Wow! You are 148 today and I hope there are many more. You were born on March 1, 1872 making you the world’s first national park. When President Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act into law, it protected more than 2 million acres of  your beauty, natural wonders, precious wildlife and adventures for future generations to enjoy.

Your boundaries contain half the world’s hydro-thermal features, preserving more than 10,000  hot springs, mud-pots, fumaroles, travertine terraces and geysers. And your brilliant, wondrous colors come from the lifeforms known as thermophiles, meaning "heat loving" who dwell on your surfaces.

The earliest intact archaeological deposits in the park were discovered at a site on the shore of Yellowstone Lake. The first American to explore the area was John Colter, a veteran of the Lewis & Clark expedition. After years in the wilderness, Colter began to tell others of the area’s incredible geothermic activity. Few believed these fantastic stories and mocked the region, calling it “Colter’s Hell.” What did they know!

You've given us so many incredible years, especially those of us who live close by. I wish you many many more. We need you now more than ever.

This photo is of a pool in Canary Spring. Near Mammoth Hot Springs. In warmer months, this area a unique look like no place else on earth, but in winter, it truly is a winter wonder land. =]:)