When my wife and I visit Yellowstone National Park, we like to spend a couple of days exploring the upper loop of the park as I described last week, and a couple of days exploring the lower loop of the park. The lower loop or southern part of the park is that portion of the park from Canyon Village to the south entrance to the park. It also includes the area from the Madison Junction to Old Faithful and over the Continental divide and on down to Yellowstone Lake and on to the east entrance to the park.

We usually set up camp in the Madison campground because my wife likes the running water at each camp spot and the indoor, modern, bathroom facilities. We also like to return to the camp ground around 5 p.m. to cook dinner and see the elk come down to the meadows along the Madison River and listen to them bugle.

We try to have breakfast and then leave the campground early in the morning, turn right at the junction and drive the short distance to Fire Hole Canyon Drive to see Fire Hole Falls. After leaving Fire Hole Canyon, we drive south along the Fire Hole River past Fountain Flats to the Lower Geyser Basin.

The Lower Geyser Basin is impressive, and well worth taking 30 minutes to and hour to walk around the area. Just be sure to stay on the boardwalk path the park has built around the area.

About a mile south of the Lower Geyser Basin parking lot is the turnoff to Fire Hole Lake Drive. This is one of least known attractions in the park and yet one of the most beautiful and scenic spots. Fire Hole Lake should be on everyone’s list of things to see in the park.

Continuing south along the Fire Hole River, the road goes through the Midway Geyser Basin and Biscuit Basin where Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce lead his people through the park on their way to Montana and Canada.

Farther south is the upper Geyser Basin with several trails lasting from 1 to 2 miles around the upper basin area with views across the basin from the tops of the mountains around the area.

A mile farther down the road is Old Faithful, the most famous geyser in the park. The geyser goes off approximately every 45 minutes to an hour and is spectacular. There are cabins, showers, a hotel, medical facilities, a gas station and a couple of restaurants at Old Faithful. There are also numerous trails around Old Faithful and the other geysers in the area, which are also active. There are hiking trails all through the mountains around the Old Faithful area.

About 17 miles east of Old faithful is Craig Pass on the Continental Divide at 8,262 feet above sea level. There is a trail from Craig Pass down to Shoshone Lake.

About another 17 miles east of Craig Pass is the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, and the West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Turning north at West Thumb the road follows Yellowstone Lake approximately 40 miles to Bridge Bay, a boat harbor and campground where boat trips around Yellowstone Lake can be arranged.

The campground at Bridge Bay is really nice and often frequented by bison who camp there also. Just remember that bison don’t want to be your friends, so don’t antagonize them and you should be all right.

Lake is about 8 miles up the road from Bridge Bay and has a store, a lodge, cabins, a hotel, hospital, two restaurants and a post office.

Fishing Bridge is just a mile or so northeast of Lake and has a store, a hard-sided campground, a visitor center and a museum.

Following the road from Fishing Bridge north, one can view LeHardys Rapids and Sulfur Cauldron.

Sixteen miles northwest of Sulfur Cauldron is the Hayden Valley. Bison, bears, wolves, pelicans swans and many variety of ducks and other birds can be seen in the Hayden Valley.

At the top of the lower loop and across from Canyon Village, is the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, possibly the greatest attraction in the park. It certainly attracts artists and photographers.

From Canyon, my wife and I head for the Norris junction, turn left drive down through Gibbon Meadows, past Gibbon Falls and back to the Madison Campground to have dinner and wait for the elk to come down to the meadow along the Madison River and bugle late into the night.

Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing.

He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.

In recent weeks, especially in the last few days, there have been significant news media coverage and social media posts on possible mountain lion sightings, particularly in the Pocatello and Chubbuck areas.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game acknowledges and understands the heightened concern that members of the public have had with the frequency of these recent reports. Idaho Fish and Game has noted and investigated every report in conjunction with efforts by the city of Pocatello and the city of Chubbuck police departments, city of Pocatello Animal Control and Idaho State University Public Safety.

