Voices of Greater Yellowstone
The wild heart of North America - the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem - is home to vast landscapes, roaring rivers, iconic wildlife, and diverse communities. What kind of threats face this remarkable place, and how can we ensure its protection? Join us to hear the stories of those who love this wild ecosystem. Presented by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, an organization dedicated to working with people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: https://greateryellowstone.org/
Episodes
Welcome back to the Voices of Greater Yellowstone podcast, where we share the stories and science of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As we mentioned in our previous episode, long-time host Kristin Oxford has jettisoned off to her next adventure. I’m Emmy Reed, producer and editor of the podcast, now stepping in behind the mic. My full-time gig is being the senior digital communications associate for the Greater Yellowstone Coali...
Winter is a brutal time of year in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The sun rises late and sets early, temperatures stay well below freezing for weeks on end, and the snow can pile up foot on top of foot. For the ecosystem’s many ungulates, including pronghorn, elk, deer, and moose, winter is the hardest season to survive. For the best chance of enduring the cold and snow, ungulates migrate with the seasons, seeking milder winter...
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is a vast landscape shared by people and wildlife. Habitat for species like grizzly bears, wolves, elk, and more isn’t just found within public lands, but exists alongside, and even overlaps with, the wide-open working lands of this region. With wildlife and people living in such close proximity, the possibility of conflict is often not far behind.
Wildlife-livestock conflict is a complex challenge ...
A question we commonly ask fans of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is: If you could see one animal out in the wild, what would it be? It may surprise you that the most popular answer by far is the wolverine. So, why are wolverines at the top of so many peoples’ wildlife bucket list?
These elusive critters are rarely seen and even more rarely captured on camera. Their near-mythological status, incredible journeys over isolated jag...
They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” although sometimes it feels like we’re left speechless when viewing the spectacular photos and film of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. People from across the globe who have never visited this remarkable region feel a connection simply from the story these images tell. From a bird’s eye view of Grand Prismatic Spring, to a sweet moment of a grizzly bear sow and her cubs, to the she...
We know Greater Yellowstone is a remarkable ecosystem. It is also an increasingly vulnerable ecosystem. The impacts of climate change on this landscape can be felt far and wide and are showing up in some surprising ways.
As the impacts of climate change put our communities, water, and wild lands at risk, GYC is working alongside diverse partners and stakeholders to better understand climate-related threats, prepare for a warmer, dr...
Directly on the northern edge of Yellowstone National Park, Crevice Mountain rises some 3,000 feet above the Yellowstone River and is a prime example of what makes the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so extraordinary. The area provides vital habitat for grizzly bears; is an important migration corridor for elk, mule deer, and big horn sheep; and is one of the few designated places outside the park where Yellowstone bison can roam.
The beautiful, unbroken forests found in Greater Yellowstone are an integral part of the ecosystem’s overall health and vitality. They provide crucial habitat and forage for its many wildlife species, are buffers against the effects of climate change, and offer nearly endless opportunities for solitude and recreation to us human inhabitants of the region. Many of the forests here in Greater Yellowstone are part of the national fore...
If you’ve ever spent time in the high, wild reaches of Greater Yellowstone, up near the tree line, you may have come across a silvery, gnarled pine tree. If you’ve seen it, chances are you’ve encountered a whitebark pine. These remarkable trees can live upwards of 1,000 years, and are often the highest elevation pines you’ll find in Greater Yellowstone. And not only that, but they are important to the overall health of ecosystem in...
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is home to awe-inspiring landscapes and iconic wildlife. And since time immemorial, it’s been stewarded by Indigenous People who view its lands, waters, and wildlife as sacred. The Indigenous way of caring for the land acknowledges its life-giving energy, is centered on reciprocity, and uses Traditional Ecological Knowledge to keep the ecosystem in balance. Recognizing and reinstituting Indigenous ...
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is replete with opportunities for adventure. There is no shortage of hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, mountaineers, hunters, and more out exploring the ecosystem at any given moment. With all that space, and so many people out in it, there is also no shortage of opportunities to get in a bit of trouble.
So, what happens when you fall down a slope and break your leg miles from the trailhead? Or a ...
Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo roam. This 19th-century poem line turned western song lyric evokes days past when wild bison covered wide open spaces across North America. But these days, the only place wild American plains bison can be witnessed in large, free-roaming herds is within Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone bison are the descendants of just two dozen animals who found refuge in Yellowstone's high interior...
Panther, painter, mountain screamer. Catamount, ghost cat, puma. These are just a few of the regional and colloquial names for an elusive carnivore that stalks the wilds of Greater Yellowstone. It’s an animal many folks go their whole lives sharing habitat with without seeing even once in the wild. Here in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, it is more commonly known as the mountain lion or cougar.
In Episode 09, we are sitting do...
As Aristotle once said, “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” It is no secret that the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem inspires countless artists using every medium imaginable to create masterpieces depicting what this landscape means to them.
In Episode 08, we sit down with artist DG House in her studio in Bozeman, Montana. DG is a contemporary Indigenous painter and ph...
March 1, 2022 marked the 150th anniversary of the founding of Yellowstone National Park. This important milestone is reason to celebrate this special place, but also reflect on its history and envision a more inclusive future. Despite myths about Yellowstone being an untouched, uninhabited land before the Yellowstone Park Protection Act was signed in 1872, the lands that became the world’s first national park were inhabited by or i...
Elk in Paradise: it doesn’t get more idyllic than that. In Montana’s appropriately named Paradise Valley, an enormous amount of elk congregate to forage, rest, and find safety in numbers. Many travel straight over from Yellowstone National Park, which sits at the southern end of Paradise Valley.
However, elk encounter numerous barriers within Paradise Valley. The road to Yellowstone National Park stretches through the valley and is...
Towering geysers. Colorful hot springs. Gurgling mudpots. Steamy fumaroles. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the greatest destinations on earth for observing hydrothermal features. So, what makes it such a geological hotspot?
In Episode 05, we'll chat with geologist and volcanologist Dr. Lisa Morgan, a scientist emeritus with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Lisa has studied the geological activi...
Wildlife migration and movement is the heartbeat of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It ebbs and flows as one of the most astonishing and ancient movement corridors on Earth. What barriers do these species face while traveling across their habitat?
We’ll learn all that and more in Episode 04. During this chat with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s Wildlife Program Coordinator Chris Colligan, we’ll learn about why wildlife moves...
Reduction in snowfall and snowpack. Warmer water temperatures. Increased droughts. More forest fires.
What does this all mean for our future? Climate change is a real threat to the planet, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is not immune to it.
In Episode 03, we sit down with paleoclimatologist Cathy Whitlock to discuss what climate change is doing to this special place. Dr. Whitlock is the co-lead author and s...
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