Latest news with #WyoFile
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
On This Date: A Violent Tornado In Wyoming's Mountains
If I mention the phrase "violent tornado," what state first comes to mind — Oklahoma, Alabama or maybe Texas? On July 21, 1987, 38 years ago this afternoon, a tornado touched down in northwestern Wyoming just east of Grand Teton National Park. Tornadoes can happen in mountainous terrain, but this was an exceptional twister by high country standards. It tore a 24-mile path in 26 minutes from east of the town of Moran across the Continental Divide at just over 10,000 feet elevation before it lifted in the southeast edge of Yellowstone National Park. Nobody was killed, but nine campers witnessed a "fast-approaching train-like noise" along with large hail, according to WyoFile. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 1 million trees were uprooted in a 15,000-acre swath, some of which you see in the photo below. That grabbed the attention of the father of tornado science, Theodore Fujita. Fujita coordinated three aerial surveys in the weeks after the tornado. In a study released just over 18 months later, he rated the tornado F4 with peak winds estimated at over 207 mph using the pre-2007 Fujita scale. Fujita assigned this rating based on observations of "uprooted large trees, spattered by wind-blown topsoil and debarked." This remains America's strongest high-elevation tornado on record. Fujita found the damage path was up to 1.6 miles wide, consisting of "swirl marks" indicative of the tornado, as well as 72 separate microburst outflows within the damage swath. Damage from the tornado was estimated at $2.5 million. According to WyoFile, many of the downed trees were consumed the following summer by the Yellowstone wildfires of 1988. Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Speed unknown factor in death of Grizzly 1058, one of 399's offspring
A sign that informs passersby about grizzlies stands along Highway 89 in the Snake River Canyon near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile) This story was first published by WyoFile on May 7, 2025. A grizzly death attributed to a fatal vehicle strike has triggered an outpouring of rage on social media about people driving too fast, but law enforcement could not determine whether speed was a factor in the collision. The bear that died, Grizzly 1058, is one of the famous 'quads' of their even more famous mom, Grizzly 399, who died last year after being fatally struck by a vehicle on a highway south of Jackson. Grizzly Bear 399 lived to old age because we made room for her. She died because we're in her wilds In the death of Grizzly 399, authorities ruled that the driver was not speeding. As for Grizzly 1058, 'law enforcement rangers were not able to determine if speed was a factor' in the collision, Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Emily Davis said in an email Wednesday. Nonetheless, park officials asked people to slow down and be vigilant for wildlife in a Tuesday news release confirming the bear's death. While reducing speeds can help protect wildlife along Wyoming highways, it's not the only factor setting the stage for fatal collisions. 'It's terribly unfortunate that this happened,' said Brian DeBolt, large carnivore conflict coordinator with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 'But it's becoming all too common with these bears that spend so much time roadside.' The more time bears hang out near roads, the higher the probability that they're going to be struck and killed by a vehicle, DeBolt said. Game and Fish is finding that younger bears, like the 5-year-old subadult found Tuesday, are being forced to make a living in more marginal habitat along roadsides because more prime habitat is already occupied. What park officials have confirmed so far is that Grizzly 1058 had been spotted in the park since he and his three siblings split from their mom in 2022. But there were no confirmed sightings of him this spring, the park release said. Park law enforcement found the bear's remains Tuesday in a patch of willows about 125 yards from the highway, within park boundaries east of the Buffalo Fork River. The Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that a law enforcement ranger found the dead bear after spotting ravens and eagles scavenging along the highway and stopping to investigate. The park bear biologist told the News&Guide the animal had likely been there for several days. The park relied on ear tags and a 'PIT' tag to identify the 5-year-old bear, which the park release said 'appeared to be in good condition for his age and the time of year.' The outer park highway sees more diverse traffic — including commuters and semis — and higher speed limits than the inner park road. Just up the highway on Togwotee Pass, where vehicles have struck roadside grizzlies, wildlife managers and law enforcement have struggled to manage traffic jams created by bear watchers. As more bears live roadside, and get habituated to people, the more risk of collisions, DeBolt said Wednesday. 'We don't want bears to be so comfortable roadside,' he added. The speed limit on Togwotee Pass is 55 miles per hour, but once drivers cross into Grand Teton National Park, there is a nighttime speed limit of 45 mph on that same highway. Safety concerns along that highway, where it crosses through the Bridger-Teton National Forest, prompted one retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent to propose a 'grizzly bear speed limit,' using variable speed limits similar to how the state handles blizzards on the interstate. 'Maybe we ought to consider having a grizzly bear speed limit, you know, when the bears are around the highway,' said Steve Stoinski, a retired Fish and Wildlife Service agent who spent a summer managing bear traffic jams on Togwotee Pass. But that speed limit would only work with regular enforcement, Stoinski told WyoFile. DeBolt said he'd be open to reducing speed limits if it would reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and was reasonable and logistically possible. But setting speed limits is not Game and Fish's call to make. DeBolt also sees larger factors at play. 'Although it seems like maybe a simple fix,' DeBolt said. 'It's not that simple.' Inside Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks where reduced speed limits are enforced, wildlife still die in vehicle strikes, DeBolt said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
