Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park

by Alston Chase

Chase asserts that Yellowstone is being destroyed by the very people assigned to protect the National Park Service. Named as one of “ten books that mattered” in the 1980s by Outside magazine and a book of continuing crucial relevance. Index; map.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Environment, History, Science, Natural History, Ecology

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book makes me not want to work for the Parks Service (a real possibility) and yet I very much wonder how much bias is there. The author's tone is relentlessly resentful of what he sees as an overblown bureaucracy. While some of the decisions the NPS made in Yellowstone are truly horrific, i.e. the actual extermination of wolves, mountain lions, and (indirectly) beavers from the Park, it begs the question of whether the small good done by having a park is outweighed by the evils of how it is managed. This question goes for all zoos, tank refugia, botanical gardens, etc. The species and their DNA have to have a place to be protected or else it is gone forever. The people have to have a place to see mountains, trees and rivers or they will not understand what is gone when these places disappear. The last section diverges off into an odd sort of rant about environmental philosophy that seems not to have much to do with the Park at all. While I don't doubt the author's sincerity or the veracity of his research, this book fails to make the case that Yellowstone is doomed.

[Kenneth Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Playing God in Yellowstone” is a must-read for those who love the outdoors, especially fishing, hunting, and hiking. Although the book was written in 1987, the story is timely.

Alston Chase provides excessive detail and references about the management of our first National Park; the latter include documents and interviews. The bibliography is enormous, and he has done a great job of putting his critics on defense!

The author painstakingly reviews every management decision and delineates all political underpinnings in Yellowstone National Park. He shows how all decisions have economic influences, but that is not all. Chase shows in detail that the current clash of (management) ideologies has its genesis during the time of President Teddy Roosevelt, with Gifford Pinchot and John Muir. The former believed in conservation or managing land for people, the latter, preservation. This conflict is well known among park and natural resources managers.

Taking the above one step further, Chase does a great job showing how philosophical and spiritual influences moved us in the direction of preservation. He lays out how our present management philosophies are anti-Western or anti-Judeo Christian. Of course, there is no such thing as a logical conclusion in politics. If the critic disagrees with Chase, there will be much literature to master as well as arguing against his personal experiences.

Chase also lays out details of how anti-Western philosophies have been used to chip away at the structure and value of science. Because science is not perfect, it becomes a good candidate for attack by environmentalists. As strange as it may sound, scientists have difficulty understanding the complexity of ecosystems. Ecosystem research may provide results but not the kind we expect, and the results end up causing the scientist to ask more questions. Chase summarizes this observation at the end of chapter 17 (pg. 325), “As scientists learned more and more about less and less, environmentalists were learning less and less about more and more.”

Aside from the book, it’s interesting how Germany and other European countries manage their forests in the spirit of sustainable conservation. They no longer practice monoculture and develop healthy stands of trees with selective harvests for commercial use. Their forests are in great shape, and they do not have severe problems with disease, forest loss, and erosion or loss of habitat.

I highly recommend this book to begin discussing: how do we move forward? He provides answers in his Epilogue.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Yellowstone, America's first national park, is being destroyed by the very people assigned to protect it: the National Park Service. Playing God in Yellowstone tells how this agency, whose mission is to preserve our parks 'unimpaired for future generations,' has already brought about the extinction of one major species -- the Rocky Mountain gray wolf -- and the elimination from Yellowstone of several others.

"Alston Chase traces how policies more political than scientific are destroying Yellowstone and why the scandal has been covered up not just for years but for decades. He shows how America's environmental movement, captivated by faith in a well-intentioned but misguided ideal, no longer acts as guardian of our national parks. Chase also explores how our precious natural heritage, as represented by Yellowstone, is being destroyed because America's conservationists are pursuing goals that, however attractive, are based on a confusion about the role of man in nature. It is this confusion that lies at the heart of the destruction of Yellowstone. In a thought-provoking epilogue, Chase also examines some alternatives to current park policy.

"Named one of Outside magazine's 'ten books that mattered' in the last decade, Playing God in Yellowstone will change the way people think about the Park Service, the management of wildlife, the environmental movement, and even nature itself."
~~back cover

This was one of the hardest books I've ever read. I thought it was going to be about the fire management practices of previous years -- how putting out every fire has led to the creation of an enormous fuel load that results in fires rampaging though the park (and other places.)

Instead, it's a savage and realistic critique of the Park Service, one which rings true because during my brief stint with the Forest Service, I saw how the forestry division rode roughshod over the sciences division. The "timber beasts" were often the employees with the most time in service, and they had absolutely no use for anything but getting the cut out. So I can well believe that the same sort of division existed in the Park Service.

But to read about the consequences was absolutely heartbreaking. The animals driven to near extinction, the misuse of the landscape, the emphasis on visitor numbers rather than preserving this unique natural treasure ... even though readers are reading from hindsight, the thought "What CAN they have been thinking?" reverberates through the entire book.

