YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — The northern half of Yellowstone National Park is now accessible to visitors.
The park’s east entrance opened Friday after a public-private effort to get the park’s roads plowed despite federal budget cuts.
The south entrance, providing access to Old Faithful and Fishing Bridge, is scheduled to open next week, as originally scheduled.
The budget cuts took effect March 1 and threatened to delay the opening of park entrances by two weeks while the National Park Service postponed spring plowing to save money.
In response, the towns of Jackson and Cody and the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce raised $171,000 to hire state snow plows to help with the job.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation crews helped to put plowing in Yellowstone back on track despite the cuts.