthat you could find your way throughthe dark back to the cabin or truck?KM We had a game plan on how to getout once it was apparent that darknessand the cold were going to be upon us.This meant that we looked at the coun-try and the map before dark and madesure we could get out before we com-mitted ourselves by turning the houndsloose. Of course, we carried all theappropriate gear, including flashlights.If it was really dark, with no moonlightor starlight, we navigated by map andcompass only. That was unnerving attimes, particularly if we travelled morethan a mile in the dark through lodge-pole pine stands with closed canopies.

Once Mark Johnson and I hiked outof the Cedar Creek drainage and had torappel down a slope in the dark, carry-ing packs and coaxing the hounds. Thatwas a nasty situation.

One nice aspect of Yellowstone isthat the forest understory is usually prettysparse. And there were a lot of gametrails to use. We usually didn’t have tobreak our own trails through the snow,because the elk had done that for us. Wetravelled on ridges because they wereoften blown free of snow and it waseasier to see at night. We got pretty

Kerry Gunther with Jammer in sometypically rugged lion country nearKnowles Falls on the Yellowstone River.

Summer 1994

M-8

small treed lion

M-38

starved cubs

A Houndsman’s Lexicon

Like many specialties, lion–hunting has a languageof its own. For the sake of smooth reading, we have notused many of these terms in the interview, but they arean important part of the houndsperson’s vocabulary,and are colorful and often evocative. We didn’t wantto deprive readers of this aspect of the story, and so hereis a sampling of lion–hunting terminology.

bawl–mouth This describes a hound that gives theclassic howl when trailing a lion.bugger–barking When a hound has been released ona lion track, but barks unnecessarily when off the trailof the lion, it is said to be bugger–barking.cold–nosed A hound with a special ability to scent andfollow an old track.cutting the track When a track is crossed and identi-fied by the hunters or the dogs, they have “cut” the trackand then follow it.dawgs People often refer to their hounds as “dawgs.”freshening the track As the hounds follow the track ofthe lion, they are continually following fresher, ormore recent tracks as they get closer to the lion. Thisis known as freshening the track.jumping the lion When the lion first becomes awareof the dogs and reacts by moving, it is said to have beenjumped. “Jumped race” describes the lion after it hasbeen jumped.jumping tree When the lion has been treed and decidesto leave the tree and run again.locator bark This is an especially melodic bawl givenby some hounds when they first see the lion in a tree.The locator bark tells the hunters that the pursuit hasended.moving the track When the dogs are pursuing ananimal along its track, they are moving the track.popup A lion that immediately climbs a tree when ithears the hounds.running the track wide This occurs when the liontrack is so fresh that the hounds can run alongside itinstead of exactly on it. At these times, the hounds mayactually be following the lion’s scent in the air ratherthan on the tracks.sorting a loose When the dogs come to a confusingplace in the trail, where the movement of the lion isunclear, they attempt to determine the lion’s direction,often by circling in the area until they pick up the trail.This is sorting a loose.super–tom A very large male lion.trash–free A trash–free dog is one that concentrates onthe preferred quarry; thus, a trash– free lion hound willnot be distracted by the tracks or presence of elk, deer,coyotes, or other animals.tree–tapping When the lion climbs one tree, jumps toanother, and climbs down, in order to throw the dogsoff the track.

9

Top left: M-8 "King of the Northern Range," the oldest male in thestudy. Top right: M-38 as a subadult. Middle left and right: F-5, who burned her foot pads in the fires of 1988. Bottom left: atreed cub; and bottom right, two kittens who died after their motherwas killed by M-8. One cub died of starvation and the other froma crushed skull, possibly the result of an attack by M-8 or anotherlion.

F-5 F-5 burned pads

to try next, when all the results of the lion study are written up andpublished?KM Well, I understand that good fast hounds can tree a wolverine...

Yellowstone Science10

Bark Eatingby Yellowstone ElkAdditional notes on a little-known food habitby Jeff Henry

In Volume 1, Number 4 of Yellow-stone Science, P.J. White and his coau-thors reported on elk use of burnedlodgepole pine bark. I have a relatedpiece of information that P.J. and otherreaders may find interesting.

In the spring of 1986, while doing awinterkill survey for the InteragencyGrizzly Bear Study Team (IGBST), Ifound conclusive evidence of elk strip-ping and consuming bark from livelodgepole pines. The stripped trees,about 30 in number, were pole sizelodgepoles approximately 5–9 inchesdiameter at breast height, and were lo-cated along White Creek near the Fire-hole Lake Drive. The trees were clus-tered in a fairly small area, an acre or soI recall, and most of the peeling had asouthwest or west–southwest compassorientation. In size, the peeled stripsaveraged one quarter to one half thecircumference of the trees, and had beenpulled off in strips up to 2.5 to 3 meters(3 to 3.5 yards) long. Apparently, peel-ing had occurred in March or earlyApril.

