Poster boards about frogs, archaeology, butterflies and bears line the hallway at the Yellowstone Conference Center in Big Sky for the 16th Biennial Scientific Conference on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. More than 200 scientists, federal and state agencies, and nonprofit leaders have gathered to share information.
Cam Sholly, Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, said the conference is an opportunity to collaborate beyond boundaries.
“The people that are in these agencies making these decisions on the ground within the greater Yellowstone ecosystem have the ability to really listen to different stakeholders. A lot of these scientists have put a lot of work into their presentations," Sholly said.
Sholly added interdisciplinary partnerships have helped put the pieces of the ecosystem back together and that overall the ecosystem is healthier than it was a century ago.
“We were feeding grizzly bears out of garbage dumps back in the 50s and 60s, you know we've come a long way,“ Sholly said.
However, new pressures like climate change and increased visitation pose new challenges.
Chief of External Affairs & Partnerships for Yellowstone Christina White says harsh winters and disease have a greater impact on wildlife than the nearly 5 million annual visitors. She says the biggest impact is on park staff, operations, and infrastructure.
“They used to be able to go around and clean a vault toilet once maybe twice a day and a lot of these areas but toilet cleanings are going up to over five times a day and when they get there they have to wait in line with visitors to be able to get in,” White said.
Extrapolating that out across the park and to other departments, White says, can lead to increased staff hours and overtime that the park does not have the funds to absorb.
She says while they won’t stop cleaning toilets, it’s one aspect of a larger challenge that the whole ecosystem faces.
