Sportsmen and the evolution of the conservation idea in Yellowstone : 1882-1894

Abstract

This thesis examines the historic role of sportsmen in preserving Yellowstone National Park's wildlife and in establishing protective legislation and effective management of park resources. Although Yellowstone had initially been established in 1872 to protect the region's geologic features, over the decades of the 1880s and 1890s, sportsmen helped expand the goals of preservation to include wildlife, watersheds, and forests. Using primary source documents such as Forest and Stream magazine and archival records of Yellowstone National Park, this study demonstrates that sportsmen had a wider vision of conservation than generally given credit by historians and had a critical impact on changing management policies in Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding national forests.