Telemetry: The sound of science in Yellowstone

Bison have lived on the Yellowstone landscape for millennia, but the history of bison conservation has been fraught with challenges. In 2019, federal, state, and tribal partners came together to make history: charting a new path for this American icon and assuring a place for wild bison on the broader landscape.

Did you know there are tigers in Yellowstone? It just takes a keen eye to observe them. These creatures, and countless others like them, live in a world that's not always obvious, but the role they play in Yellowstone is huge.

People travel from all over the world to see Yellowstone's famous geysers, colorful hot springs, burbling mud pots, and hissing fumaroles. The force that drives these amazing thermal features--a giant volcano--lies below much of the park. In this episode, we talk with scientists who monitor the volcano about misconceptions surrounding Yellowstone's volcanic past, present, and future.

On August 8, 2016, a lightning strike ignited a small fire on the edge of Yellowstone National Park near the community of West Yellowstone. Most fires in the park never burn more than about a quarter-acre, but the Maple Fire would go on to burn over 45,000. It was the largest fire in the park since the historic fires of 1988.

Back in 1870, a member of the Washburn Expedition wrote in his diary about the Yellowstone cutthroat trout: "Two men could catch them faster than half a dozen could clean and get them ready for the frying pan." Since then things have become a lot more complicated. For this episode, a story of native fish conservation and what it takes to restore an ecosystem.