The only glimmer of hope is that this book was written in 1987, and I know that at least some policies have been changed: wolves have been reintroduced into Yellowstone (January 12, 2020, marked the 25th anniversary since wolves returned to Yellowstone.) and as of January 2024 there are 10 packs. The wolves have culled the elk herds so that the local vegetation is no longer eaten to the ground, which has allowed willow to regrow along the creeks and rivers and aspen to recover and flourish again. Presently, the estimated grizzly bear count in the greater Yellowstone area exceeds 1,000, with 150 to 200 of these bears residing partially within the park’s boundaries. The bears occupy a range spanning around 22,500 square miles.

So there's hope, which is very encouraging, because if the management of Yellowstone had continued as it was when this book was written, Yellowstone would be a very poor place today indeed.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

More of a history book than a nature book, though I learned a lot about Native American forest-burns, elk-hunting, the relevance of trash to grizzlies, the importance of beavers and the historical ineptitude of the Park Service. The writing is mostly anecdotal and somewhat repetitive, so the last half of the book was quick read.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Yellowstone. My parents took my family there numerous times while I grew up in Idaho, and I still go there as often as I am allowed. So, it was fun reading about my favorite natural place in this book. Unfortunately, it seems that many of the ideas presented in this book don't seem to be supported by science or observation. But fun reading nevertheless.

[Benjamin Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should be at the top of the reading list for anyone who wants to have a genuine experience in America's National Parks. If your tinder bio says "loves to hike" or you, like I once was, have been swept up in the college-campus brand environmental movement, read this book.

Despite the title of this book, many of the managerial failures apply to the National Parks Service as a whole rather than just to the management of Yellowstone National Park. In Yellowstone in particular, however, management has done an awful job despite their truly well-intentioned efforts. Chase covers how specific species have been damaged through practices like predator control and ranger "control-actions", how specific projects in Yellowstone have damaged said species or imperiled the state of the park, and, most importantly, how various attitudes towards conservation and the mission of the National Parks Service have jeopardized the future of these natural marvels. He finishes the book with his own recommendations for how to save the parks.

There are a few slips in the book, in particular I think his interpretation of transcendentalism and the work of Emerson/Thoreau etc. is a bit off, but not by a degree that invalidates his points. Additionally, while I understand his goal of showing how "The California Cosmologists" ambiguous goals and ideas about man's relationship with nature obscure any authentic progress, the whole chapter takes a 270 degree turn in the span of a couple paragraphs, and the reader gets a bit of literary whiplash. I do not think he needed to dive into the details of Gnosticism and panpsychism to effectively articulate his point, and the information feels out of place.

Again, if you are looking to truly understand America's National Parks and how they have come to be in 2020, or if you are looking for another reason to doubt the effectiveness of government in the United States, then this book is a must read. I am extremely curious as to how the situation in Yellowstone and the NPS as a whole has changed since 1987, when this book was last updated.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunning revelation of the challenges that plague any bureaucracy (e.g. Park Service), especially those arbitrarily controlled by government funding or ideology without a definitive mission. A tale of rebuffed efforts by true knowledge-based, methodical scientists seeking to understand the gestalt of Yellowstone in order to best serve it's use and preservation —being dismissed by political power plays and unproven ideologies not based on the history and realities "on the ground." A well written and admirably cohesive portrait of the various challenges and hopeful solutions... A story of Hubris --ugh! Personally I visited the park for over a week in 1999 and experienced much of its staggering beauty (still evident) Unfortunately, a decade or so after decline was vastly evident. The same policy of ignoring historical management by indigenous peoples over thousands of years (Planned burns and forest/plains management) has led to a similar "natural" destruction of Yosemite in my home state of CA. One can only weep at the dead and dying thousands of acres of stressed forest infested by Pine-Borer beetles and other pests, with a huge build up of forest debris causing unparalleled fires and destruction. Of Mice and Men! Ugh. I hope things have improved I will endeavor to find out how it goes these decades after the book.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chase gives a good background on the evolution of park service policy and has many well argued criticisms of both park service policy and the shortcomings of the environmental movement. He painted a very dire picture of the health of Yellowstone mainly due to the park service’s misguided policy of benign neglect, “nature knows best” and resistence to any science critical of management.

I would be fascinated to read a followup regarding changes in park service policies since the mid-80s. Obviously, reintroduction of real wolves (and not the phantom ones ~1970s park managers staged and pretended existed) made a huge positive difference but I wonder what modern criticisms of park service policies and criticisms of the environmental ethic Chase would have.

Additionally this book makes me interested in further reading about how things have evolved since then (and who is responsible for any changes) with regard to the national environmental ethic, the level of freedom and influence of naturalists in our parks, and the level of acceptance of intensive management versus benign neglect.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Read roughly 20 years ago)

The first book I ever read which dealt with man’s manipulation of a specific ecosystem. The National Park System sounded like such a brilliant idea, but turned into a bunch of idiots thinking they could “rebalance” nature by systemic killing of different species.

Why can’t we just leave nature alone? Well, it’s complicated. Even an act as seemingly simple as forcing the Native Americans out of the area, the United States began screwing with the delicate balance which had existed for at least 10,000 years.

Too many wolves? Kill them all! Too many caribou? Kill them all! The list of murder is sickening.

