It’s time for the Jackson Hole People’s Market!! Every Wednesday evening from 4-7 PM. Starting this Wednesday, June 22 through September 21.

America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees.*

Mark your calendar for these fee-free days in 2011:

• June 21
• (First day of summer)
• September 24
  (Public Lands Day)
• November 11-13
  (Veterans Day weekend)

Making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their ownspecial offers.

Here’s a tip – many of your 394 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. So start Planning Your Visit!

*Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

A Summer Series of Classical Music Festivals

KHOL 89.1 FM – Jackson Hole Community Radio will debut the first in a summer long series of America’s Music Festivals this Sunday, June 19^th at 8 am.

Tune in Sunday’s from 8-10 am through Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 4^th, to hear America’s leading regional classical music festivals. America’s Music Festivals captures the sense of place and the excitement of a live music festival from the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder, CO to the Santa Fe Desert Chorale to the Grand Teton Music Festival right here in Jackson.

The series encompasses a broad array of classical styles ranging from the modern to the traditional. Along with audience favorites such as Barber’s String Quartet, Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, and Brahms’ Serenade No. 2, America’s Music Festivals presents innovative new pieces such as a new work by Chris Brubeck for the trio Time For Three.

Conductor Marin Alsop hosts the two-hour broadcasts, bringing you top performances by international musicians every Sunday morning on KHOL 89.1 FM.

KHOL presents America’s Music Festivals:

(KHOL Broadcast Schedule)

For more information please contact KHOL 89.1 FM @ 307.733.4030 or email info@jhcr.org.

For more information on the program series, visit www.americasmusicfestivals.org.

Support for America’s Music Festivals comes from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Murie Center and The Cougar Fund Present
“Cat Tales: Running with Cougar”
A presentation by former world-class distance runner, two-time Olympian and Cougar Fund supporter Anne Marie Letko.

Date: Tuesday, June 14
Time: 4pm-Murie Ranch Tour, 5:30pm-Presentation
Where: The Murie Center, Moose, WY
FREE!

Letko’s presentation, “Cat Tales: Running with Cougar,” will depict the spiritual journey of an Olympic runner who had a positive life-changing experience with a cougar at just the right time.  Tom Mangelsen of MANGELSEN – Images of Nature Gallery and co-founder of The Cougar Fund, and the Cougar Fund’s Development Director Lisa Rullman will speak about The Cougar Fund’s work after Letko’s presentation.

To learn more, visit our website or call 307-739-2246

The latest forecasting by Yellowstone National Park snow experts indicates the snow pack above Sylvan Pass has stabilized, significantly reducing the risk of further avalanches this season.

As of 8:00 p.m. Sunday evening, June 5, the road between the park’s East Entrance and Fishing Bridge Junction over Sylvan Pass is open to travel 24-hours a day, subject to temporary closures due to weather.

Information on park road conditions is available 24 hours a day by calling the park’s road information hotline at 307-344-2117.

The park will issue and widely distribute a news release announcing this change Monday morning, June 6.

- Cody Chamber of Commerce

Road From Mammoth to Lamar Valley, Cooke City Reopened

The road from Mammoth Hot Springs through the Lamar Valley to Cooke City, Montana, reopened at 3:00 p.m. today following a rock slide that closed the road May 28.

Yellowstone National Park geologists and road maintenance crews, along with representatives of the Federal Highway Administration, examined the slide area just east of Blacktail Plateau Drive and determined the road was safe for vehicle travel after heavy equipment operators removed several car-sized boulders from the roadway.

Park managers will aggressively monitor the slide area over the coming weeks, especially during precipitation events, to assess the risk of any future slides. Internationally-recognized falling rock warning signs and no-stopping signs have been installed along a 4/10th-mile stretch through the slide area as a precaution for visitors as the road has historically been a site for occasional bear jams. No new material has fallen from the hillside since the original slide.

Progress is also being made to clear the road between Tower Junction and Canyon Village over Dunraven Pass. Crews and snow plowing equipment were pulled off the spring clearing of the Beartooth Highway over Memorial Day weekend to focus on Dunraven pass, and are expecting to have the route opened — weather and avalanche conditions permitting — by this weekend.

Once Dunraven is cleared, crews and equipment will return to US-212 to resume clearing operations on Beartooth Pass, which links the park’s Northeast Entrance with the community of Red Lodge, Montana. The highway is currently scheduled to open the weekend of June 10.

Visitors can still travel into the Northeast Entrance of the park from Cody, Wyoming, by taking WY-120 to US-296 to US-212 through Cooke City, Montana.

The North, West, and South entrances to Yellowstone are open, yet are subject to last-minute, temporary closures due to weather. Unstable snow conditions and the threat of snow slides continue to limit travel on the East Entrance road through Sylvan Pass to between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.

Information on park road conditions is available 24 hours a day by calling the park’s road information hotline at 307-344-2117.

- www.nps.gov/yell -

For seasoned locals and awestruck visitors alike an Aerial Tram ride to the top of Rendezvous Mountain should not be missed this year. Now Open daily from 9am the Tram gives travelers a rare view of the Tetons buried under the deepest snowpack in its recorded history. While summer hiking might still be more than a month away, the view from the summit right now is totally stunning.

Locals with or without a Season Pass ride for FREE until June 17^th (with a local ID from Teton County ID or WY, as well as Lincoln and Sublette counties). During Peak Season locals receive 50% off Tram tickets. Nick Wilson’s Cowboy Café and Corbet’s Cabin will be open serving lunch and après. Teton Village Sports and Jackson Hole Sports will also open on Saturday.

For more information visit us online at www.jacksonhole.com

Anna Olson

Brand Director

Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

You are invited to a celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the

Beartooth All American Road!

Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12, 2011

There will be celebratory activities in all three gateway communities: Red Lodge, Montana, Cooke City, Montana, and Cody, Wyoming

Photo contest! Parade! Historical presentations and walking tours! Ribbon-cutting ceremony! Bicycle tours!

Free BBQ! Live music!
Xanterra bus tours! 5K and 10K run! & More!

Please go to www.beartoothhighway.net for a full schedule of events or contact the Red Lodge Area Chamber of Commerce at (406) 446-1718 or redlodgechamber@qwestoffice.net

——————————————————————————–
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE
——————————————————————————–

East Entrance Road Open 8pm-10am Beginning Sunday

Beginning Sunday, May 22, Yellowstone National Park’s East Entrance road through Sylvan Pass will be open between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.

Park avalanche forecasters extended the opening times based on a continuing trend of more stable snow conditions in Sylvan Pass.  They have determined that the safest travel window across the pass is during the evening and early morning hours.  Forecasting staff are closely monitoring weather, snowpack, moisture and all of the complex factors that go into determining the safety of the road for public travel.

During the closure periods, the section of road between the East Entrance and a point just west of Lake Butte will be closed.

The road has been operating on a limited schedule Since May 11 due to unstable snow conditions and avalanche activity in Sylvan Pass.  There have been no significant slides over the road in recent days.

A limited travel window schedule is expected to remain in place until enough snow melts along and above the pass to eliminate the avalanche hazard to those traveling on the East Entrance road.

Changing weather conditions such as rain or warmer temperatures may result in conditions which may prompt changes to this schedule or may result in temporary, ‘round-the-clock closures.  Travelers are encouraged to check the park’s 24-hour Road Report Hotline at 307-344-2117 for the latest updates.

Visitors may also travel between Yellowstone National Park and the community of Cody, Wyoming, through the park’s Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana over US-212 to WY-296 to WY-120, which is open, weather permitting, 24 hours a day.

- www.nps.gov/yell -