Elk appeared to strip the bark bygnawing a piece loose near the bottomof the tree and then pulling the loosenedend outward and upward to peel off thelong strips. Dan Reinhart and DaveMattson, at that time also with theIGBST, joined me in investigating thesite after the snow had gone from theimmediate area, and we found little inthe way of bark shreds or traces ofcambium on the ground; most of thematerial apparently had been consumed.Dan and Dave agreed with me that toothmarks on the trunks of the stripped treesand tracks on the ground left little doubtthat elk had done the stripping.

The area where I found the peeledlodgepoles is a known elk wintering

Bark stripped by elk, near lower edge of Specimen Ridge. Allphotos courtesy of Jeff Henry.

Summer 1994

Dave Mattson of the U.S. InteragencyGrizzly Bear Study Team tasting cam-bium from a lodgepole pine that hadbeen stripped of bark by elk near theFirehole Lake Drive.

11

ground, but we don’t know for sure thatthe stripping was done by bulls. Thesite experiences a slight thermal influ-ence: it collects snow in the winter, butnever to the depth of most of the sur-rounding forest, and it melts free rela-tively early in the spring.

Weather during the winter of 1985–86 was distinctive, being extremely cold

and snowy in November, after whichmild and mostly dry conditions pre-vailed until mid–February, when aweek–long storm dumped huge amountsof wet snow. Unseasonably mild andrainy weather followed the big storm,which in turn was followed by coldtemperatures that froze the snowpackrock hard. The snowpack during Marchand April of 1986 was so hard that evenbison walked on top of 5 to 6 feet ofsnow without breaking through. Theseconditions lasted for several weeks andpersisted throughout each day; there wasno afternoon softening of the snowpackduring that time. Overall, winterkill inthe Firehole that year was moderate,with a total of about 83 carcasses foundduring a three month search.

The trees I’ve described are still obvi-ous by the scars they bear from the 1986peeling. They are located about onequarter mile from the entrance to theFirehole Lake Drive, on the left side ofthe road, and are visible from the road.

I’ve checked the grove frequently since1986, but have seen no further evidenceof cambium stripping there in subse-quent years. Nor can I recall havingseen such stripping by elk anywhereelse at any other time. The grove oflodgepoles by the Firehole Lake drivedid not burn in 1988.

Bears sometimes strip cambium fromconifers in a manner similar to the strip-ping we saw in 1986. According toDave Mattson, analysis has shown thatconifer cambium in spring can have asugar content comparable to that ofberries. Dave, Dan, and I all sampledsome cambium from the White Creeksite, and found it pleasantly sweet andnot at all pitchy or resinous.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Jeff Henry first worked in Yellowstonein 1977, and has held various positionswith the National Park Service and theInteragency Grizzly Bear Study Teamsince then. He is currently a full-timefreelance photographer living in Emi-grant, Montana.

Dan Reinhart inspecting a lodgepolepine stripped of bark.

Below: A lodgepole pine stripped ofbark by elk near the Firehole Lake Driveand White Creek, Yellowstone NationalPark.

Cambium layer of an Engelmann sprucefed upon by a grizzly bear in PelicanValley, Yellowstone National Park.

Yellowstone Science12

The late nineteenth century witnessedthe dawn of modern wildlife scienceand management in North America, andYellowstone National Park, created in1872, was the site of much early experi-mentation. Wildlife protection was nota primary impetus for the creation of thepark, but within a few years the slaugh-ter of park animals had engaged theinterest of the public, and soon conser-vationists campaigned to ensure the sur-vival of park animals.

Little formal wildlife study was ac-complished in the park’s early decades,though various early federal surveysdiscussed park wildlife. Superinten-dent Philetus Norris (1877-1882) in-cluded long, informal discussions ofwildlife in some of his annual reports,and his gamekeeper, Harry Yount, leftthe first counts of bison, but very littleattention was paid to determining distri-bution and abundance of the most com-mon mammals. Even an exhaustivereview of anecdotal information in manyearly accounts of the park only allowsfor a general portrait of conditions.

One remarkable exception to the gen-erally vague and incomplete state of thewildlife record prior to 1890 was Tho-mas Elwood Hofer’s account of his 1887midwinter ski expedition around thepark, which was sponsored by Forestand Stream magazine. Hofer, a long-time western traveler, sometime parkconcessioner, and animal trapper forthe National Zoo, was one of the mostrespected observers of the time, whoseskills were admired by leading conser-vationists and naturalists. He made thetrip with one companion, a young localman named Jack Tansey.

In his five-part series of articles, pub-lished on April 7, 14, 21, 28, and May 5,

the present Fishing Bridge area. Fromthere he followed the Yellowstone Riverto Canyon, then across Dunraven Passto Tower, and back across the BlacktailPlateau to Mammoth Hot Springs. Onpage 13, we reprint the map of his route,published in the April 28, 1887, editionof Forest and Stream. Note especiallythat the map shows the locations ofsome of the more significant sightingsof various species of mammals.

