Yellowstone - Spreading Electronic Footprint

Over the past twenty years, the cell tower network inside Yellowstone National Park has grown. Today, Yellowstone has five cell towers within its boundaries, located at Old Faithful, Grant Village, Elk Plaza (Mammoth Hot Springs), Yellowstone Lake (built in October 2013), and Mount Washburn (cellular antennas mounted on the fire lookout tower).

Here we trace that evolution and look ahead, starting with –

• How cellular communications first came to Yellowstone in 1995.  You’ll read about the 70 free phones and 5,000 free minutes per month offered to Park officials (and eagerly accepted), contrary to Park Service policy.

• How the Park Service wrongfully approved a cell tower at Old Faithful in 1999 (and now promises to have it moved to a less visible location).

• How the Park Service in 2007 vigorously (and properly) fought a proposal for a cell tower in Gardiner, Montana just outside the Park’s northern boundary.

• The adoption of Yellowstone’s so-called “Wireless Plan” approved in 2009.  You’ll learn about the commitments made by Park officials, and how well they’ve been sticking to those commitments during the first five years of implementation.

• The latest cell tower near Yellowstone Lake constructed in October 2013.

• The new free-standing cell tower coming to Mount Washburn.

• Plans by telecom companies to greatly expand the bandwidth of existing towers to accommodate 4G capacity to stream movies, download music, etc.