Yellowstone...A Business Case for Sustainability

I had the great opportunity to spend New Years eve in Yellowstone to watch the passing of 2007. The park in the winter is spectacular, but then again it always is.

While hiking around Old Faithful through the Upper Geyser Basin I was contemplating how wonderful this place is and how the foresight of our government played a great role in preserving this area for future generations.

With a little research I discovered that while the government was ultimately supportive, it was largely the railroad companies that supported and promoted the creation of the world's first national park as an opportunity to haul more than freight and to profit from delivering tourists to the park. Specifically it was the Union Pacific (UP) and Central Pacific (CP) railroads which transported the survey teams, free of charge into to Yellowstone around 1870. The Hayden valley of Yellowstone bears the name of the chief surveyor, Ferdinand V. Hayden. The railroads used this survey to lobby congress to declare this area a national park. In a blinding 1 1/2 year effort congress passed a law designating Yellowstone as a national park in 1872.


Sustainable Eco Tourism was born with the foundation of Yellowstone National Park largely out of the desire to make a profit. Subsequent parks were established with the same motivation. Notably Glacier National Park with its extensive Chalet system and Waterton Park just north of the USA / Canada border linking Americans deprived of whiskey during the prohibition of the 1920's/30's to a source of fun, natural beauty and yes legal whiskey.

Sustainable business practices can relate to all businesses and plays an important role in our moving forward as a "sustainable" society. There is nothing wrong with profit and everything right with profit, especially when profit helps us support ourselves and a cleaner environment.