Of the eight reports that have come in since the middle of May, only one has been confirmed. An incident on May 11 involved a treed mountain lion on Red Hill Trail in Pocatello. Idaho Fish and Game darted and moved the animal to a remote location in Southeast Idaho. The rest of the reports since then have not been verified either because of a lack of evidence or possible misidentification.

One individual who called in a sighting of a mountain lion on Red Hill Trail after a mountain lion had already been removed from the area did indicate that they were only about 50 percent sure of their identification. The most recent incident in Chubbuck is now thought to have been an observation of a domestic cat on a roof. The caller indicated failing eyesight and made the observation from her house across the street, making proper identification of a mountain lion unlikely. There have also been postings of suspected mountain lion tracks on social media when tracks were too washed out to properly identify or were clearly that of a large dog or coyote.

While we encourage individuals to report suspected lion sightings and ask questions, it is important to note that some sightings cannot be confirmed.

Idaho Fish and Game cannot explain the unusual number of reports of mountain lions in recent months. The fact is we get reports of mountain lion sightings and encounters throughout the year every year, especially during the winter when these animals follow deer down to lower elevations. This year seems a little out of the ordinary with so many phone calls coming in over spring, especially during these last two weeks.

We live in a wildlife rich area that includes a healthy mountain lion population. Brief incursions into urban areas by lions occur routinely but usually with little awareness by community residents. While we don’t expect frequent mountain lion reports to continue, Idaho Fish and Game is committed to investigating all credible reports that we receive, and to provide helpful information to our fellow community members and visitors.

What follows are talking points to update the public on the status of the recent mountain lion reports and to provide guidance and facts regarding recreation and living in mountain lion country.

Reports and findings

After the male mountain lion was removed from Red Hill Trail on May 11, additional sightings in that area were reported: one on May 16, and two over the weekend of May 19 and 20. Since May 21, three other lion sightings were reported in the Chubbuck and Pocatello areas and one in Inkom.

Idaho Fish and Game officers and personnel responded to each report and conducted investigations, often joined by officers from other municipalities.

On May 21, the entire Red Hill Trail and surrounding area was surveyed for evidence of mountain lions by use of drones and an experienced mountain lion hunter with trained hounds. No evidence of mountain lions, not even tracks or scent, was detected. Hounds were also used on a separate report in the Pocatello area, and no evidence was found.

Idaho Fish and Game installed trail cameras along Red Hill Trail on May 21. No evidence of mountain lions has been detected; however, over the weekend the trail cameras did detect a coyote using the area.

During the week of May 21, signs were put up near the Red Hill Trail on campus property by ISU. Signs were also put up on the trail by city of Pocatello. Idaho Fish and Game does consult with land managers and property owners on signage as needed, but we are not authorized to sign property that is not owned by the department.

Making the call

Mountain lions are elusive and wary of people. It is rare people even see a mountain lion, and when they do, the encounter is usually fleeting. This makes proper identification of a mountain lion difficult sometimes. Adult mountain lions are large cats, tawny to grayish in color, weighing 80 to 200 pounds. The tail, which can range in length from 2½ to 3 feet, is rope-like in appearance (not bushy) and has a black tip.

The tracks of a large dog are often mistaken for mountain lion tracks. Mountain lion tracks are 3 to 4.3 inches long and 3.3 to 4.8 inches wide. They are very round and the bottom pad of the foot has three lobes, whereas a dog’s pawprint is more oval and has a two-lobed pad. Probably the two most unique characteristics of a mountain lion track is that it has one toe visibly larger than the others, and there are no claw marks in the track.

Before you call to report a mountain lion, ask yourself: Is it the right size (bigger than a housecat or even a large dog)? Right color? Does it have a long, rope-like tail? Am I at least 50 percent sure it’s a mountain lion?

Living with mountain lions

Residents of Pocatello and Chubbuck live with wildlife. This is especially true of those who live in the urban-wildlife interface. Though for most this makes living here special, there are inherent risks associated with living and recreating around wildlife, from mountain lions to moose. Even deer can be aggressive around people and pets.