Hofer’s 225-mile (including sidetrips) route took him from Gardiner,Montana, through the Norris, Lower,Midway, and Upper Geyser Basins,along the east side of Shoshone Lake,then over to West Thumb and across thethumb and northern part of the lake to

1887 in Forest and Stream, Hofer toldan amazing story of winter adventure,and chronicled all wildlife sightingsmade along the way, even includingfish and birds. It remains a fascinatingand tantalizing document, a rare glimpseat another Yellowstone, when summervisitation was a few thousand and win-ter visitation was unheard of.

Harry Yount, left, was the first Yellow-stone Park employee to attempt to countany park wildlife species. But it wasElwood Hofer, shown above, who firstformally surveyed winter wildlife in thepark. The Hofer picture is part of an1894 drawing by Frederic Remington,showing a ski party wading Alum Creekin Hayden Valley. The drawing wasapparently based on an F.J. Haynesphotograph. We can assume Hofer'sgear and behavior were much the sameduring his pioneering 1887 trip.

Historical Vignettes

Yellowstone’s FirstWinter Wildlife Surveyby Paul Schullery

Summer 1994 13

Map

Yellowstone Science14

Some of what he saw is quite familiarto modern winter visitors, and some isdifferent. What follows is a brief sum-mary of some of the highlights.

Elk were by far the most commonlarge mammal, appearing in many ofthe same locations they occupy ontoday’s winter range, as well as in a fewother places. As he headed south fromMammoth Hot Springs, he saw severalbands on the windblown ridges aroundSwan Lake Flat, totalling about 120. Hehad little to say about elk in the geyserbasins and along the lake, but againreported them in Hayden Valley, in-cluding a band of 14 cows and calvesalong Trout Creek, a single bull justnorth of Trout Creek, and evidence of alarger group of about 60 near AlumCreek. Reports of elk wintering inHayden Valley were not uncommonprior to 1900, though they rarely appearin numbers there today.

Arriving at Canyon on February 27,Hofer learned that on February 18, thelocal winterkeepers had tried to “res-cue” a small band of eight elk that theybelieved had been stranded by deepsnow in the area. Hofer reported that

these elk were eating aspen, spruce, andfir branches, and would starve if notdriven into better country (presumablyHayden Valley). One cow, unwilling toleave the rim of the Grand Canyon ofthe Yellowstone, slipped on the ice andfell to the base of the Lower Falls.

On March 4, when Hofer and Tanseyset out for Tower, they soon begancrossing the trails of elk, and as theyclimbed near Dunraven Pass he reportedsmall bands of elk on the windsweptridges. On all the bare ridges on thenorth side of Mount Washburn he saw“elk scattered in bands, three, four andten in a place," and as they descendedtoward Tower he encountered severalother bands, including ones of 54, 15,12, 7, and 20. They saw many others asthey continued on. From the top of thehill above Tower Fall, he saw “elk inevery direction,” and “soon gave uptrying to count them.” Interestingly, atLost Creek, near present Tower Junc-tion, he “saw the first willows of ourtrip. The others were under snow.” Onthe trip from Yancey’s hotel, nearpresent Tower Junction, to MammothHot Springs, he reported being continu-

ally in sight of elk most of the way.Hofer concluded the following about

elk wintering in the park:"On the ridges around Washburne

[sic.] there are at least 150 elk; about thefalls, 50; on Specimen Ridge and thesection of the park to the north, at least2,000; on Black Tail, Lava, Elk and lostcreeks, and country north of TowerCreek, some 1,600; in the country be-tween Mammoth Hot Springs and theMadison Mountains, some 500. I knownothing of the number on the west sideof these mountains. On Alum Creekand the country across the river thereare elk, but how many I do not know.Perhaps 200 would be a large estimate,though some people put it as high as800. In the south end of the Park I do notthink the elk winter".

Hofer estimated 4,500 elk winteringin the park, and said that some otherknowledgeable observers estimated7,000 to 8,000. His travel route did nottake him to all the areas he mentioned,and so he was apparently making hisestimate based on his as well as others’observations.

The day he started, February 17, he

This photograph of the Canyon Hotel was taken in January of 1887 by F.J. Haynes, whose winter photographic expeditionthrough the park preceded Hofer's wildlife survey by a few weeks. Reprinted by permission of the Haynes FoundationCollection, Montana Historical Society.

Summer 1994 15

reported a small band of bighorn sheep(four ewes and two lambs) along theGardner River, as well as numeroustrout (17 small ones at one point) andvarious birds. On his return to theMammoth Area, coming down LavaCreek on March 6, he saw bighorn 10sheep on Mount Everts.

