Massive flooding has wiped out trees, roads and campgrounds.
It is extremely likely that bears in the park eat today as their ancestors did in the early 1900s.The change comes thanks to rangers successfully encouraging 99% of visitors who stay overnight to use bear-proof food lockers in campgrounds and car parks, and to take bear-proof canisters in the backcountry (loaned to backpackers for free).
For two weeks every summer the festival lures student backpackers to the many campgrounds nearby.
Forests also reduce wind erosion and energy consumption; provide recreation sites, campgrounds, and day-use parks; protect heritage resources, such as the Hillsborough River and Trout River watersheds; and contribute to tourism.
The U.S. Forest Service maintains many campgrounds throughout the state.
There are several privately operated lodging venues in the park, most of them located in the valley, in addition to some 1,500 campsites in about a dozen campgrounds maintained by the national park staff.
A dozen developed campgrounds in Yellowstone are maintained by the NPS or by a private company, and there are more than 300 primitive backcountry campsites that are accessible via the park's roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of trails.
Skillful location of roads, picnic points, parking lots, and campgrounds ensures that the great majority of visitors congregate in relatively small portions of a large forest.
The park has several campgrounds but otherwise provides no overnight accommodations.
In winter the town's population swells by some 4,000 because of tourists visiting surrounding RV (recreational vehicle) parks and campgrounds.
Black bears can live for more than 20 years in the wild, but in areas near human habitation most black bears die sooner as a result of hunting, trapping, poaching, nuisance removal near campgrounds or dumps, and collision with vehicles.