Most mountain lions stay out of trouble with people. However, when an animal is in conflict with people, Idaho Fish and Game is prepared to take the appropriate professional and responsible action as we have demonstrated time and time again — hazing or relocation; lethal removal when necessary.

Mountain lion attacks on humans in Idaho are rare. There have only been three attacks by mountain lions on people in Idaho since 1990, and though traumatic to those involved, none were fatal. The recent incident in Washington was the first fatal attack by a mountain lion on a human in 100 years in that state.

Wildlife, even mountain lions, move around and even through the Pocatello area routinely. It has been that way for decades and will be that way for decades more. That means that reports of mountain lions (verified or not) will continue.

For more information, including what to do if you encounter a mountain lion, refer to the brochure Living with Mountain Lions, which can be found at https://bit.ly/2IUKSDp.

Idaho Fish and Game wants to make it very clear that we are happy to take phone calls from concerned public about mountain lions and any other wildlife species, and we will investigate or respond to wildlife calls as necessary and in a manner appropriate for each situation.

We also hope that people will take the time to educate themselves on all risks associated with outdoor recreation, including wildlife safety, and that they use this information to help them enjoy living and playing safely in Idaho’s outdoors.

Jennifer Jackson is the Regional Conservation Educator for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Southeast Region.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — It was the talk of the boardwalk. Everyone had heard that there was an unusually active geyser here in the Norris Geyser Basin, near the center of the park. A sign close to the parking lot showed the way, and a quarter-mile later visitors hit the platform above Steamboat Geyser, wondering aloud whether it was the one.

Yes, it was, and although it was a little more than a day removed from its most recent major eruption, the world’s tallest active geyser was still something to see. Steam billowed out, soaring high above the trees. Water shot up intermittently, and the vents roared. Mist drenched one part of the boardwalk below, forming puddles. People pulled on hoods as they walked by.

John and Corri Kamphof, of British Columbia, reached the geyser fairly early that day. They’d never heard of it before coming to the park this year, but a ranger told them they had to go. When they arrived, they found it in the midst of what some consider a “big minor” eruption, one that shoots water as high as 100 feet.

“There was a lot of water,” John said. “It was really quite awesome.”

And it can get even bigger. Steamboat’s major eruptions are known to reach heights between 300 and 400 feet, sending gravel flying and soaking cars in the parking lot. The park has recorded 171 major eruptions of Steamboat since 1878, the year of its first known eruptions. But the big blasts are completely unpredictable.

One evening this past March, park employees reported seeing the first major eruption in nearly four years. Since then, the action hasn’t stopped. As of Friday, there had been five recorded major eruptions in 2018, already making it the busiest year for Steamboat since 1984. None of the five were as strong as the last two major eruptions, in 2013 and 2014, but the activity has people excited about the enormous feature.

Its awakening doesn’t portend the end of the world. However, scientists also don’t know why it suddenly woke up. That’s not so unusual either. Mystery isn’t unique to Steamboat. It’s the most normal thing about it.

Weird is Normal

All of Yellowstone’s hydrothermal features begin with rain and snow soaking into the ground. At a certain point, heat from the volcano’s magma reservoir forces the water to rise back toward the surface. The makeup of the underground plumbing system determines how the water expresses itself — whether it turns into a hot spring pool, a mud pot or a geyser.

Constrictions in the system create geysers. Water and steam get stuck in a tight spot, circling and searching for a way out, a vent to blow through. When the pair finds a path, it rockets into the sky.

About half of the world’s geysers are in Yellowstone, according to the park, and each one has a unique underground system.

“Each geyser kind of has their own personality,” said Jeff Hungerford, Yellowstone National Park’s lead geologist. “And it has to do with the plumbing and how the heat is expressing itself through the system until it comes to the surface.”

