Monday, December 17, 2007

Learn About Yellowstone in Winter


Head for Yellowstone National Park this winter for seminars on such topics on wildlife, geology, history, art and outdoor skills. Some seminars are outdoors, and transportation is by snowshoe.

The seminars are taught by college professors, research scientists, park staff and other experts, offered by the Yellowstone Association. This winter, there are new courses focus on writing, park explorers and winter wildlife.

Most of these Winter Institute Field Courses last from one to four days and are limited to 12 participants. Many courses are held at the Institute’s Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus, where simple, comfortable log cabins are just $25 per person per night. Other courses are based at Yellowstone Park lodges.

Learn about the wolves and bear Yellowstone, and more, including how to photograph them. Many people believe the park in winter is even more beautiful than in summer. Snowy fields dotted with bison, glistening, partly frozen waterfalls, and few tourists to spoil the spell.

I attended a summer program recently, and it was memorable. Did not even mind getting up at dawn to watch wolves and bear looking for breakfast in the Lamar Valley. We watched through high-powered binoculars -- not close enough to actually become their breakfast!

The Institute is a non-profit field school founded in 1976 and operated by the Yellowstone Association in partnership with the National Park Service. The Institute was founded in 1976.

The Yellowstone Association was founded in 1933 to foster the public’s understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of Yellowstone National Park and its surrounding ecosystem, including managing educational bookstores and a membership program. These have generated more than $10 million for Yellowstone, for the National Park Service.

This is all good. We help the NPS and ourselves at the same time.