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<DIV>In reply to the conewalkers, from what I understand, there were calls from
several locations in the country to the comm. center, and all of the conewalkers
were arrested. They had thrown several rocks into Old Faitfhul, and taken
several rocks with them. They are Xanterra Employees and they were
arrested. The web cam was down a couple of days ago mid day so that the
LE's could download the video as evidence. Hopefully they are banished from the
park, so that they loose there job. Another Xanterra employee had told me
that the individuals had just attended a meeting about what you can and can not
do in the park. Not the brightest group of individuals. Otherwise, I have
no geyser news.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The Mammoth Hot Springs boardwalk has re-opened after being closed for the
latest bear-scare. Most of the Mud Volcano boardwalk remains closed as does the
Fountain Paint Pots, Artist Paint Pots (snow), and Midway. I was beginning
to wonder if we were going to see any thermal activity at this rate. The
Upper Geyser Basin Boardwalk/ Grand and geyser hill was also closed for a
bit for a wolf sighting.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This is Yellowstone Park, how many decades have we gone without closing
attractions because of wildlife? I understand if there is actually a
carcass, but this is getting ridiculous. Once the park gets busier, people on
the boardwalks will discourage wildlife (except, bison of course) from
frequenting the basins, its been the same for years. By closing these
areas we are encouraging the wildlife to hang around developed areas which is
not good for the wildlife.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I would love to see the LE's in the Old Faithful and North Districts
monitor wildlife sightings, keep the public safe, and be friendly to the public
and educate them about the wildlife rather than shut things down. At the
same time I want to say what an incredible job the Tower District does
monitoring bears, wolves, ect. These folks will often spend there
entire shift, several days in a row monitoring bear jams, and have always been
incredibly friendly, educational to all of the visitors. They help people
find a place to park on the dangerously narrow roads, keep traffic moving all
with a smile, and several friendly conversations with the visitors, answering
any questions. I think it would be great if Collette, John Kerr and Kevin
Dooley could train the rest of the LE's about wildlife encounters. This is
the way Park Rangers used to be, and what the public expects of them.
These 3 individuals are hands down the hardest working, Rangers
in Yellowstone. The hours these folks spend standing on the highway,
directing traffic, answering questions, watching potentially dangerous predators
who are often close to the roads, deserves to be commended.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Jim </DIV></FONT><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="e38c226d68d18081f4bd426049dfa4c6"><br/><font style="color:black;font:normal 10pt arial,san-serif;"> <hr style="margin-top:10px"/>Recession-proof vacation ideas. <a href="http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntustrav00000002">Find free things to do in the U.S.</a></font></DIV></BODY></HTML>