The magazine’s May 2016 issue, YELLOWSTONE: America’s Wild Idea, takes an in-depth look at the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem which encompasses Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, national forests, wildlife refuges, and private lands, which total over 22.6 million acres, the largest collection of contiguous wild lands in the lower 48 states.
“Yellowstone National Park staff worked with National Geographic photographers, writers, and fact checkers for more than two years to create this special issue,” said Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk. “Our goal was to illuminate how special this place is and the incredible challenges it faces today. Everyone who cares about the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and its future should read this issue.”

“It takes a global community to manage, support, and sustain the gift that is the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem,” said Grand Teton National Park Superintendent David Vela. “The passion and efforts of government agencies, non-governmental organizations, gateway communities, and neighboring private landowners are all essential to the stewardship of this ecosystem. This special issue of National Geographic provides a snapshot of these stewards at work.”

As David Quammen, the award-winning, principal author of the issue writes: “Yellowstone is more than just a park. It’s a place where, more than 140 years ago, people began to negotiate a peace treaty with the wild. That negotiation continues today, with growing urgency, at Yellowstone and all over the planet, as the human world expands and the natural world retreats. Can we come to terms?”

The May issue is on newsstands now and available in park bookstores and online through the Yellowstone Association and the Grand Teton Association.