As international visitors stay away, Yellowstone National Park tourism industry banks on Americans
West Yellowstone, Montana, workers stock the Yellowstone Bargain Store on April 15, 2025, as the tourist town prepares for interior park roads to open for automobiles. Located a few hundred yards from the entrance to Yellowstone National Park, the store specializes in tchotchkes, gewgaws, trinkets and clothes. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile) WEST YELLOWSTONE, MONTANA — Tchotchke shop owners are busy stocking shelves with Old Faithful shot glasses, stuffed teddy bears and Yellowstone hoodies. Motel managers are hiring their last employees as the summer tourism season begins with the opening of Yellowstone's West Entrance today. After park crews plowed a winter's worth of snow from roads, visitors are now motoring to Old Faithful, Canyon and Norris, marking the unofficial start to the summer. This year, fewer of those tourists, ogling at 'red dog' bison calves, delighting in a geyser's eruption and soaking up spectacular mountain views, will likely be international travelers. Overseas travel to the U.S. nosedived 11.6% in March, reflecting jitters over Trump administration tariffs, stock market turmoil and foreign bitterness toward the country's altered relationship with the rest of the world. Several data points reveal a sluggish start to the summer tourism season. The International Trade Administration, an arm of the U.S. Department of Commerce, reported the 11.6% drop in overseas visitation in March. (The figure, compared to the same month last year, does not reflect travelers from Canada and Mexico.) 'U.S. Economy to Lose Billions as Foreign Tourists Stay Away,' Bloomberg headlined an April 14 story. Mike Gierau, a Wyoming state senator, restaurant owner and co-chairman of JH AIR, a nonprofit business consortium that coordinates service to Jackson Hole, sees the tide. 'International travel is dropping like a stone based on all the stuff coming from Washington,' he said. Moreover, at the South Entrance to the world's first national park, the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce reports a dip in the 60-day outlook for already booked hotel rooms compared to 2024. Rick Howe, the chamber's president, said June and July 'are not as strong as we would expect — they're not picking up as quickly as they [usually] do.' That 60-day outlook, released March 31, shows about 54% of coming days falling shy of last year's numbers based on bookings at 16 hotels. 'It's not going to be a record year,' Howe said. In 2024, travel spending in Wyoming amounted to $4.9 billion, according to the Wyoming Office of Tourism. Travel and tourism supported 33,610 jobs, generated $278 million in tax receipts and resulted in 8.8 million overnight visitors, the office said in a review of last year. Tourism, Gierau said, is the second-largest revenue-generating industry in the Equality State behind energy development. 'In tourism, everything you do is taxed,' he said, 'everything we buy, everything we sell.' Despite the data dips, industry officials hope and believe in redemption. If overseas visitors aren't coming to the U.S., Americans could forego foreign travel as well, spending their time vacationing closer to home instead. 'One door closes, another opens,' Gierau said. Also, the outlook for visitors to Jackson Hole, while not yet documented by the chamber, is upbeat for August and September, Howe said. Overall, 'we're pretty much on par with last summer — for the moment,' he said. At Yellowstone's East Entrance near Cody, lodge owners have seen 'a little bit of a drop,' in reservations, said Jennifer Thoma, the executive director of the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce. There's now a glimmer of relief. 'It seems like reservation numbers are back up,' she said. In addition to tariffs, market turmoil and foreign enmity, DOGE cuts to the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service have rattled travelers. Those indiscriminate firings and resignations have sparked worries that campgrounds won't open and toilets won't be cleaned. Tourism industry leaders seek to assure potential customers that DOGE disorder won't affect their vacations. Yellowstone National Park Lodges General Manager Mike Keller acknowledged in an email that Park Service 'staffing uncertainty' has generated worries. 'We are here to assure you that our operations are unaffected and we are ready to welcome you to a memorable Yellowstone experience this spring and summer,' his email reads. 'The park remains open, the views are as breathtaking as ever, the wildlife is flourishing, and the sense of wonder that Yellowstone National Park evokes is unchanging and eternal.' For Howe at the Jackson chamber, the season could mimic the surge in RV campers and regional travel that accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. 'People are not worried services won't be available,' he said. 'We are not hearing the concerns that we were two to three weeks ago,' Howe said. 'Those calls are not happening anymore.' He also asked innkeepers a month ago to report whether they're getting calls from people cancelling reservations because of economic hardships. 'The answer is 'no,'' he said. Reflecting information from airlines, Gierau predicted 'a good summer,' but also one that's 'just different.' There will be fewer bus tours filled with foreigners and, instead, more people 'on the senior circuit,' he said. The next Jackson chamber 60-day outlook through mid-June, compiled by consultants DestiMetrics, publishes April 20. A crash is 'not a major concern at the moment,' Howe said. 'It's kind of a moving target,' Howe said of the summer forecast. 'With all the things going on, things changing rapidly, it's hard to know.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Trump and Musk's DOGE ‘functionally destroying' historic Yellowstone grizzly science team
