Dear Supporter,

A fundamental freedom is returning within Yellowstone National Park. It’s the freedom of winter visitors to breathe clean air, view Yellowstone’s wonders in razor detail, and hear clearly the subtle sounds of geysers and mud pots. This is one of the country’s most hopeful environmental trends and we invite you to be a part of it.

Today, December 20th, marks the opening of the 2006-2007 winter season in Yellowstone National Park. It also marks the fourth year of expanding opportunities to experience a quieter and healthier park on skis, snowshoes and environmentally friendly snowcoaches rather than snowmobiles. We encourage you to come enjoy the restoration of more natural conditions in one of the world’s great concentrations of wildlife and geothermal wonders and to be a part of its visitor-led recovery.

Here are a few ways to experience the park in winter and support its protection:

• A new shuttle is providing skier drops between the West Entrance and Old Faithful and more time for human-powered enjoyment of the Old Faithful geyser basin. From December 21 to March 10, Xanterra, the park concessionaire, will offer these shuttles on Thursday through Sunday. Learn more about skier drops.

• There are great opportunities throughout Yellowstone to ski and snowshoe. The park’s improving conditions are making it increasingly possible to enjoy your own trail away from the park’s roads and developed areas. In addition, all groomed roads now include classic tracks for skiing. And at Old Faithful and other developed areas, Xanterra is grooming both classic and skate skiing tracks.

• Snowcoach tours have become the fastest growing winter activity in Yellowstone, with 63 percent more visitors opting for coaches since 2003. Responding to their growing popularity among visitors, businesses in West Yellowstone and other gateway communities continue to make investments in a new generation of snowcoaches that are dramatically easier on the park’s environment and pleasurable to ride in. Guides on the coaches are providing visitors with knowledgeable interpretation of Yellowstone’s wildlife, history and geothermal wonders. Here is information from the National Park Service about all of the park’s snowcoach operators.

Conditions for viewing the park and learning about it are dramatically improved. We encourage you and your family to visit and enjoy Yellowstone’s transition to significantly healthier access and be a part of supporting it.

Contact Us:
gyc@greateryellowstone.org
Greater Yellowstone Coalition Membership
P.O. Box 1874
Bozeman, MT 59771

(406) 586-1593

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