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Sixty to 90 years from now, summers in Yellowstone National Park could average 9.7 degrees hotter, causing dramatic changes for fish, mammals, plants, and recreation, according to a report on climate change effects released last month by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Rocky Mountain Climate Organization.

The report noted many climate and environmental changes already present in the greater Yellowstone area, including: the last decade has been the hottest on record, 1.4 degrees above the 20th century average, with summers 2.3 degrees hotter; some recent years have been the driest since 1895, resulting in small lakes and ponds drying up; spring snowpacks and glaciers have diminished and snowmelts are earlier; and substantial mortality of 46 percent of whitebark pines due to disease and beetles abetted by climate change.

If changes continue unabated, the report suggests, future impacts could include major reductions in native cutthroat trout, grizzly, wolverine, and lynx populations; comparable effects on plants, including the loss of aspens; an increase in the number of wildfires, including five in the next 40 years as large as the 1988 fires; and 70 fewer days of snow-covered ground annually.

As part of its Greenest Park initiative, the Yellowstone Park Foundation and Yellowstone National Park conducted a symposium last weekend with a committed group of corporate and academic partners, and the Yellowstone Association. The purpose was to identify ways to take Yellowstone's environmental stewardship programs to the next level in several key areas, such as education, water, transportation, energy, purchasing, and waste reduction. A draft strategic plan is complete and work is underway to identify potential partners that will help Yellowstone meet the ambitious goals established. Future plans include projects like a feasibility study for a rainwater irrigation system at Mammoth and making Lamar Buffalo Ranch a model of off-grid stewardship.