The Commodification of Wildlife

in Yellowstone National Park

By Shannon Bowen

Since its designation as a park in 1872, administrators of Yellowstone have manipulated wildlife in ways that mirrored national ideas about animals. Management policies were designed with the view that animals served as resources—both ideological and economic. Myths of species abundance brought visitors to the park and resulted in species degradation.¹ Other animals that were vilified in 19th century conservationist rhetoric were exterminated. Yet others were made “comedians” of the park and forced by park management policy to act as “wild” park ambassadors.

Yellowstone region industries pander to tourists’ concepts of “wild nature.” Even though officials fashion nature as a controlled environment in which the tourist may have to “rough it,” he/she never has to confront survival that is inherent in real nature. Tourists can take back home little pieces and images of nature and “wild” life that make them feel as if that can be part of their everyday lives. Nowadays, the park sells microorganisms to biotechnology companies, proclaiming the benefits both to the park and American people.

….The myth of wildlife abundance promulgated by hunters even before the park’s designation in 1872 continues to affect the ways in which the National Park Service presents wildlife to today’s tourists. Paul Schullery notes that of the 168 early first-person accounts he studied, 56 mentioned wildlife. Of those, 51 claimed wildlife was abundant.² The legend of abundance brought its exploitation. In the park’s early days, hunters and poachers slaughtered thousands of animals for profit. Visitors coming to see animals were increasingly disappointed by the lack of abundance of variety. Yet, the policies growing out of this disappointment did further damage to the integrity of the ecosystem and the diversity of life within the park. As the ecosystem became more of a tourist draw, visitors became more interested in previously marginalized species. The roles animals played in the park’s image changed.

Elk were pivotal in the packaging of Yellowstone wildlife. Changes in their population determined the shape of early park wildlife policy and, thus, the faunal landscape. Today, visitors are aware of the rippling effect of elk policies.

In August 1837, Osborne Russell described the Yellowstone Lake area as “swarming with elk.”3 By the 1870s, the hide industry was behind the slaughter of many Yellowstone elk. Philetus Norris, the park’s second superintendent, reported that one Montana outfit packed more than 2,000 elk skins from the Lamar River valley during the spring of 1875. More than 8,000 were taken that year altogether. The elk hides sold for $6-8 each and a skilled hunter could take as many as 50 in one day during winter and spring. ⁴

Even though the killing affected herd size significantly in the 1870s, large numbers were reported living elsewhere in the park. In October 1876, Gustavus Doane found a herd of “at least 2,000 elk” in the Hayden Valley in central Yellowstone. He saw more in locations in the park’s southern regions.⁵

Hunting remained legal in Yellowstone through the 1870s. Because there were no concessionaires in the park at that time, travelers either had to bring their own food or hunt for it. Congress, more motivated by concern for good sportsmanship than any ecological awareness, restricted hunting so that it not be “excessive” or for profit.⁶

Areas surrounding Yellowstone established their own game regulations and worked with park officials to capture and punish poachers. By 1883, hunting of most species in Yellowstone was outlawed.⁷ Predators, however, were excluded from the ban, thus creating a system that failed to check the growth of the grazing animals like elk and bison.

The early history of park bison mirrors that of the elk. Hides and heads fetched high prices in the late 19th century. Herds of bison, as large as though of elk, were pursued just as viciously. By the 1890s, the bison herds had dwindled to such a level that a single bison head could be sold for $500. Only a “few dozen” bison remained in the region by that time.⁸ In 1892, Congress appropriated $15,000 to purchase bison from domesticated herds to supplement the park’s herds. These bison were bred with wild captives and tended as ranch animals until park managers deemed it appropriate to release them in the wild. This ranching continued into the 1950s.⁹ In 1895, Yellowstone officials build a corral to contain elk, bison and other game that might wander the park, the intent being to protect the animals and allow them time to acclimated to the “wild.” Yellowstone caretakers also fed the bison, elk, antelope and other game during the winter months. In 1903-4, they built a fence along the northern border to keep animals from straying outside the park. These efforts grew the herd to 800 animals by the 1920s.

Poaching continued to be a problem. Congress, realizing the importance of maintaining the species, passed the Lacey Act in 1894.¹⁰ Named for John F. Lacey, an Iowa senator, the act called for the army, which acted as law enforcement in the park, to apprehend and prosecute poachers found hunting in the park. In yet another way, the grazing animals of Yellowstone were protected and allowed to multiply in numbers.

…. Meanwhile, park officials sought to control or eliminate predators.

Bears have undergone a miraculous transformation in public image over the course of the park’s history. Considered villainous predators during the late 19th century, they were not protected in Norris’ regulation of 1883. Bears had a high commercial value, but as predators, they could be legally hunted. In efforts to protect grazing animals, park officials commonly poisoned ungulate carcasses in order to eliminate predators. Bears, as scavengers, frequently succumbed.

