YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK -- National Park Service landscape preservation specialists from the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (OCLP) are working in the Fort Yellowstone Historic District in Mammoth Hot Springs on condition assessment and the stabilization of the cottonwood trees that line Officer's Row.

An OCLP team of arborists is in the park this week working with arborist trainees and Yellowstone staff on the technical pruning of dead, damaged or unsafe branches and trees. If time allows, the OCLP team also will assess other types of trees within the Historic District.

OCLP Arborist Training Programs provide field-based educational opportunities for landscape maintenance employees to develop specialized skills in sustainable tree care and landscape preservation assistance to parks and historic properties throughout the nation. The OCLP will assist Yellowstone’s landscape managers in identifying and slowing deterioration, improving resource conditions, and preserving the historical integrity of the culturally significant trees in the Fort Yellowstone area.

The project was made possible by a grant from the Yellowstone Park Foundation.