YELLOWSTONE - Explore Big Sky

WOrd frOm ThE park:
an interview with al nash, Yellowstone’s Chief of public affairs
bY eMILY StIfLeR
I started my park service career as a
seasonal worker here. I began doing
interpretation at Fishing Bridge.
How is the park different than
when I visited as a young child?
Well, now I don’t think the park
smells! It’s not that the park has
changed, but as an adult I’m better
able to process and understand all
the information my senses take in.
When I first moved out this way in
1986 (to Billings), I lived in one of
the many communities around this
area that just refers to it as “going
to the park.” It’s comfortable and familiar
to people who live and work
in this region.
Many visitors come here and spend
a limited amount of time. They’re
attracted to Old Faithful, and have
34 July 1, 2011
I first visited Yellowstone on family vacation. We came from Michigan. My folks had an International
Scout with a canvas and wood pop-up camper. We’d have it hooked up and
ready to go when Dad would come home from work on friday afternoon. Mom would pack
a picnic lunch and the two kids in the rig, and we’d head west. that was our vacation every
summer, and Yellowstone was the destination several years. Some of my earliest memories
are our trips to Yellowstone. It was overwhelming. there were bears. It was kind of smelly.
those were some of my impressions at age six.
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heard of bears, bison or wolves,
and maybe the Grand Canyon of
Yellowstone. Most first-time visitors
don’t have any idea about the
expanse of the place and the variety
of things you can see and do here.
Repeat trips provides opportunity
for greater exploration and a greater
appreciation of this place. Even with
the luxury of living and working
here, I’ll never get to see everything
in this park. It is not possible.
There are more people now, but
there are still opportunities to enjoy
Yellowstone and avoid the crowds.
Our road system has dramatically
improved. We had a deserved reputation
for poor roads. With a couple
of exceptions that we’re working on,
our road system is visitor friendly.
Our two new visitor education
centers allow the Park Service to do
a better job of engaging visitors and
helping them understand the place
they come to visit.
There are some things that haven’t
changed, which is a good thing. In
my family, it’s the fourth generation
visiting Yellowstone. I can take
that 1950 photo of my grandparents
at Artist’s Point, and I can go
there myself and it looks like that,
more or less. To some degree, that
ranger-led campfire program or
hike continues to embody what
people 30, 40, 70 years ago might
have experienced.
Visitation is strong again. My best
estimate is our new baseline for
annual visitation is somewhere in
320 Ranch Steakhouse & Saloon
big Sky Weekly
the order of three million. We were
well over that last year, but visitation
has peaks and valleys. And
most of those folks are here June 15
– Aug. 15. This place continues to
reflect the quintessential American
family vacation.
We see a lot of foreign visitors. In
the middle of the day in the summer,
if you stand around to see Old
Faithful erupt, you’ll hear more
dialects than you can identify. This
place is loved not just by its neighbors,
and not just by people from
the U.S. – but people the world
around. It holds a place in people’s
hearts as a physical destination and
as an ideal. Yellowstone really does
represent something great about
our country.
Enjoy Big Sky hospitality and
cowboy gourmet food!
Saloon opens at 4:30 p.m., Dining Room begins serving at 5:30 p.m.
Reservations recommended
Monday Night Pig Roast
No reservations required
$10 Pig Roast ~ Kids half off!
Every Monday 5-8 p.m.
Open for the
Summer
Wednesday Night Riverside Chuck Wagon BBQs
Join us Wednesday evenings starting June 8 for a 2 hour Trail
Ride or Hayride to our BBQ near the Gallatin River—featuring NY
Strip Steaks, BBQ Chicken and all of the fixins with S’mores to
top it off! Reservations required.
406.995.4283 e www.320ranch.com
Located at Mile Marker 36 on HWY 191 toward Yellowstone Park