Hofer estimated there were still 200to 300 bison in the park (he saw 30between Tower and Mount Washburn),and was obviously disappointed not tofind more; their fate was a primaryconcern of conservationists at the time.

Hofer reported that only a few big-horn sheep and pronghorn wintered inthe park, “but no blacktail or white-tailworth mentioning". He said “a greatmany” deer summered in the park, andhad “seen hundreds of sheep and black-tail on their way out in the fall, andreturning in the spring.”

He occasionally reported coyotes orcoyote tracks, but did not report anyevidence of wolves, perhaps becausethey had been subjected to extensivepoisoning by then.

Some of his smaller mammalsightings are especially intriguing. Atseveral points (Norris Geyser Basin,Lower Geyser Basin, Midway GeyserBasin, between Shoshone and Yellow-

stone lakes, Alum Creek, and Canyon)he reported the tracks of lynx, and sawone lynx near the Little Firehole River.He also reported wolverine tracks atNorris and Fountain Flats, and a thriv-ing colony of beaver along the FireholeRiver upstream from Old Faithful.

Hofer was a veteran woodsman and akeen observer, and his account is bothimportant, but his conclusions must beused with extreme care.

For example, it is difficult, if notimpossible, to evaluate the complete-ness of his elk population estimates; hedid not even see large parts of what isnow considered winter range in the park,and relied on other observers to fill inthe gaps in his information.

Perhaps more significant, he madehis trip just a few years after the park’swildlife had been subjected to year afteryear of intensive market hunting, whenthousands of elk and other large mam-mals were killed for their hides, andmany carcasses were poisoned to killpredators and scavengers. These activi-ties could have affected the numbersand distribution of wildlife.

Climate may provide the most com-plex variable of all. By most accounts,Yellowstone had just emerged from theLittle Ice Age, and its winters were

colder than they are now. That wasapparently true in the winter of1886-1887, the most infamous of alllate-nineteenth-century western winters.Hundreds of thousands of cattle in Mon-tana and Wyoming died, and manyranching operations were crippled.Hofer’s reports of snow depths at manylocations could be seen as suggesting aconsiderably less hospitable winterrange than elk, deer, and other animalsfind in Yellowstone today.

But, for all the possible limitations ofhis methods, Hofer made a good start atthe sort of survey that has become amainstay of modern wildlife manage-ment, reporting as best he could whatwas going on in a park that only a fewwinterkeepers and poachers usually trav-eled. He refused to consider himself agreat adventurer in winter travel, stat-ing that the skiing was routine (which itdecidedly was not), and that winter travelwas “most enjoyable.” For all of hisdisregard of his achievement, perhapshe would not mind if we at least cel-ebrated him as a pioneering naturalist.

F.J. Haynes took this photograph of theMud Volcano patrol cabin during an-other winter trip, in 1894. Courtesy ofthe Haynes Foundation Collection.

Yellowstone Science

&notesNEWS

Native vs. Alien

Lake Trout Invade Yellowstone Lake

Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush),have been discovered in YellowstoneLake, where they pose a grave threat tothe future of the lake’s native Yellow-stone cutthroat trout (Onchorhynchusclarki bouveri) and to many other ani-mals. On July 30, a park visitor caughta one-pound lake trout south ofStevenson Island, and on August 5 an-other visitor caught a similar-size laketrout near the lake shore between BreezePoint and Wolf Point. Subsequent in-vestigations established the authenticityof the catches, and brought forth otherreliable reports of lake trout caught inYellowstone Lake, some prior to 1994.On September 20, U.S. Fish & WildlifeService personnel, as part of an effort tolearn more about possible lake troutdistribution in Yellowstone Lake, caughta 12-inch lake trout in 125 feet of waternear Pumice Point.

It is the conclusion of NPS and U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service staff in thepark that these fish were almost cer-tainly illegally stocked, which Yellow-stone Superintendent Robert Barbee hasdescribed as an “appalling act of envi-ronmental vandalism.” Lake trout,which are native to the Great Lakesregion, were stocked in other park wa-ters in the 1890s, but have never beforebeen scientifically documented in Yel-lowstone Lake.

To help determine the extent of laketrout presence, and to control their num-bers, the NPS announced on July 11 thatYellowstone Lake fishing regulations

were amended to improve the chancesthe new species would be taken byanglers. Under the new regulations,there are no limits on the number or sizeof lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)that anglers may take from Yellow-stone Lake. Regulations for Yellow-stone Lake cutthroat trout have notchanged. Regulations for lake trout inother park waters have not changed.Anglers capturing lake trout from Yel-lowstone Lake are required to kill them.

Because little is yet known about thenumbers, distribution, or origin of theselake trout, the Superintendent requestedthat anglers catching lake trout presentthem at the ranger station at FishingBridge, Bridge Bay, or Grant Village.Anglers may be asked to turn in laketrout for study, but may keep the fish ifthey prefer.

