The National Park Service is seeking a new route for Yellowstone's North Entrance Road, which was severed in several places by June 2022 flooding/NPS file, Jacob W. Frank
A search is beginning for an environmentally sensible route for a new North Entrance Road to Yellowstone National Park.
Such a route was necessitated by the June 2022 flooding that took out sections of the long-used route that ran near the bottom of the Gardner Canyon just above the Gardner River. Goals for the new road include providing year-round access between Gardiner, Montana, and Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana, natural hazard resiliency, and the protection of natural and cultural resources.
Yellowstone staff invites the public to learn about and provide input on the North Entrance Road project by way of virtual public meetings on February 12 and February 14. A 30-day public comment period will also begin February 12. Public input will help Yellowstone select an alignment and begin the environmental compliance process.
Yellowstone experienced a 500-year flood event on June 13, 2022. The flood destroyed infrastructure in the northern portion of the park including several sections of the North Entrance Road between Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, Montana, and segments of the Northeast Entrance Road between Tower Junction and Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana. Both roads are open year-round and serve as the only winter vehicle access in and out of the park. After temporarily closing to regular visitor traffic on June 13, 2022, the Northeast Entrance Road opened to the public on Oct. 15, 2022, and a temporary road between Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs opened to the public on October 30, 2022.
That temporary road from Gardiner to Mammoth Hot Springs required the regrading and expanding of the 4-mile-long Old Gardiner Road, which started out in the late 19th century as a stagecoach route,
The ultimate plan for rebuilding the North Entrance Road well could surprise many and represent a significant realignment from the path that's long been used to reach Mammoth Hot Springs from Gardiner, Montana, as rebuilding in the Gardner River Canyon would not necessarily eliminate the threat of future problems from flooding or landslides.
"I'm not a big fan of rebuilding through the canyon," Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said later in 2022. "I think restoring that canyon [to its natural contours] would be really good for a variety of reasons."
The possibility of future floods similar to the ones that hit in June 2022 would require raising the road corridor higher above the river, which at the same time could place it in danger of rockfalls, he said.
"You might be able to withstand another flood, but at some point I think that canyon's vulnerable to rock slides and other things that could damage the structure," Sholly said at the time.
Virtual Public Meetings
During each meeting, three preliminary road alignment alternatives will be presented along with two video flyovers to explain the damage, environmental challenges, constraints and opportunities of each alignment. Meeting details include:
Webinar 1:
- Feb. 12, 2024, 3:30-5 p.m. MST
- Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83341858193
- Webinar ID: 833 4185 8193
- Audio: 720 707 2699
- Feb. 14, 2024, 6-7:30 p.m. MST
- Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84390842047
- Webinar ID: 843 9084 2047
- Audio: 720 707 2699
Public Comment
Beginning February 12, the public can also provide formal comments. The preferred method for submitting comments is online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NorthEntranceRoad. Comments may also be mailed or hand-delivered to: Yellowstone Center for Resources Attn: North Entrance Road EA, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190. The deadline to submit comments is Wednesday, March 13.
At the conclusion of the 30-day public comment period, the National Park Service will analyze and consider all comments received. A draft environmental assessment will likely be released for public review fall 2024. A final decision is expected in early 2025.
Comments
"Sorry, Poncho, I was referring to YOUR neighborhood, wherever that is. How about a moratorium on road construction EVERYWHERE? Would you be willing to live with that?"
This is whataboutism and a reductio ad absurdum. Please stick to the topic, Mr. Dalton, and end your attempts to distract away from the subject: roads in national parks.
"I believe that the BEST thing we can do to find real solutions happens at the ballot box by supporting and voting for people who will seek solutions in sensible legislation."
Thank you for the laughs! I haven't laughed that hard since Biden went to shake an invisible person's hand.
Again, if you'd like to stick to the subject, I'd be happy to engage in conversation, but if you're going to continue to try to distract and to try to make the conversation personal and about me, I'm out. Salud!
When will one of these articels have a map showing the three
I work at Roosevelt Lodge since 2015 and was there during the June 2022 Flood.
Also wonder what is the plan to rebuild the Lost Lake Trail that started behind Roosevelt Lodge.
OK, we're moving on from this conversation over politics. I think the bases have been covered.
Pancho,
The current temporary route is not sustainable long-term. It was meant as a quick fix to provide access between park headquarters and the outside world, which provides schools for employees' children, homes for the majority of the year-round workforce, groceries, prescriptions, full medical care, concessioner laundry facilities for all the park's lodging, dozens of tour operators, visitor lodging and dining, and many other critical services. The road as it stands today will not hold up to long-term heavy use and is already showing signs of that stress. It was originally built, in the late 1800s, as a wagon route for supply deliveries and has proven over and over again in the 100+ years that the surface is not stable for limited use, let alone the 2nd-busiest entrance to Yellowstone. It would cost significantly more in both money and emissions to maintain it over the long run. Looking for a new, long-term route is the best solution for all factors, including climate change. It would be replacing the road that washed out so not a net gain in disturbed area and the old route through the canyon will be restored, connecting bighorn sheep habitat to its nearest water source. Environmentally, putting in a sustainable route on the 4-5 miles between Gardiner and Mammoth is a responsible project.
National parks are supposed to be preserved unimpared for future generations.
No, that's never been the mission of the NPS. It might be YOUR desired mission, but it is not OUR collective mission or vision for our nat'l pakrs.
Pancho, you're trying too hard.