Photo by angeal

– Doug McConnell

One of my favorite regions on earth is the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. It embraces a huge and magnificent territory including Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. I’ve been traveling there since I was very little. I’ve been there in every season and never tire of the landscape, its history and its wildness.

Some years ago, it got a little wilder when wolves, once exterminated in the region, were reintroduced after years of contention and controversy. The return of the wolves has not been cheered by one and all. Their return has been challenged by local ranchers and others. Emotions have run high on all sides and legitimate debates about the fate of the wolves have ensued over the years.

I suppose it’s easy for an outsider to say, but I’ve favored bringing the wolves back home to Yellowstone for a very long time. They belong in these mountains and they help complete the ecosystem. I’ve lived in wild places around the West, and the presence of wolves has always moved and inspired me. The first time I ever saw a wolf was on a lonely road late one night many years ago in Alberta, Canada. I was driving to Alaska and the wolf, in a sense, welcomed me to the wildness ahead before loping off into its dark domain. That moment remains etched in my memory.

We human beings have initiated the earth’s greatest extinction episode in 65 million years. It heartens me to see us try, here and there, to reverse the tide. We’ve taken so much of nature out, it’s good to see us put at least one piece back where we found it.

I hope you enjoy a journey we took, early one morning, to YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK AND WOLVES. Then check out another of our other stories about the region: GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK.

Sunset Magazine’s Peter Fish shares details of one of his favorite escapes when he gets to live his life outside the box: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Cody and the legendary Beartooth Highway.

Photo by marmion

– Doug McConnell

My father was raised on a homestead in northwestern Montana. His family moved to a piece of land near Flathead Lake in 1910. My dad long remembered the family’s journey to the homestead from Fairbury, Nebraska. They traveled by train and covered wagon, dodged a diphtheria outbreak in Billings and celebrated his fourth birthday around a campfire. His cake was a baked potato with a candle. The world was different then.

By the time I was born, my family was ensconced in California but we made frequent trips back to Montana. We often drove out of our way to visit the Tetons and Yellowstone and my love affair with mountains and the mysteries of wild places was sealed forever. When I can’t be in Montana, Wyoming and the Yellowstone region personally, I can go there virtually by watching our videos here on OpenRoad.TV: Grand Teton National Park.

Our national park system started with Yellowstone in 1872. The concept of protecting important, natural and historic places is one of this country’s finest creations and global exports. We have a fair number of parks and preserves in the West for you to check out by clicking on the category link to right of this blog. Happy travels.