Old Faithful, the most famous geyser, is an anomaly. It draws enormous crowds each day in large part because of its consistency. Predictive systems are incredibly accurate, often within 10 minutes of an eruption. Signs posted in the area tell people when to grab a seat on the boardwalk. If a visitor misses one, they can probably see another in an hour or so.

That sort of consistency is rare.

“The vast majority of geysers do not erupt regularly,” said Jamie Farrell, a University of Utah professor and chief seismologist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. “They are very irregular.”

Farrell said one of the reasons Old Faithful is so predictable is that it’s far away from other features in its basin, meaning it doesn’t share its water. Steamboat, meanwhile, has shown connections to nearby hot spring pools. For example, Cistern Spring, just two boardwalk switchbacks away, empties after Steamboat’s major blasts.

“Steamboat is kind of constantly fighting for heat and water,” Farrell said.

Minor eruptions that reach between 10 and 40 feet are common at Steamboat. Majors go far higher. At its best, Steamboat’s blasts are known to go roughly three times Old Faithful’s average height.

According to a park document, only two other now-dead park geysers have surpassed it: Excelsior, in the Midway basin, and Sapphire Pool, in Biscuit Basin. Another inactive geyser in New Zealand has also recorded eruptions higher than Steamboat’s, but it’s been dormant for more than a century.

Steamboat’s major eruptions come in two phases — water and steam. Farrell said the steam phase can last for weeks after a major eruption. The water phase, however, only lasts an hour or so.

“Very few people have witnessed or documented the water phase of a major Steamboat eruption,” Farrell said.

Geologists track eruptions both by observation and by checking seismic records for major activity. Their records go back more than a century, and they show that Steamboat has had busy years, dull years and plenty of years where nothing much happens at all.

It once went 50 years without a major eruption, from 1911 to 1961. After that, it had some of its busiest years — more than 20 major eruptions each year from 1963 to 1965, peaking at 29 in 1964. At least one was recorded each year until 1969, after which there was a nine-year break. It awoke again in 1978 with two blasts, followed by another in 1979.

After that, it went quiet for three years, just before another stretch of busy years — 23 in 1982, 12 in 1983 and five in 1984.

Major eruptions became far rarer after that stretch. Park officials recorded at least one in 9 of the next 33 years. The annual total didn’t surpass three again until this year.

Jake Young, the founder of GeyserTimes.org, a website that tracks geyser activity, said he knows a handful of people who have seen a major eruption of Steamboat in the 1980s. If you spent enough time trying back then, he said, you had a decent chance of seeing an eruption.

“That’s what we all hope Steamboat is going to go back to,” Young said.

A Chance to Learn

Park employees reported seeing an eruption the night of March 15, back when interior roads were still being plowed. The second came a little more than a month later, the third a little more than a week after that.

The fourth eruption came late on the night of May 5. Farrell was there about 12 hours later.

“At that time, it was in constant eruption,” he said. “It was erupting a lot of water.”

He was there to deploy 28 seismometers, devices that track ground-rattling activity. He’ll go back and pick them up later this year. They hope the seismometers can help them learn about how Steamboat’s acts both before and after big eruptions.

Fortunately for them, a week later, the fifth major eruption came.

“The geyser gods are smiling upon us,” Hungerford said.

This time of increased activity has given scientists a chance to try to learn something more about the geyser. Hungerford said they’re studying Steamboat’s connection to other features in the area besides Cistern Spring. Some have overflowed following the big eruptions, and they want to know more.

They’ve also put out a camera to try to capture eruptions on video. It’s hard to see because of the enormous amount of steam that the geyser emits, but that’s a problem Hungerford is happy to have.

“We are so thankful that it’s still erupting,” he said.

Public lands managers are losing a battle against a devastating combination of invasive plant species and wildfires in the vast sagebrush habitats in the U.S. West that support cattle ranching and recreation and are home to an imperiled bird, officials…

The weather has been wreaking havoc on individuals who want to go camping. A lot of wood is wet and the wind isn’t helping individuals who want to have a campfire for warmth or cooking.