A fascinating look at the founding and [mis]management of the world’s first National Park.

I was reminded of this book when I recently read David Quammen’s book The Song of the Dodo, which doesn’t mention Yellowstone’s debacle specifically, but provides much much more information and history of the science of ecology.

[TomFairman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most refreshing book I've read on the environment and our management of it in years - close second would be Daniel Botkins "Discordant Harmonies". Chase's book is 36 years old but it's an incredible examination of not only how National Parks are managed - using the iconic Yellowstone as the case study - but the ideas that lead to that management. I read the first edition of it, and as others have mentioned, it would be really interesting to know whether the problems Chase highlights have been improved in the last few decades. But, going by the number of times I folded a page and said "yep, that sounds familiar", I suspect not. Only criticism is that it's an exhaustive piece of work, and his liberal direct quotations of people sometimes increase the length of some chapters more than required. Highly recommended!

[Jim Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Gave up at page 170. The book is very dated due to the passage of nearly 40 years. It is a reminder of the questionable reliability of government studies. The book was published a year before the devastating fire of 1988 that occurred in Yellowstone. My family visited the park a couple of weeks before the great fire, and we saw bears, elk, and buffalo.as a visitor, I was unaware of any park mismanagement

[John Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

very detailed about the history of the National Park Service, and how the politics and ignorance of the politicians repeatedly destroyed the park, over a period of 100 years. Book was from 1987, so it's possible that new changes have occurred which have made the parks better now.

[Brady Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over 20 years ago and think about it all the time.

[stinaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now 20 years old, I hope that it is no longer indicative of America's national parks. Many of these issues have become common knowledge and have definitely been addressed (predator removal being the most obvious).

I imagine at the time however it was a hard pill to swallow and caused quite the ruckus.

Particularly salient was how the issues facing Yellowstone parallel those in the broader environmental movement: politics vs science, the many perspectives and difficulty refining a single purpose, ideals clouding objective judgement, ideology hindering problem solving (and definition).

Likewise, the problem summary was as true then as it is now (particularly relevant to climate change and habitat destruction): the challenge is not merely protection, but a more ambitious task of restoring and sustaining.

The simple prescription for tackling this was to collect baseline historical data, take inventory on what has changed, remove exotic species and reintroduce natives, and compensate for conditions that cannot be recovered. A strategically sound and logical process.

The clincher for me was the poetic emotional plea that all of humanity should hear: "We must embark on a program of restoration that treats our parks [and our entire planet] as places to be nurtured, and we must recognize that the frontier - and true wilderness - is gone forever. Hence, preservation involves two paradoxes: First, we can restore and sustain the appearance of un disturbed wilderness only by admitting that un disturbed wilderness no longer exists. And second, recreating the illusion that parks remain untouched by modern civilization can be done only by using all that technology and science have to offer."

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whenever we set aside an area as a National Park, we have already changed it. We can never preserve an ecosystem in its pristine condition because it does not exist in isolation from the (privately owned) lands around it. Let us also keep in mind that the Native Americans managed and transformed these lands for centuries before we got there.

We decided to preserve the "cute" species while nearly eliminating the "mean" species. We placed management of these parks into the hands of cops (rangers) rather than scientists. I still want to see Yellowstone, but I will never be fooled into believing the land has been preserved in its natural state. In many ways, our attempts at preservation have hastened the park's destruction.

I can't say I "enjoyed" the book, but it did make me think.

[Russ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the ideas espoused by this book have long since been discredited. The author clearly has an axe to grind with the park service and many of his "facts" are not. You have to take this with a grain of salt.

There were enough fascinating chapters, vitriol aside, that kept me reading. I enjoyed insight into the beginnings of the environmental movement at its blatant attack of the Christian worldview. I enjoyed some of the stories woven throughout various parts of the book such as the recounting of the Hebgen Lake earthquake and the dog that jumped into Celestine Pool and the owner who went in after it. There were enough good stories, just too many of them based on conjecture and not reality.

[Betsy Dion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, this book only got partially read, because I had to return it to the library. I think I read the first 9 chapters. It was pretty good, and showed how easy it is for "science" to get hijacked to serve other interests, like political and environmentally popular objectives. It was kind of dense and repetitive, though. I may try to finish it at some point in the future, but I think I got the general point of the book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book written by a left-learning environmentalist who discovered when man thinks they're protecting the environment they're actually harming it and some things should be left to...nature. The book can be hard to read at times, but for the most part eye-opening. And a wonderful guide too to Yellowstone!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't quite have a chance to finish this book yet, but I really enjoyed what I read so far. A very interesting subject. I don't have the time to finish it now, but would like to in the near future.

[Ron Christiansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Radically shaped my view of wildlife management and the place of "man" in nature. It's been more than a decade since i read it but I still use several examples (what happened after humans started shipping the garbage out of Yellowstone) almost every semester I teach.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history book, a little one sided but a GREAT read. I highly recommend it.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will make you angry with the Park Service.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my 10 best reads of all time. Absolutely amazing.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure this is long outdated, but I remember it was once a very important assessment.