YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

World's first park

There are many national parks in our country such as Yala, Wilpattu and Uda Walawe, which are rich in both fauna and flora. Some of you may have visited at least one of these national parks and admired the wildlife and natural vegetation in the park.

We have featured some of the local national parks in our earlier issues. Today too, we will be focusing on yet another national park, but not one in our motherland.

We want to take you on a tour of the world's first and also the largest national park - the Yellowstone National Park, situated in America. Has anyone of you ever visited this park or at least seen on television the rich diversity of this park? Let's take a peek at what this wonderful natural reserve has to offer.

Established on March 1, 1872, following a bill signed by US President Ulysses S. Grant, the park spans an area of 2,219,789 acres (3,472 square miles or 8,987 km2). It spreads over three States, Wyoning (96 per cent), Montana (3 per cent) and Idaho (one per cent).

It also contains a part of the world's largest intact temperate zone ecosystems, the Greater Yellowstone Eco System. The park's name is derived from its location at the Headwaters of the Yellowstone River. Most of the park is about 7,500 ft above sea level, experiencing moderate summers and cold winters.

The park which is situated on the Yellowstone plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges of the Middle Rocky Mountains. The highest point in the park is atop Eagle Peak (11,358 ft) and the lowest is Reese Creek (5,282 ft).

A major feature of the Yellowstone plateau is the Yellowstone Caldera - a long area nearly filled with volcanic debris, measuring 30 by 46 miles (50x60 km). Within this area lies the largest, high elevation lake in North America, termed super volcanic since it was formed by an exceptionally large explosive eruption which occurred about 640,000 years ago.

The Yellowstone lake is 87,040 acres, in extent and 400 feet deep. It has a shoreline stretching 110 miles.

Sprawling across the northwest corner of Wyoming, the park contains more than two million acres of steaming geysers (numbering 300) including the world famous Old Faithful geyser, crystalline lakes; thunderous waterfalls (numbering around 290), hot springs, which includes the largest, the Grand Prismatic Spring, and also the world famous Grand Canyon. The park has around 10,000 geothermal features which are fascinating.

The forest cover, which spreads over 2.2 million acres, nearly 80 per cent of the park, has a great variety of plants and trees, some of which cannot be found anywhere else.

The dominant tree species is the Lodgepole pine which is a tall, straight tree about 75 ft high, but a large variety of spruce, aspen and fir too are found here. Some of the flowers found in the park are eyecatching.

It is home to wildlife such as free-ranging herds of bison and elk, grizzleys, black bears, wolves, moose, deer and puma. More than 60 species of mammals which includes the coyote, the park's top canine predator, and around 18 species of fish such as the cutthroat trout have been so far recorded.

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Fact File

Park's history

A comprehensive report by F. V. Hayden on Yellowstone convinced the US Congress to withdraw this region from public auction and by law declare it a national park in 1872, Nathanial Hangford was appointed as the park's first superintendent in 1872. He served for five years, but he was not paid a salary.

The National Pacific Railroad built a train station at the northern entrance in the early 1880s, which resulted in

 the number of visitors to the park increasing from 300 in 1882, to 5,000 in 1883 alone. Today it is recorded that more than three million people visit the Yellowstone National Park every year.

The poaching and destruction of the park, which happened in the early years, stopped only after the US Army arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs and built Camp Sheridan, which was later renamed as Fort Yellowstone.

The National Park Service (NPS) was created in 1916 and on October 31, 1918, the army turned over control to the NPS.

In 1959, a powerful earthquake, just north of Yellowstone Quake Lake, damaged roads and some structures in the park. However, over the years, the roads have been developed and many facilities have been introduced for tourists, offering recreational opportunities such as sightseeing, camping, boating, fishing and hiking.

Forest fires occur every year in the park, but the biggest so far, which took place in 1988, destroyed nearly one-third of the park.

Designated as an International Biosphere Reserve on October 26, 1976. It was named a UN World Heritage Site on September 8,1978.

Early geographical history

Scientists have traced Yellowstone's origin to a hot spot in the mantle -

 one of the few dozens of such hot spots on Earth.

The current caldera on which Yellowstone is situated was created by a cataclysmic eruption about 640,000 years ago. It was a thousand times larger than the eruption of Mount St. Helen's in 1980. It produced a crater nearly two thirds of a mile deep (one kilometre) and 52 by 286 miles in area.

It is recorded that three cataclysmic eruptions have taken place in this region; one 640,000 years ago, and the

 other two 2.1 million and 1.2 million years ago. All three climax eruptions had released vast amounts of ash that blanketed much of central North America, falling many hundreds of miles.

Castle geyser

The ash and the gases released had a significant impact on the weather and also the

 extinction of many species primal to North America.

Native Americans have lived in the Yellowstone region for at least 11,000 years. Yellowstone is located at the northeastern end of the Snake River Plain.

Old Faithful which is the largest geyser is located in the Upper Geyser Basin, while the Steamboat Geyser, which is the world's largest active geyser is located in the Noris Geyser Basin.

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