The National Park Service is offeringa $10,000 reward for information lead-ing to the arrest and conviction of thoseresponsible for introducing lake troutinto Yellowstone Lake. Barbee saidthat $10,000 is only a small fraction ofwhat it will eventually cost to attemptto control lake trout in YellowstoneLake, and that if the exotic fish be-comes widespread the ecological andeconomic costs will be extraordinary.“The presence of this fish in Yellow-stone Lake may not seem significant tosome people,” said Barbee. “But weappear to be on the verge of an ecologi-cal disaster. The potential consequencesof this thoughtless act are enormous.”

Barbee explained that when lake troutare introduced on top of existing cut-throat trout populations, the cutthroatsmay be nearly or completely wiped out.Large lake trout prey heavily on thesmaller cutthroat. “This has grave im-plications,” said Barbee. “It could meanthe destruction of the last major strong-hold of inland cutthroat trout. Yellow-stone Lake has been an almostmuseum-pure home of these fish forthousands of years, and it would be atragic loss to Yellowstone’s wildernessquality, to anglers, and to science.” Theintroduction of lake trout to Heart Lake,in south-central Yellowstone Park, isgenerally recognized as having led tothe near-extirpation of the Heart Lakecutthroat trout, which was only savedfrom complete elimination by strict regu-lation of angler harvest. Other cutthroattrout lakes in the west have sufferedsimilar fates, and Yellowstone Lake isregarded as an excellent home for laketrout--just the sort of body of waterwhere they could be expected to thrive.

Much of the reason for alarm resultsfrom the effects of the trout on otherelements of the lake ecosystem. Theimplications of lake trout in Yellow-stone Lake reach far beyond the park’smission to preserve native trout popula-tions. “If lake trout make serious in-roads on the cutthroat trout population,many animals will suffer, includingeagles, osprey, otters, and bears,” Barbeesaid. “Cutthroats dwell in shallow wa-ter, and are readily available to many

16

New & Notes

Summer 1994

&notesNEWSfish-eating birds. Lake trout spend al-most all of their time in deep water, outof reach of most predators. And unlikecutthroat trout, which spawn in over100 small streams around the lake, laketrout will spawn in deep water in thelake itself. Many grizzly bears feedheavily on stream-spawning cutthroattrout, and could simply lose that impor-tant food source.”

Cutthroat trout are also the basis of amultimillion dollar sportfishing activ-ity in Yellowstone National Park, withanglers coming from all over the worldto capture these wild native fish. “Somethoughtless individual has jeopardizeda sportfishing resource that contributesto the livelihood of many people in thisregion,” Barbee said. Lake trout, be-cause of their deep-water habits, will beavailable to relatively few anglers, andwill not provide an equivalent sportfishery if they reduce or destroy thecutthroat trout population.

Plans are underway to attempt to con-trol the exotic fish, including identifica-tion and monitoring of possible laketrout spawning areas, where the fishgather in the fall. Barbee also empha-sized the importance of public involve-ment. "We’re going to be counting onour fishermen friends,” he said."They’re out there every day, and theycan help. Their catches will not onlyreduce the number of lake trout, but willalso tell us a great deal about what’shappening to the lake ecosystem.”

Yellowstone Lake is the site of one ofNorth America’s longest-running andmost productive aquatic ecology re-search efforts. The cutthroat trout ofthis lake have been studied intensivelyand productively since the late 1800s,providing ecologists and fisheries man-agers with numerous important lessonsin how large, relatively wild lake eco-systems function. The future of thatscientific resource is now in jeopardy aswell, but thanks to a formidable body ofpast research, monitoring possiblechanges in the lake will be much easier.

17

Eocene Fossils Discovered DuringEast Entrance Road Construction

Yellowstone paleontology enjoyed arare episode of headline-gathering early

this summer. On June 3, Federal High-way Administration employee RonJones noticed several fossil leaf im-prints in the wake of a bulldozer cutalong the East Entrance Road. A quickinspection by National Biological Sur-vey Geologist Wayne Hamilton, Yel-lowstone Park Research Geologist RickHutchinson, and other park staff estab-lished that the find, which included bothfossil leaves and petrified wood, was ofpotentially great importance.

Eventually five sites were identifiedin road cuts. Yellowstone Park Land-scape Architect Eleanor Williams wasplaced in charge of a special IncidentCommand Team (such teams are formedfor many kinds of special events andemergencies) to determine the manage-ment needs of the sites, and to judgehow they might affect ongoing roadconstruction work.

Three leading paleontologists wereinvited to evaluate the sites, which theydid between June 8 and June 10. Theywere William Fritz, a volcanostratigrapher from Georgia State Uni-versity, who has studied the “fossil for-ests” of Specimen Ridge and other sitesin the Absarokas for many years; ScottWing, a paleobotanist with theSmithsonian Institution in Washington,D.C.; and Kirk Johnson, Director ofPaleontology at the Denver Museum ofNatural History. All three have submit-ted reports on their assessment of thesite.