Wet wood creates an inhospitable environment for someone who is trying to create a fire. There are a few options that one can purchase, but experience finds that making your own fire starters is a cheaper option and they work even better.

Here are a few of the options that are popular for bug out bags and camping:

Cotton Balls

What you need: Cotton balls, vaseline, carrying case (plastic bags or Altoids tins)

Grab a handful of cotton balls and put them in a bowl. Take a large spoonful (around 1 tablespoon) of Vaseline and drop it in. If you don’t want your hands getting covered in Vaseline, use gloves or a spatula to coat the cotton balls.

When the cotton balls are sufficiently covered in Vaseline (some people like a more gooey cotton ball), place 10-15 into a plastic bag or Altoid tin. Clean off the outside of any excess Vaseline. Place it into a bug out bag or camping equipment for future use. It is recommended to double bag the contents, just in case one bag leaks, the rest of your equipment is safe.

To light: Use a flint or lighter to catch your cotton ball. It lights very quickly, please do not light it in your hand.

Dryer Lint

Dryer lint is extremely flammable. Keep a bag of it in your bug out bag to start a fire. Some people like to coat in Vaseline as well, but it works well on its own.

Wood Shavings

What you need: Wood shavings, empty cardboard egg cartons, wax, a pan you can destroy, sheet tray or wax paper to put under the cartons.

Place the wood shavings (or lint or both) into the sections of the egg cartons. Don’t pack very tight to allow for the wax to get into the crevices.

Melt the wax until it becomes liquid. Once it becomes liquid, turn on low so it doesn’t boil. Pour oil into the egg sections. Depending on how hot your oil becomes, it may make sizzle a little. Put enough wax in to cover the contents. It’s OK if it leaks a little bit (wax paper is there). Let dry completely.

Cut the sections out and place in a bag for future use.

To light: Flint or a lighter will catch the contents. This method is also wind- and water-proof. It helps with wet wood because of the wax melting over the tinder.

Give each of these options a try. Some campers prefer one over the other, it all depends on preference. This is the perfect time to test these out because of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Most people go camping or have cookouts. Practice fire safety by only lighting in the proper area. 

Emily Thornton is currently working on her masters in communication at Idaho State University. She enjoys writing, racing after her son and playing games with her husband.

According to our old buddy Jack Sweet, morel mushrooms are the second best fungi in the world. Second only to the truffle in England. I’ve always heard about truffles but I’ve never tasted one. However, if they’re better than a morel, then they must be good.

If you wonder why I get so excited about morels, then you’ve never eaten one. They are the best food in the world. If I blindfolded you and fed you one, you’d think that you were eating the most tender, delicious chicken fried steak that you’d ever eaten but only better.

After college, I’d taken a job in Nebraska and my boss was from Iowa. He’d take a week’s vacation every year and go home to mushroom hunt. I thought he needed to get a life — until he took me mushroom hunting. In the Midwest, they come out in the middle of April. Out here, they don’t come out until the first week or so of May.

We went down by the Platte River and before the morning was done, we’d found a half sack of them (the old brown paper sacks). He showed me how to process them. They’re fragile so you gently rinse them under the faucet. Then you slice them in half lengthwise and place in a bowl with some salt water. The salt will kill any bugs in hiding.

My boss said you had to let them soak overnight but I can’t wait that long anymore so I always eat a batch right away. Pull out however many you want to eat and set on a plate to drain for a few minutes. Get a bowl and crack two eggs in it and mix in a little milk.

Pour some flour on a plate and sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Dip the morels in the egg batter and then roll in flour and then throw them into a medium hot skillet of grease. A lot of people sprinkle on salt and pepper but I use Tony Chachere’s seasoning. I like to use a Lodge cast iron skillet. They heat more evenly.

Fry to a golden brown and then remove and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Eat immediately. Cook more than you think that you will eat!

If you’re lucky and pick more than you can eat in a couple of days, you can freeze them or dry them, which is a lot better. You can dry them with a fruit dryer or the commercial pickers dry them on racks in the sun.

