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Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park: A Hydrothermal Masterpiece
In 1872, the spectacular geysers, hot springs, canyons, and fossil forests of the northwestern United States became the world’s first national park. President Ulysses S. Grant signed the bill creating northwestern Wyoming and parts of Montana and Idaho into Yellowstone National Park. Since the original days of western exploration, the Yellowstone region has been hailed for its beauty and magnificence. Lewis and Clark and other explorers were the first to discover the area and its geothermal activity. Yellowstone National Park is world famous for it’s hydrothermal features, containing over ten thousand hot spots (Monteith, 2001).
The management of the park has a storied history. "National Park" Langford, was appointed as the park's first superintendent in 1872. He served for five years, but without salary, funding, or staff, he lacked the means to improve the lands or implement any kind of protection to the park. Without formal policy or regulations put into place, he lacked any legal method to enforce such protection were it available to him. This left Yellowstone vulnerable to poachers, vandals, and others seeking to raid its resources. As a result, Langford was forced to step down in 1877 (Wikipedia). By 1915, horses were no longer allowed on park roads and almost 1,000 automobiles entered the park that year. Between 1933 and 1941, the Civilian Conservation Corps built the majority of the early visitor centers, campgrounds and developed the current system of park roads. During World War II, staffing and visitation both decreased and many facilities fell into disrepair. By the 1950s, visitation increased tremendously at most national parks. Park officials implemented Mission 66, an effort to modernize and expand park service facilities to accommodate the increased visitation. Expected to be completed by 1966, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service, Mission 66...