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President Theodore Roosevelt called Yellowstone “the best looking country on earth.” It is much more than a pretty place – it is a natural wonder. Consider these facts:
Greater Yellowstone represents:
• An irreplaceable collection of habitats that supports the
largest concentration of wildlife species.
• The greatest concentration of geysers and thermal activity
on Earth.
• The headwaters of all three of the nation’s largest
watersheds– the Columbia, the Colorado and the
Mississippi– begin here.
• It is the world’s first park and the first international
biosphere reserve.
• The location of the five longest remaining long-distance
mammal migrations– one of the Earth’s most stunning
and imperiled biological phenomena–in the lower
48 United States.
• Habitat for large concentrations of elk, mule deer, bighorn
mountain sheep, bison, and pronghorn, and the southern
anchor of a larger system for wide-ranging carnivores that
are critical to the natural balance: wolves, grizzly bears,
coyotes mountain lions, wolverine, lynx, and fox.
• The site of the discovery of the world’s oldest living
organisms–single cell species living in the hot springs
that are so unique that scientists assigned these species
their own kingdom.
• Home to 109 other species or communities considered to
be imperiled globally, including critical habitat for the world’s
largest swan, the trumpeter swan.
• Some of the best remaining waters for native cutthroat
trout, restricted by habitat loss and competition from
introduced species to 15% of its original range.
• Numerous endangered or threatened species including
grizzly bear, wolf, trumpeter swan, boreal owl, black-footed
ferret, peregrine falcon, and the bald eagle.
Other Fast Facts
• Yellowstone River is the longest undammed river in the
United States.
• Upper Snake River Valley has one of the largest complex
of wetlands in the Northern Rockies.
• From 1970 to 2000, the area’s population grew 61%,
compared to 38% nationally.
• More than two million acres have been subdivided into
plots of 200 acres or less in the 20 counties that encompass
the Greater Yellowstone.
• Each year, millions of people from all over the world come
here for enjoyment, inspiration and to experience a place
where the land and wildlife remain in a natural setting.
Greater Yellowstone Ownership By Category Acres
Private 8,303,216
U.S. Forest Service 11,476,000
National Parks 2,554,000
U.S. Bureau Land Management 2,774,702
Indian Reservation 1,211,035
State Lands 1,175,688
Other Public Protected (state parks) 283,743
Fish and Wildlife Service 69,700
Other Public Lands 22,061
Total 27,870,145
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