The location and distribution of thefossils was as much the subject of studyas were the fossils themselves. Therock outcrops containing the fossils arepart of the Langford Formation, the

result of volcanic activity in the middleEocene Period, about 46 million yearsago. Johnson observed that one of thespecial values of the outcrops is that,though other similar-aged fossils occurelsewhere in the region, the new onesare “the only good exposures of theLangford Formation on paved roadsand thus accessible for study by geol-ogy field courses.”

Fritz, who has been a leading investi-gator of Yellowstone’s famous Speci-men Ridge fossils, summarized theLangford formation as follows. “TheLangford Formation is one of theyounger formations in the AbsarokaVolcanic Supergroup, an extensiveandesitic pile of tuffaceous sandstone,volcanic conglomerate pyroclastic flowdeposits, lava flows, and shallow intru-sive bodies.” Perhaps the most impor-tant thing about this list of materials andprocesses is that it reveals the extremediversity of the geologic products of

Above, and below: Details of two fossilleaves; note the pronounced relief vis-ible in the leaf structure. These andalmost all other leaves found were iden-tified as sycamores.

Photos Jim Peaco/NPS

Yellowstone Science

volcanic activity. The eruption itselfsets in motion many processes, involv-ing not only the direct products of theeruption (including lava and other ma-terial ejected from the volcano), butalso other materials (preexisting sur-face rock and soil, mudflows from in-tense tropical rains or even melted snow,and a variety of organic matter) that areviolently mixed and relocated at thesame time.

In recent years, Fritz has disagreedwith earlier interpretations of the Speci-men Ridge fossil forests. Previously,the prevailing view was that a series ofvolcanic ashfalls simply buried the vari-ous levels of forest, one at a time, untilthe many “layers” were created. In the1980s, Fritz suggested a much less tidyprocess, in which movements of lava,rock, sand, and mud buried and pre-served the area’s fossil forests.Hamilton, commenting on this new findalong the East Entrance Road, describedit as "the clear exposure of the part of thestory told by Fritz. In roadcuts one cansee masses of andesite, a volcanic flowrock. Nearby is a white band that ap-pears to be tuff from an explosive erup-tion. There are petrified logs. There arethe sandstones, in which leaf preserva-tion is absolutely excellent, and thereare the coarse, bouldery debris flows.At one outcrop the sandstone has beenoverridden by a debris flow after such ashort time, as indicated by contortedand broken bedding in the sand, that onegets the impression that all hell wasbreaking loose up on the mountain.”

The importance of the contorted andbroken bedding is revealed by the fos-sils themselves, as described byHutchinson. “They are often foundcurled or contorted, indicating that theywere buried violently in a viscous,cement-like mudflow that swept rap-idly down the sides of the volcanoes.This was illustrated at Mt. St. Helensand Pinatubo in the Philippines. Hadthe deposition been gradual and lessviolent, the fossils would be lying inflat, horizontal layers.”

Because of the complex and unevennature of this process, it is virtuallyimpossible to predict where concentra-tions of fossils will appear. Volcanoesdo not necessarily create new geologi-

&notesNEWS

18

cal strata in neat order on top of existingones. As Wing said in a briefing follow-ing an initial visit to the sites, “This isnot a layer cake situation. This is notstripes in the ground.” A single flow ofmud or other debris, laden with plantparts, might come to rest in a slightdepression and be covered over, creat-ing a relatively small “lens” of fossil-richmaterial such as was uncovered by thebulldozer along the East Entrance Road.It is impossible to know when a similar,or much larger, lens might be encoun-tered.

Johnson reported that the fossils “aresignificant because they can provideinformation about the nature of the veg-etation and climate of the region in theEocene. All the fossil leaves belongedto the genus Macginitiea, a member ofthe Platanaciae or sycamore family.Some of the specimens were unusuallylarge and may represent a species ofMacginitiea unknown to science.”

Wing elaborated on the fossils, not-ing that “Macginitiea is probably themost common type of leaf fossil in theAbsaroka Volcanic Supergroup. Manyspecimens have been collected previ-ously from the Sepulcher and LamarRiver Formations, from the unnamedlacustrine ashes below the Aycross For-mation in the southern Absarokas, andfrom the Aycross and Wind River For-mations in the Wind River Basin.... Thespecimens are among the largest, if notthe largest I have seen, measuring about40 cm (15 3/4 in) across. Large size isnot an indication that these specimensbelong to a new species.”

