Yellowstone National Park was signed into law on March 1, 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant. This is the oldest national park in the U.S.A. Yellowstone is 3,471 square miles. Funding comes from taxes and visitors.
On average it gets 3,447,729 visitors every year. Yellowstone was created to preserve the wildlife in the area and showcase the unique geographical features throughout the park.
Yellowstone is most noted for it's geysers and hot springs, most notably Old Faithful, but it also has four mountain ranges crisscrossing the park. They are the Washburn range, Gallatin range, Red Mountains, and the volcanic Absaroka Range. It shares a border with Bridge-Teton National Forest. Yellowstone is known for unpredictable weather patterns year-round. It is even recommended to bring a warm coat and rain gear in summer!
The Wildlife consists of bison, bears, wolves, foxes, otters, badgers, moose, and elk. Wolverines and Lynx are also here but are a rare sight.
The vegetation of Yellowstone is diverse and includes species that are native to the Rockies and the Great Plains. Their is controlled burns to keep the vegetation alive and healthy.
Yellowstone has been a pioneer post, a testing ground for new concepts and a data center for research into the inexact science of preserving of wildlands for public use. It has been a sanctuary for many species that where on the brink of extinction.
Their are many negative effects of human interaction in Yellowstone. The most surprising is species become much more vulnerable to diseases. Then their are the more common impacts which include littering, car emissions, and fertilizer. Yellowstone could go through several changes due to human activities inside and outside of the park. Research is being done to find solutions to these problems.
Their are many plans already underway in Yellowstone for it's future. These include Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental Assessments, management plans, and decision documents, such as Findings of No Significant Impact and Records of Decisions.
Yellowstone is a super volcano that has very slowly been building up over time. Scientists estimate that it will not erupt anytime soon but it still is possible for an eruption to happen. If and when it irrupts, most of the U.S. will be covered in ash, two-thirds will be made uninhabitable, and MAJOR climate changes will be felt all over the world. It will be at least 2,000 times worse than Mt. Saint Helens in Washington state. An eruption or that magnitude will not be happening in the twenty-first century.