After swimming across the Snake River, one of Grizzly 399's subadult offspring shakes off excess water in May 2022. (Mark Gocke/Courtesy) A dismayed Chris Servheen is raising the alarm about what's become of federal scientists who have kept watch over the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem's grizzly bear population for the last 55 years. The group of research biologists and technicians, known as the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, are being hamstrung at best and arguably dismantled, he told WyoFile. For decades, until his retirement in 2016, Sevheen worked closely with the study team while coordinating grizzly bear recovery for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 'It's functionally destroying the organization,' Servheen said. 'The study team has been in place since 1970 — over 50 years of work and experience and knowledge. It's going to just disappear and die.' Servheen's perplexed about what the Trump administration has to gain. 'How could anybody be so negligent and vile that they're trying to destroy something that has brought grizzly bears back from the edge of extinction?' he said. 'Why would you do that? It's just so destructive.' Led by Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency's dismantling started with a hiring freeze. Longtime supervisory wildlife biologist Mark Haroldson retired, and his position is not being filled, according to Servheen. Then, the team's longtime leader, Frank van Manen, announced an earlier-than-desired retirement. 'He didn't want to leave,' Servheen said of van Manen, who declined to comment. According to Servheen, van Manen's departure was related to the federal government's ongoing upheaval. 'They're putting fear into people,' Servheen said. 'That's basically evil, to do that to hard-working people who have been civil servants for decades.' The Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team is part of the U.S. Geological Survey, and its website lists four other employees. Three are technicians, which are often seasonal, entry-level employees. The remaining staff biologist has been in the job about three years. Although located in Bozeman, many of the federal facility's researchers do work in Wyoming. 'They do all kinds of other stuff: brucellosis and chronic wasting disease and aquatic species,' Servheen said. 'It's a huge science center.' The planned closure has elicited protests. According to 42 retired or active biologists petitioned Montana's congressional delegation to use their influence to 'protect (the science center) and its employees from these unwarranted attacks by DOGE.' Federal offices located in Wyoming have not escaped the closures. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's tribal-focused Lander conservation office and a USGS Cheyenne water science station are among those that have been marked for the chopping block. WyoFile could not officially confirm impacts to the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team. Federal agencies under the Trump administration have declined or not responded to WyoFile's requests for more information on downsizing and office closures. An inquiry to a USGS public affairs officer on Thursday yielded no information about the matter. The Center for Biological Diversity has been pressing the federal agency for details as well. On Thursday, the environmental advocacy organization publicized a Freedom of Information Act request to gain more insight into the future of the federal grizzly team. Both recently departed veteran study team members — van Manen and Haroldson — are staying engaged in grizzly science in pro-bono emeritus roles, according to a source familiar with the situation. Nevertheless, Servheen worries that the hit to the science team could trickle down to the grizzly population — estimated at 1,000 or so bears in the Greater Yellowstone — that it's charged with studying. During the decades, federal researchers have played a pivotal role in improving understanding of the region's bruins, including completing studies that have helped make the case that grizzly bears are fully recovered and no longer require Endangered Species Act protection. They've also amassed mortality and other demographic datasets and compiled an annual report. 'The foundation of Yellowstone grizzly bear recovery has been built on science,' Servheen said. 'Removing that science eliminates our ability to maintain Yellowstone grizzly bears.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘Come out and tell the truth': Parents of teen who died outside Riverton wait for answers