Almost all of the fossils that could beidentified were of this one species (theone additional specimen found after

construction resumed may have been atype of willow). Wing suggested thatMacginitiea was probably a plant thatcolonized disturbed sites, which wouldexplain why no more species were found.“The lack of clear bedding in the sand-stone and the twisting of the leaves intovertical orientations is consistent withdeposition in a hyper-concentrated flow,i.e. a dense mixture of water, sand andsilt. Fragmentary leaves preserved twoto three layers thick on horizontal sur-faces near the bottom of the sand mayindicate that a thin leaf mat had devel-oped on the surface just prior to thedeposition of the sand. These sedimen-tary features, and the dominance of asingle leaf type at the site, suggest thatthe site #1 area was a highly disturbedsetting. Frequent mudflows down thevolcanic cone would have destroyedexisting vegetation and made new sur-faces available for colonizing plants.”

Though some of the fossils are ofexceptional quality, and of definite valuein revealing climatic conditions, thereare too few of them to provide a fullportrait of their plant community. About60 leaf fossils, and a few pieces ofpetrified wood, were collected at thesites, but, as Johnson pointed out,“paleobotanists typically need to col-lect 350-500 specimens per site to makean adequate assessment of species rich-ness.”

Their accessibility, along a major parkroad, heightens their significance, be-cause so many students and profession-als will have access to the area. Anunfortunate effect of any new road con-struction is that some older road cuts arealtered; the older, weathered exposuresprovide geologists and students the best

One of thedistinguishingfeatures of thefossils is theirlarge size.

Summer 1994

&notesNEWS

First call for papers will be issued in the fall, 1994.Watch for further announcements, and for additional reports in future issues of Yellowstone Science.

September 24-27, 1995Mammoth Hot Springs HotelYellowstone National Park,Wyoming

Third BiennialScientific Conference on theGreater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Ecology and Conservationin a Changing Landscape

19

Ranger Ryan Weltman Dies inBoating Accident

Shoshone Lake Backcountry RangerRyan Francis Weltman, 22, died in aboating accident on July 3 or 4. Hefailed to check in during a routine radiocheck on Sunday, July 3, and again onthe morning of July 4. At about 8:30a.m. on July 4, rangers began a searchon foot, by boat, and by helicopter.Shortly after the search began, a visitorreported seeing a capsized boat with awhite bottom on Shoshone Lake nearthe Narrows. At 9:59, rangers locatedRyan’s body and his kayak a few hun-dred yards from the east shore of thelake.

Winds up to 40 miles per hour hadbeen reported late Sunday afternoon,and though the accident is still underinvestigation, it is assumed that windwas a factor. Ryan was wearing a lifevest.

On Thursday, July 7, about 150 friendsand co–workers joined Ryan’s familyfor a memorial service at the LakeRanger Station. He was eulogized as abright and shining star and a dedicated

pretty amazing story of climatic andevolutionary change. I think that storyis important in its own right, and that itwould enhance people’s appreciationof what the park has.” The fossils reveala Yellowstone dramatically unlike themodern one, a far warmer and wetterenvironment than today’s.

For the moment, a small temporaryexhibit of fossils has been placed on thesecond floor of the Albright VisitorCenter, at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Scientific excitement aside, discov-eries of this sort are often at the veryleast an inconvenience for constructioncrews, for whom the resultant delayscan be very costly in the shorthigh-elevation work season. The needto resolve the issues associated withcontinuing the construction work addedan urgency to investigations. Work atthe site was in fact halted until June 13,when construction began again, withRick Hutchinson monitoring the workto watch for fossil materials. As of lateSeptember, only one additional leafspecimen had appeared, but numeroussmall wood fragments of undeterminedspecies had been collected.

Rick Hutchinson, park research geolo-gist, examining a road cut.

opportunities to study such sites, andthat opportunity is lost when the newcut is made (one of the three key roadcuts in the fossil area was altered).

The fossils' general high quality ofpreservation and large size further in-crease their educational value. Fritzdescribed them as “a spectacular ex-ample of a tropical colonizing vegeta-tion.” Wing said that “the plants tell a

Yellowstone Science20

&notesNEWS

Would you like to help support wolf reintroduction....and hang a beautiful poster on your wall?

You can, by purchasing “I shall return...” This poster was made possibleby the Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education.The ghostly image of the wolf in the poster was originally created forthe cover of the Environmental Impact Statement, The Reintroductionof Gray Wolves to Yellowstone National Park and Central Idaho, and nowlives on in this striking poster. The poster commemorates Secretary of theInterior Bruce Babbit's signing of the Record of Decision in May of 1994,to initiate the process of reintroduction.

Wolf reintroduction is as costly as it is significant, and the public supportthat has driven the process so far will be crucial to its ultimate success.

The 24" x 36" poster is printed in duotone on creamy poster stock. To order,send your check for $15.00 to The Yellowstone Association, Dept. WP,P.O. Box 117, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

ranger, and an exceptional person whowill be sorely missed.

Ryan is survived by his father, Mar-tin Weltman of Andover, Minnesota,his mother, Signa Enos of BrooklynPark, Minnesota, and a sister, UrsulaWeltman, a seasonal naturalist staionedat Norris.