One big advantage we have out West over pickers in the Midwest is that we have forest fires. Last year’s burns are magical. You’ll find a million mushrooms in old burns. So go by your local Forest Service office and ask them where the burns were last year and get up to the mountains and see if you can’t find some.

I was up filling my bear bait station last Thursday and found 1 1/2 dozen mushrooms so as you read this article, they should be out in full force by now. Hope you find a bunch. But what’s a guy to do? I also caught 235 crappie Saturday. How do I not go back and hit them again muy pronto?

Tom Claycomb lives in Idaho and has outdoors columns in newspapers in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Louisiana. He also writes for various outdoors magazines and teaches outdoors seminars at stores like Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse and Bass Pro Shop.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A debate over whether the Yellowstone ecosystem’s grizzly bear population can thrive while being hunted will be put to the test this fall after Wyoming officials on Wednesday approved the state’s first grizzly hunt in 44 years.

The hunt, approved 7-0 by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, could allow as many as 22 grizzlies to be killed in a wide area east and south of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Hunt proponents and opponents made last-minute pleas before the commission, which held several public meetings on the hunt around the state and tweaked the hunt rules in response to some previous comments.

“Even with a hunting season, I believe there are going to be plenty of grizzly bears on the landscape for people to photograph and come and see,” Todd Stevie with the Sublette County Outfitters and Guides Association told the commission.

Environmentalists and nature photographer Tom Mangelsen, a Jackson Hole resident whose famous images include a salmon leaping into the gaping jaws of an Alaskan brown bear, doubted that.

“Killing grizzlies for fun, when there is ample scientific evidence that the population is not growing, food sources have already been diminished, and the further effects of climate change is unknown, is preposterous,” Mangelsen told the commissioners.

Hunt opponents made up a majority of the two dozen or so people who spoke up at the live-streamed commission meeting in Lander, a town of about 7,600 at the outer reaches of the ever-expanding range of Yellowstone-region grizzlies.

The region also includes parts of Montana and Idaho and is home to some 700 grizzlies, up from 136 when they were listed as a threatened species in 1975. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed federal protections for grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem in 2017.

Montana has not yet allowed grizzly hunting. Idaho will allow one grizzly to be hunted this fall. Hunting has been ongoing in Alaska where grizzlies and their minimally differentiated brown bear and Kodiak bear relatives are common.

“We heard from the people of Wyoming, they were supportive of this. It’s pretty clear the science supports this,” said Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Renny MacKay.

If legal challenges don’t intercede, hunting will begin Sept. 1 in the mountains and basins populated by relatively few grizzlies farthest from Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Hunting in a zone closer to the parks would begin Sept. 15 and end in all areas by Nov. 15.

As many as 12 grizzlies could be killed in the zone farther from the parks. Closer in, the limit is 10 and hunting would be stopped once 10 males or one female are killed, whichever happens first.

No more than one grizzly hunter at a time will be allowed in the closer-in zone to help ensure nobody accidentally exceeds the quota.

If demand for licenses is high, hunters might wait years for their chance. A computer program will randomly draw names of license applicants who would then pay $600 for a resident grizzly license and $6,000 if they live elsewhere.

Names will be drawn until 10 hunters have paid for their licenses and certified they’ve taken a firearms safety course. Each license will be valid for a 10-day window of opportunity.

If approved, hunting could account for a sizeable portion of grizzly deaths in the region this year but not likely the biggest. Of the 56 known and suspected deaths of Yellowstone grizzlies in 2017, 40 were caused by people including 19 killed by elk hunters and others in self-defense.

Environmentalists told the commission Wyoming has little leeway to allow hunting without exceeded mortality thresholds it agreed to as part of taking over management of the bears from the federal government.

“This proposal will set grizzly bear recovery back by decades. With all the threats the Yellowstone grizzly bear continues to face, it is irresponsible,” Bonnie Rice with the Sierra Club told the commission.

Not just hunters but ranchers, whose sheep and cattle often fall victim to roaming bears in western Wyoming, welcomed the opportunity for hunting to keep grizzly numbers in check.