Andrew GrahamWyoFileIt's been three weeks since Stephanie Bearstail died under suspicious circumstances on the Wind River Indian Reservation, and the 18-year-old's family is mourning her as they wait for answers from federal was a passionate softball player and determined student eager to graduate high school and enter college — she had recently expressed interest in becoming a radiologist, her parents Nikki and Kevin Ferris told WyoFile in a phone interview this week. As a senior, she was already taking courses at Central Wyoming College. Their only daughter was also a certified goofball, a little boss of the house and her three brothers, and a bright light in the lives of the family and many others on the reservation. 'Even we were surprised how many people knew her,' Nikki Ferris said. 'We knew of her friends, but we didn't know how many she had.' On March 15, those friends and others — as many as 200 people, according to news reports — walked to a fence line along the side of Wyoming 137, a road that cuts across the reservation, running from near the Wind River Casino outside Riverton west to Fort Washakie. That's the area where authorities say Bearstail somehow exited a moving vehicle on a windy March night. At the demonstration, Bearstail's supporters wore red — the color that has become a symbol for the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women that plagues communities on and off the reservation. They carried signs that read 'Justice for Steph,' some of which still hung weeks later on the barbed wire fence that threads between the sage brush. Bearstail's death, her mother said, 'just blindsided all of us.' The Ferrises declined to share details, saying they do not want to publicly reveal information that could complicate the job of investigators. But they have reason to believe their daughter was a victim of violence, they said. 'The main thing that I think of every day is I just wish somebody would come out and tell the truth about what happened,' Nikki said. 'I don't understand how anyone could know what happened and not say anything.' Bearstail grew up and lived her entire life in Fort Washakie, where her father was involved in law enforcement and today is a judge on the Wind River Tribal Court. The night of March 4, Bearstail did not return home by her 10:30 p.m. curfew. The parents could remember only one other time their lively but studious daughter had been late for her curfew, they told WyoFile. They grew worried, and within an hour, left home to look for her. The parents tracked their daughter's phone location, which placed her in the area between Riverton and the small reservation community of Arapahoe. 'She did need help, and we were trying to find her,' her mother said. On the drive, they received word she had been hospitalized, and so they headed to SageWest Hospital in Riverton. They were able to spend time with Bearstail before she died, but their daughter was unable to speak or share what happened to her, they Wyoming Highway Patrol, which maintains a list of highway fatalities from around the state, published an entry to the list about a week after Bearstail's death, according to news reports. The entry states: 'An unknown SUV was traveling westbound on Rendezvous Road. The SUV passenger allegedly jumped out of the vehicle while it was in motion for unknown reasons.' The entry does not say where investigators learned of the allegation that Bearstail jumped from the SUV. Authorities haven't identified the driver. The Wyoming Highway Patrol directed WyoFile to the FBI for comment on the case. The FBI has said only that the case remains under investigation. The Fremont County Coroner's office is conducting the autopsy, which hasn't been finalized, a representative of that office said this week. Using the limited information from the highway patrol fatality database, news organizations ran headlines stating that Bearstail 'allegedly jumped' from the car to her death. Those reports disturbed the family, the Ferrises said, because taken in isolation, the information suggests Bearstail was responsible for her own death. The headlines, Nikki said, served 'to deflect off what happened to her.' But Bearstail's community appears dedicated to keeping focus on her case and on the issue of domestic violence, which they believe led to her death. Other community events are in the works, the Ferrises told WyoFile. Native American women fall prey to violence, murders and unexplained deaths at disproportionally higher rates compared to other demographics in the United States. Many of the cases go unsolved, and reformers have pointed to the complicated jurisdictional nature of reservations — where local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement sometimes overlap in areas that are often economically depressed and, in the West, geographically isolated — as leading to a lack of accountability for perpetrators of does not appear to be the case here, as the FBI swiftly took control of the investigation. 'In this case, the FBI, they were [at the crime scene] that morning,' Nikki said. 'They got involved quickly.'Bearstail was the second oldest of the couple's children. Her younger brothers, ages 15 and 13, have tried to return to school, but on some days have had to go home or haven't been up for going at all, their mother said. 'They're not doing OK,' Nikki said. 'It's really hard.'Since her daughter's death, Nikki has made a steady stream of posts to social media, calling for justice, expressing her raw grief and remembering her daughter. There are videos of Bearstail running track, and of her dancing — full of life. As the Ferrises have received messages sharing swirling rumors about the night Bearstail died, they've implored people to take what they know to the FBI. But to date, all the family has been told by officials is that an investigation is active, the parents said. The FBI 'said it would take time,' Nikki said in the March 25 interview. To her knowledge, 'they're still out there investigating,' she said. In a statement to WyoFile sent Wednesday evening, an FBI spokesperson for the Denver Field Office said the agency 'appreciate[s] public interest in this incident and encourage[s] anyone with information to contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs/Wind River Police or the FBI.'The agency could not offer a time frame for when it would conclude the investigation, the statement read. 'We methodically and thoroughly address every element of the incident,' spokesperson Vikki Migoya is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and This story was updated to correct a misspelling of Nikki Ferris' name. —Ed.
