Top: Looking north from Grizzly Point in Hayden Valley, with a lazy bend of the Yellowstone Rive passing beneath the bluff in the foreground. Mt. Washburn and the Washburn Range is on the horizon. Hayden Valley is an ancient lakebed, formed during the Ice Age when Yellowstone Lake was much larger than it is today. The clays left behind after the lake retreated prevent trees from taking root on the valley floor, while the higher ground with more porous soil supports dense stands of forest. Hayden Valley is one of the best wildlife habitats in Yellowstone, with huge herds of bison and a large population of Grizzly and black bears. In the early days of the Park, parts of the valley were used as huge trash dumps, attracting literally hundreds of bears to the easy feedin'. Luckily, wiser heads ruled the day, and the dumps were removed. Cynics claimed that removing the dumps would doom the Grizzlies to extinction, and it's true that for a few years, a lot of bears died while they were adjusting to a new, wilder existence. The decision turned out to be one of the wisest in the Park's history and today, the population of the Grizzly is booming in and around Yellowstone. However, the great bear's future is still uncertain, with tremendous development around the Park's borders threatening to take away much of the space that the Griz needs to survive over the long term. Also, many of the wild foods that the Griz depends on are in jeopardy, with a rapidly warming climate threatening to kill out the whitebark pine that provides a valuable source of autumn nutrition to the bears, while the illegal introduction of lake trout into Yellowstone Lake threatens to annihilate the once-huge population of cutthroat trout that the Griz feasts on during the spawn each year.

Below, Soda Butte, in the northwest corner of Yellowstone. This magnificent area of Yellowstone was under attack in the 90s, with a Canadian mining company threatening to build a huge mine right on the boundary of the park. If the plans had succeeded, hundreds of huge dump trucks would have roared through Lamar Valley every day, while noise, light, and dust pollution would have ravaged the pristine wilderness in the beautiful boundary region. Luckily, President Clinton supported plans to buy out the mining company claims, and the wild character of northwest Yellowstone was preserved.