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Wednesday 22 June 2022
Yellowstone flooding rebuild could take years, cost billions

Continued from Front yearly for five years.
Now it will need another
“This is not going to be an infusion of money for more
easy rebuild,” Superinten- pressing repairs that Emily
dent Cam Sholly said early Douce, director of opera-
in the week as he highlight- tions and park funding at
ed photos of massive gaps National Parks Conserva-
of roadway in the steep tion Association, estimated
canyon. “I don’t think it’s could hit at least $1 billion.
going to be smart to in- The southern half of the
vest potentially, you know, park is expected to reopen
tens of millions of dollars, next week, allowing visitors
or however much it is, into to flock to Old Faithful, the
repairing a road that may rainbow colored Grand
be subject to seeing a simi- Prismatic Spring, and the
lar flooding event in the fu- Grand Canyon of the Yel-
ture.” lowstone and its majestic
Re-establishing a human waterfall.
imprint in a national park But the flood-damaged
is always a delicate op- northern end may not re-
eration, especially as a open this year, depriving
changing climate makes visitors from seeing Tower
natural disasters more Fall and Lamar Valley, one
likely. Increasingly intense In this photo provided by the National Park Service, is a washed out bridge from flooding at of the best places in the
wildfires are occurring, in- Rescue Creek in Yellowstone National Park, Mont., on June 13, 2022. Associated Press world to see wolves and
cluding one last year that grizzly bears. Some days
destroyed bridges, cabins during the high season, an
and other infrastructure in closed for more than two wonders crews would have for it,” he said. animal sighting can lead
Lassen Volcanic National months. Congress allocat- to be careful not to disturb, The Yosemite flood was to thousands of people
Park in Northern California. ed $178 million in emergen- said Brett Hartl, govern- seen by the park as an op- parked on the side of the
Flooding has already done cy funds – a massive sum ment affairs director at the portunity to rethink its plan- road hoping to catch a
extensive damage in other for park infrastructure at the Center for Biological Diver- ning and not necessarily glimpse.
parks and is a threat to vir- time – and additional fund- sity. rebuild in the same places, Whether some of these
tually all the more-than 400 ing eventually surpassed Along with the formation it- said Frank Dean, president areas are reopened will
national parks, a report by $250 million, according to self, there are also microbes and chief executive of the depend on how quickly
The Rocky Mountain Cli- a 2013 report. and insects that thrive in Yosemite Conservancy washed-out roads can be
mate Organization found But the rebuilding effort the environment found al- and a former park ranger. repaired, downed trees
in 2009. once estimated to last four most nowhere else. And Some facilities were relo- can be removed and mud-
Mount Rainier National Park to five years dragged out the park will need to avoid cated outside the flood slides cleared.
in Washington state closed for 15, due in part to en- damaging any archaeo- plain and some camp- Maintaining the approxi-
for six months after the vironmental lawsuits over logical or cultural artifacts grounds that had been mately 466 miles (750 ki-
worst flooding in its history a protected river corridor in the area with a rich Na- submerged in the flood lometers) of roadway
in 2006. Damage to roads, and a long bureaucratic tive American history. were never restored. At throughout the park is a
trails, campgrounds and planning and review pro- “They’ll have to look at all Yosemite Lodge, cabins major job. Much of the
buildings was estimated at cess. the resources the park is that had been slated for roadway originally was de-
$36 million. It’s not clear if Yellowstone designed to protect, and removal in the 1980s were signed for stagecoaches,
Yosemite Valley in Califor- would face the same ob- try to do this project as swamped and had to be said Kristen Brengel, senior
nia’s Yosemite National stacles, though recon- carefully as possible, but removed. vice-president of public af-
Park has flooded sever- structing the road that they’re also going to try to “The flood took them all out fairs for the National Parks
al times, but suffered its runs near Mammoth Hot go fairly quickly,” Hartl said. like a precision strike,” Dean Conservation Association.
worst damage 25 years Springs, where steaming Having to reroute the said. “I’m not going to say “Part of the effort of the
ago when heavy down- water bubbles up over an roadway that hugged the it’s a good thing, but provi- last couple of decades has
pours on top of a large otherworldly series of stone Gardner River could be an dence came in and made been to stabilize the road
snowpack — a scenario terraces, presents a chal- opportunity to better pro- the decision for them.” to make it safe for heavier
similar to the Yellowstone lenge. tect the waterway and the Yellowstone’s recovery vehicles to travel on it,” she
flood — submerged camp- It’s created by a unique fish and other species that comes as a rapidly grow- said. Located at a high el-
grounds, flooded hotel natural formation of under- thrive there from oil and ing number of people line evation where snow and
rooms, washed out bridges ground tubes and vents other microscopic pollution up to visit the country’s cold weather is not uncom-
and sections of road, and that push the hot water to that comes from passing national parks, even as a mon eight months of the
knocked out power and the surface, and would be vehicles, Hartl said. backlog of deferred main- year and there are many
sewer lines. The park was just one of many natural “The river will be healthier tenance budget grows into tiny earthquakes, road sur-
tens of billions of dollars. faces don’t last as long
LIKE US ON The park was already due and road crews have a
for funding from the Great short window to complete
American Outdoors Act, a projects. One recently
2020 law passed by Con- completed road job cre-
gress that authorizes nearly ated closures for about two
$3 billion for maintenance years.
and other projects on pub- “I think it’ll probably be sev-
lic lands. National parks eral years before the park
Facebook.com/arubatoday/ and other public lands will is totally back to normal,”
receive a similar amount Hartl said.q