“I know ‘management’ seems to have gotten a dirty name. But that’s the way we have to do it if want these animals to continue in the state,” said Charles Price, a rancher and former Game and Fish commissioner. “Hunting must be part of the management system.”

___

Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver

BILLINGS — A government wildlife worker who recently landed her dream job researching grizzly bears in a Montana mountain range is recovering from a bear attack that left her with a fractured skull and other serious injuries.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seasonal field assistant Amber Kornak was attacked on May 17 while working alone near a stream in the Cabinet Mountains, agency spokeswoman Jennifer Strickland said.

While being mauled, the 28-year-old Kornak managed to reach a canister of Mace-like bear spray and ended the attack, inadvertently spraying herself in the process.

She then walked to her work vehicle and drove to find help, according to Strickland.

Working with grizzlies had been a longstanding career goal for Kornak, who is recovering at a hospital in Kalispell following surgery for the skull injury and from severe cuts to her head, neck and back, said Jenna Hemer, a friend who spoke with Kornak following the attack.

“She’s obviously passionate about all wildlife, but her dream and her primary focus was to work with grizzly bears,” Hemer said. “Last I spoke with her was yesterday and she’s making great strides but it’s going to be a long recovery.”

Kornak was working at the time of the attack on a genetic study that requires collecting grizzly hair samples. The hairs can be found on trees or other objects that grizzlies rub against, and are used to analyze the animals’ DNA.

Officials speculated that noise from nearby Poorman Creek may have allowed the animal to close in on Kornak without her noticing.

She was apparently following the right protocols for working in grizzly bear country, including carrying bear spray and a satellite communication device that she used to call 911 just after the mauling, Strickland said.

There is no formal rule about government workers travelling alone in bear country, Strickland said. But experts say traveling in groups of three or more dramatically decreases the chance of an attack.

The Cabinet Mountains are home to an estimated 50 grizzlies, protected across the region as a threatened species under federal law. The range also has black bears, typically a less aggressive species.

Officials have not said which type was responsible for the attack that remains under investigation by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

CODY, Wyoming (AP) — The recent discovery of damaging zebra and quagga mussels in some Montana waters has Yellowstone National Park and Wyoming Game and Fish officials becoming more vigilant in their efforts to keep the invasive species out.

“We have pushed it more with Montana finding mussels,” said Greg Mayton, an aquatic invasive species specialist in the Cody regional Game and Fish office, of Wyoming’s situation. “It turns Montana into a high-risk state.”

Yellowstone, which is already battling nonnative lake trout in Yellowstone Lake, has ramped up awareness of the danger of invasive species in park waters, the Cody Enterprise reported.

“The bottom line, if we get aquatic invasive species in Yellowstone National Park, it will be difficult, if not impossible to remove them,” park superintendent Dan Wenk said.

Starting this year, only rubber boots will be allowed in Yellowstone because felt sole boots are virtually impossible to cleanse of mussels.

“That gets embedded in the footwear,” said Todd Koel, Yellowstone senior fisheries biologist.

Mussels can take over water bottoms and eat the bottom-dwelling food sources that many fish need to thrive, ultimately decimating populations.

They also spread to boat docks, anchors and buoys and become encrusted there and spread to beaches.

Watercraft inspection is a vital element in keeping invasive species out of Wyoming waters and that’s why there are 45 inspectors deployed at entry points around the state.

Boats can be turned away at the border if a boat flunks inspection. But if an owner is attentive, that should not happen.

“As long as you clean your boat off and drain the water, the risk is almost zero,” Mayton said.

Koel said if waters in Yellowstone become infected with mussels, “we would basically be infecting everything downstream. It’s not something we can tolerate in Yellowstone.”

This is the time of year my wife and I make reservations to spend three or four days at Yellowstone National Park during the spring, summer and fall. The campgrounds and cabins in Yellowstone park are usually full, so it is wise to reserve your campgro…