Fall 2023 15 FIRST PERSON PHOTOS BY DICK EVANS, ’69 The Sprinter van slows along the snow-covered road into Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley. Our tour guide points out the window, and a ripple of excitement passes through the group as we see three wolves pacing up a snowy hillside. We rummage in our bags for binoculars and hang cameras around our necks. Our guide opens the doors, and we pile out into air that burns cold like peppermint.The snap ofcamera shutters fills the silence as we find and lose the wolves among the rocky outcroppings that dot the slope. After several minutes, they settle down for a midmorning nap: noses tucked under tails, twitching ears silhouetted against snow and sky. “I am going to go home and say we saw26wolves!”says Chris Johns,’74, wildlife photographer, former editor-in-chief of National Geographic and leader of our trip. We all agree: seeing 26 wolves — even if 23 of them were black spots two miles away — is quite a tale. Thanks to the generosity of an alumni donor, I’m on the OSUAA’s weeklong Winter Photography trip to Yellowstone National Park with 11 alumni to photograph and learn about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. As a natural resources student, I’m excited to experience the animals and landscapes that are so unique to the park, and as a writer, I’m excited to hear the stories tied to it. Perhaps it’s appropriate that on our first day in the park we are gifted with our own wolf story. Wolves have a special history in Yellowstone National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which has been chronicled, in part, by OSU’s own Professor Bill Ripple, Ph.D. ’84, and Professor Emeritus Robert Beschta. In the early 1900s, we learn, predators, including wolves, were culled to favor the herds of elk and other ungulates that drew visitors to the park. By the 1970s, wolves had exchanged their home in Yellowstone for one on the endangered species list. Without them, the entire ecosystem deteriorated, sparking concern among ecologists and conservationists. Starting in 1995, biologists from the U.S. and Canada reintroduced wolves to the landscape in a politically controversial attempt to heal it. Today’s park teems with wildlife. As we ride along, we call out di"erent species to Sue Arndt, ’76, MHEC ’82, who keeps a running list in her notebook. Exiting the park into the town of Gardiner, Montana, I glance out the window onto a scene straight from the pages of a vintage visitor’s pamphlet. A herd of bison is grazing high on a snowy ridge, arranged so artistically that I mistake them for a sculpture. “Stop! Stop! Stop! Look! Bison 10 o’clock!” Shouts go up from the group, and our guide brings the van to a halt. A HERD OF BISON IS GRAZING HIGH ON A SNOWY RIDGE, ARRANGED SO ARTISTICALLY THAT I MISTAKE THEM FOR A SCULPTURE. ڿ Wolves lounge on a sunny hillside in Lamar Valley. ↑The Grand Prismatic Geyser with snow and steam (top); bison grazing near Mammoth Hot Springs (bottom). cont inued
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