III 117th CONGRESS 2d Session S. RES. 525 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 17, 2022 Mr. Barrasso (for himself, Ms. Lummis , Mr. Daines , Mr. Risch , Mr. Crapo , Mr. Tester , Mr. King , Mr. Braun , Mr. Rounds , Mr. Manchin , Mr. Cruz , and Mr. Heinrich ) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Recognizing March 1, 2022, as the 150th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, which spans the States of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho.

Whereas Yellowstone National Park, the first national park in the world, was established to share the wonders and preserve and protect the scenery, cultural heritage, wildlife, and geologic and ecological systems and processes in their natural condition for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations; Whereas human history in the Yellowstone area dates back more than 11,000 years; Whereas the location of Greater Yellowstone at the convergence of the Great Plains, Great Basin, and Columbia Plateau Indian cultures means that many Native American Tribes have traditional connections to the land and its resources; Whereas, for thousands of years before the designation of the national park, the Greater Yellowstone area was a place where Native Americans hunted, fished, gathered plants, quarried obsidian, and used the thermal waters for religious and medicinal purposes; Whereas many Native American Tribes are associated with Yellowstone National Park, including— (1) Assiniboine and Sioux; (2) Blackfeet; (3) Cheyenne River Sioux; (4) Coeur d’Alene; (5) Comanche; (6) Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation; (7) Crow; (8) Crow Creek Sioux; (9) Eastern Shoshone; (10) Flandreau Santee Sioux; (11) Gros Ventre and Assiniboine; (12) Kiowa; (13) Little Shell Chippewa; (14) Lower Brule Sioux; (15) Nez Perce; (16) Northern Arapaho; (17) Northern Cheyenne; (18) Oglala Sioux; (19) Rosebud Sioux; (20) Salish and Kootenai; (21) Shoshone–Bannock; (22) Sisseton Wahpeton; (23) Spirit Lake; (24) Standing Rock Sioux; (25) Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa; (26) Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation; and (27) Yankton Sioux; Whereas the Yellowstone area was visited by fur traders and explorers during the early 1800s and by organized expeditions in the 1860s and 1870s that reported the abundant resources and immense value of the region to Congress; Whereas painter Thomas Moran and photographer William Henry Jackson accompanied the first geographical survey of the Yellowstone area in 1871 and returned from the expedition with visual evidence of the grandeur that earlier explorers could only describe with words; Whereas, on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, which states, The tract of land . . . lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River . . . is reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people. ; Whereas Yellowstone National Park is the first national park in the world, an idea that has spread throughout the world; Whereas Yellowstone National Park is the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last, largest, nearly intact natural ecosystems on the planet, where natural processes operate in an ecological context that has been subject to little human alteration; Whereas the Federal Government has made substantial efforts to maintain ecological balance within Yellowstone National Park through wildlife conservation and partnership efforts; Whereas Yellowstone National Park is 3,472 square miles and more than 2,000,000 acres in size; Whereas Yellowstone National Park contains half of the world’s hydrothermal features, with more than 10,000 in total and more than 500 active geysers, including the Old Faithful Geyser; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has the most active, diverse, and intact collections of combined geothermal, geologic, and hydrologic features and systems on Earth, including the Grand Prismatic Spring; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has 67 species of mammals, 285 species of birds, 6 species of reptiles, and 5 species of amphibians within its boundaries; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has the largest free-ranging bison herd in North America; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has over 1,000 native flowering species and 9 species of conifers; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has more than 900 historic buildings and 25 sites, landmarks, and districts on the National Register of Historic Places; Whereas Yellowstone National Park has more than 720,000 museum items that document the park and the western United States from pre-history through the present; Whereas the United States Army managed Yellowstone National Park between 1886 and 1918; Whereas more than 1,850 archeological sites have been documented in Yellowstone National Park; Whereas Yellowstone National Park hosts over 4,000,000 visits annually, with people from across the world traveling to the park to enjoy the many recreational opportunities, including hiking, horseback riding, biking, camping, rafting, boating, swimming, fishing, viewing wildlife and geothermal features, photography, and exploring, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars into local and State economies in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho; Whereas, in 2020, visitors to Yellowstone National Park spent over $444,000,000 in gateway communities and supported 6,110 jobs in Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, with a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $560,000,000; Whereas Yellowstone National Park partners with concessioners that provide services for the general public, including lodging, dining, shopping, and medical services; and Whereas the National Park Service employs hundreds of permanent and seasonal staff dedicated to preserving the natural and cultural resources of Yellowstone National Park for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of current and future generations: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate— (1) congratulates Yellowstone National Park on its sesquicentennial anniversary; (2) celebrates 150 years of the unique cultural heritage and natural beauty of Yellowstone National Park; and (3) encourages people across the United States and around the world to visit Yellowstone National Park to experience this extraordinary treasure.