National Geographic explores Yellowstone
The "wild heart of a continent" is explored in the National Geographic May 2016 issue "Yellowstone: The Battle for the American West," which hit new stands April 26. Everything from concerns about land use, tourism, wildlife restoration, animal management, migration and geothermals in the country's first national park is thoroughly explored.
The special issue was three years in the making with principal writer and Bozeman resident, David Quammen. The magazine and online feature were lushly photographed in-depth by six photographers: Michael Nichols, David Guttenfelder, Ronan Donovan, Charlie Hamilton James, Erika Larsen and Joe Riis.
Here's a peak at some of the photos.
What wilderness means to people has steadily changed since Yellowstone was founded. The Park Service no longer tries to make tame spectacles of wild animals. But today, as in 1972, when this photo was taken most visitors to the park never get far from the road and a black bear is still a reason to pull over.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park. Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River from Artist Point.
More than four million people visited the park in 2015, which is larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined (2,219,789 acres).
Yellowstone National Park
A grizzly fends off ravens from a bison carcass in Grand Teton National Park.
Yellowstone National Park
Park Service Biologist Doug Smith races toward a gray wolf that he shot from the air with a tranquilizer dart.
Before it awakens, he'll give it a quick physical exam and fit it with a radio collar. Wolves are now thriving in Yellowstone, but researchers monitor them closely.
Yellowstone National Park
A camera trap caught a grizzly reaching for fruit in the branches of an apple tree.
Grizzlies are frequent visitors to yards like this one in front of a historic house along Yellowstone's northern boundary. Caution and attentiveness are necessities that come with dwelling safely in this wild-and-rural interface.
It is estimated that there are only about 1,800 grizzly bears in North America today. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently proposed de-listing grizzlies from the endangered and threatened species list.
Yellowstone National Park
The colors of Grand Prismatic Spring come from thermophiles: microbes that thrive in scalding water. The green is chlorophyll they use to absorb sunlight.
Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 thermal features and more than 300 geysers.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone bison set the pace of traffic over the Highway 89 bridge in Gardiner, Montana, on the park's northern border.
Winter pushes the bison out of the park to lower elevations in search of food, a migration that comes into conflict with agriculture and development.
Yellowstone National Park
A lone member of the Phantom Springs wolf pack stands tall in Grand Teton National Park.
Yellowstone National Park
This band of 1,400 sheep spends the summer grazing season in the Gravelly Range of Montana. They're tended by three ranchers along with a sheepherder and two Akbash guard dogs.
Constant vigilance replaces bullets as a way of deterring predators.
Yellowstone National Park
Hunting parties organized by the hunting outfitter Hell's a-Roarin' near Jardine on the boundary of Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone National Park
For more Yellowstone National Park photos and the stories that go with them check out the May 2016 issue of National Geographic Magazine, entirely devoted to America's first national park.