Chas: Over the years, I’ve observed a significant increase in visitors. Unfortunately, this has led to more incidents of wildlife and their habitats being disturbed. Yellowstone’s thermal features have also significantly changed, such as the Morning Glory pool, which has altered color due to tourists tossing coins and other objects into it.
Yellowstone is visited yearly by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. Unfortunately, in their excitement to experience the wonders of Yellowstone, many tourists, especially those who come from areas void of wildlife, tend to ignore regulations, which put them and the animals in danger.
The park rules and guidelines are there for a reason, designed to protect your safety and others around you, along with the welfare of the animals. I implore those visiting to take a step back and see Yellowstone for its incredible wonder and understand that we are visitors to this incredible habitat.
Nathan: The biggest change and challenge for me is the increase in visitors, which I think is directly correlated to social media and internet exposure.
I believe increased awareness and visitation can be good, but we’ve reached a point where I feel we need to cap visitation and implement reservation systems in the busy summer months for most popular national parks (eg Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Teton, Zion, etc), to keep these landscapes and wildlife protected and not negatively affected by overcrowding.