By the 1880s, bears had begun to frequent garbage dumps at the various newly constructed park hotels. While they were a nuisance to hotel staff, guests became fascinated by their unpredictable antics and almost human-like countenances. By early in the 20th century, the sights of bears feeding on park garbage drew flocks of tourists. Rangers gave informational programs at feeding times and some dumps were constructed with stadium-like seating to accommodate the many viewers. Nonetheless, these interactions between bears and humans came with a price. In 1932, 451 bear incidents were reported and park officials began rethinking the feeding policy. Park officials restricted the practice to dumps at Old Faithful and Canyon. By 1935, only the Canyon dump site remained open to visitor viewing.¹¹

As it became more difficult to watch bears at the dumps, extensive interaction continued between bears and humans at other locations. Bears, curious and opportunist by nature, would approach anyone they believed who might have food…..

As Scullery notes, bears became imbued with a range of personae unlike that of any other animal.¹² They were, at once, playful, intimidating, lazy, and powerful. This identification of seemingly human qualities in non-humans formed one of the underpinnings of the conservation movement.¹³ The argument went that if animals are in some ways like us, then they must deserve to live and live well, just like we do. This anthropomorphism is important to the wildlife commodification of Yellowstone. People as tourists want to get to know the natives, and the bears of Yellowstone have acted as some of the park’s most willing and articulate ambassadors…..

Outfitting and guiding play an important role in the tourists’ experience in Yellowstone.… The economic impact is tremendous. Out-of-state clients spent more than $33 million in Wyoming in 1988; $34 million in Montana; and $21 million in Idaho. Outfitting “is an industry that brings outside money into the local economy.”¹⁴ Outfitters’ clients spend more than 21 times more than the average summer tourist.¹⁵

Outfitting depends upon wilderness and abundance of wildlife for its prosperity….

Biotechnology is increasingly important in Yellowstone…..¹⁶

Wildlife viewing is another “industry” through which Yellowstone “sells” wildlife. The bear shows in the 1920s and 1930s were good examples, but even in recent times, bears attract visitors.¹⁷

Those who do not see any wildlife while they are in the park can take it home in the form of postcards. Picture postcards have a long history in Yellowstone. F. Jay Haynes, one of the great postcard makers in Yellowstone, got his start as a photographic agent for the Northern Pacific Railroad.¹⁸ Selling park photographs for some 17 years, he eventually got into the postcard business in 1898 when a Detroit firm began distributing his images of Yellowstone. The Haynes postcards were innovative because they used color and held a single image—rather than a cluttered collage. Within a year after their introduction, Haynes postcards were being sold throughout the park at hotels run by the concessionaire.¹⁹ Of the 800 or so images Haynes and family used for postcards, about one-fifth depicted wildlife.²⁰ Pictures of solitary elk in winter were especially popular. Postcards depicting bears showed them either interacting with humans or their majesty. Pictures showed mother bears with cubs. ….Bears were shown taking food from people, imitating them, or initiating some type of contact with people. Lone bears or groups of bears were sometimes pictured in quasi-human situations. The anthropomorphic implications are clear: humans identified with bears when they were at their most human…..

The struggle will continue within Yellowstone National Park as officials continue to balance daily economic needs, park visitor demands, and their own interest in preserving the image of nature that Yellowstone presents. Over the park’s history, wildlife has been utilized, often to its detriment, in meeting those needs. Animals in Yellowstone have become symbols and commodities for human consumption. This fact calls into question the authenticity of any “nature experience” in Yellowstone, but as tourists, we do not want the realities of all that nature is. We want to filter out what we cannot understand or handle in our urban, postindustrial society. For the benefit and enjoyment of people, Yellowstone has transformed animals into monuments, souvenirs, and ground-breaking technology.

¹ For a description of how parks mediate nature, see Dean MacCannell, “Nature Incorporated,” in Empty Meeting Grounds: The Tourist Papers. (NY: Routledge, 1992),

² Paul Schullery, Seaching for Yellowstone: Ecology and Wonder in the Last Wilderness (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997), 43.

³ Quoted in Schullery, ibid.

⁴ Ibid., 71-72.

⁵ Ibid., 73.

⁶ Ibid., 74.

⁷ Ibid., 77.

⁸ Ibid., 120.

⁹ Richard A. Bartlett, Yellowstone: A Wilderness Beseiged (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1985), 316.

¹⁰ Paul Scullery, Bears of Yellowstone (Worland: High Plains Publishing, 1992), 107.

¹¹ Ibid., 106.

¹² Ibid., 199.

¹³ Schullery, Searching for Yellowstone, 85.

¹⁴ Deanne Kloepfer, Ray Rasker, Norma Tirrell, The Wealth of Nature: New Economic Realities in the Yellowstone Region (Wilderness Society, 1992), 34.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Thomas and Louise Brock, Life in the Geyser Basins (Yellowstone Library and Museum Assoc., 1971); Todd Wilkinson, “Panning Yellowstone’s Pools for Science and Profit: Research in Geothermal Activity,” National Parks 72 (Sept.-Oct. 1998), 22.

¹⁷ Judith Meyer, The Spirit of Yellowstone: The Cultural Evolution of a National Park (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1996), 17.

¹⁸ Richard L. Saunders, Glimpses of Wonderland: The Haynes and Their Postcards of Yellowstone National Park (Bozeman: 1997).

¹⁹ Ibid., 17.

²⁰ Ibid., 17.