A memorial fund has been estab-lished in his name. Donations will beused for resource management projectsat Shoshone Lake. Checks should bemade payable to the “Ryan WeltmanMemorial Fund–NPS” and sent to theChief Ranger, P.O. Box 168, Yellow-stone National Park, Wyoming 82190.

The Superintendent urges all staff,researchers, and visitors to be aware ofthe dangers of park travel and work.Sudden changes in conditions, and otherwilderness hazards, must be kept inmind at all times.

Hantavirus Policy Update

In the short time since hantavirus firstmade headlines, its distribution and po-tential effects have become the focus ofa growing number of studies. Origi-nally reported in the Southwest, caseshave now been recorded in a number ofstates, including Montana.

Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus)appear to be the primary reservoir host,but other small mammals have testedpositive for the virus. Many questionsremain unanswered, however. How dopopulation changes in deer mice influ-ence the abundance of the virus? Howdo vegetation, climate, and other envi-ronmental factors affect it? How dohuman activities influence it?

These questions are of concern toYellowstone residents and researchers,and so a hantavirus study has beenlaunched in Yellowstone under Dr. MarkJohnson, NPS wildlife veterinarian. Thestudy design for this work was devel-oped in coordination with the Center forDisease Control’s Hantavirus TaskForce, which is surveying many N P Sareas for hantavirus. The results of theYellowstone study will be forthcomingin a future issue of Yellowstone Science,as well as in other reports.

In the meantime, the NPS in Yellow-stone has produced a hantavirus policy,

wolf poster

Summer 1994 21

picture of boardwalk expanse

Sec. Babbitt on boardwalk

&notesNEWSsorb water, so it won’t rot, warp, splin-ter, or crack from exposure and requiresvery little maintenance. It can be cutand drilled with the same tools as wood,and fastened with ordinary screws ornails. However, it isn’t as rigid aswood, and can’t be used in the structuralsupports of boardwalks. Under the uni-formly–colored walkway is the samewooden structure that holds up the restof the boardwalks in the park.

Nancy Ward, Supervisory Environ-mental Engineer, says there has been notrouble with the new boardwalk, al-though she points out that it hasn’t beenthrough a Yellowstone winter yet. Shesays using Durawood boardwalk in ageyser basin is very experimental. Thecompany is confident of their products’performance, but it’s never been usedthis way and although they have testinglabs, “they don’t test things like buffalowalking on it.” She says it costs morethan wood, but it may be cost effectiveto use in the future if it lasts longer thanwood boardwalks.

Eaglebrook Products Inc. manufac-tures the lumber, called Durawood. It’smade of recycled plastic from thick,plastic bottles like milk containers. Afterprocessing, the lumber is 90% recycledpost–consumer plastic. The lumber usedin Yellowstone boardwalks is the colorof weathered wood, although many dif-ferent colors are available.

In testing, the color changes verylittle over time. Durawood doesn’t ab-

Lever Brothers Company donated theDurawood to the National Park Foun-dation to promote creative uses for re-cycled materials. Nine other nationalparks will also receive recycled materi-als, including The Mall, Washington,D.C.; Martin Luther King, Jr. NationalHistorical Site, Atlanta, Georgia; andMount Rainier National Park, Ashford,Washington. Yellowstone is the first toinstall the donated recycled materials.

Durawood, new wood boardwalk andold wood boardwalk.

drawing of deer mouse

Recycled Plastic Boardwalks

In the Old Faithful area, visitors arefinding something new under foot.About 30 feet of boardwalk was re-placed with lumber made from recycledplastic, and there’s more to come. In all,1,000 linear feet of boardwalk in theOld Faithful area will be replaced withthe recycled plastic lumber. The sec-tion already in place, on a loop of walk-way by Grand Geyser, was installed inMay as a sort of “show-and-tell” for thevisit of Secretary of the Interior BruceBabbitt. The Maintenance Divisionplans to install the rest sometime in thefall when there’s less traffic.

Below: an expanse of Durawood board-walk in the Old Faithful area.

Renee Evanoff

Jim Peaco/NPS

Wendy Despain/NPS

Wendy Despain/NPS

Above: Secretary of Interior BruceBabbitt trying out the fastening systemon the recycled boardwalk.

which includes detailed guidelines fordealing with potentially hazardous situ-ations. The policy is available fromGalen Warren, Infectious Control Of-ficer, P. O. Box 168, Yellowstone Na-tional Park, Wyoming 82190 (307) 344–2030.

Yellowstone Science

The Yellowstone Lion4

Bark Eating by Yellowstone Elk12

Yellowstone’s First Winter WildlifeSurvey14

New & Notes18

The Yellowstone Lion Bark Eating by Yellowstone Elk Yellowstone’s First Winter Wildlife Survey New & Notes