Flood recovery efforts for affected communities in Montana continue to return to normal. In the Cooke City- Silver Gate area, their recovery efforts are ongoing and giving them a sense of hope.
Anna Wolf is a resident of Cooke City and actively participates in flood recovery efforts after this natural disaster. She started a campaign to reconstruct the Field of Cream Park, her son’s favorite place, which was severely impacted by the Yellowstone flood. The park is the only athletic facility in 60 miles, but the field is not just used for sports. It also serves as the emergency helicopter pad for the area, with the nearest one about an hour and a half away. It is also where community events and softball games happen. It truly is a staple in both mountain town communities. Help from surrounding areas is needed to bring Field of Cream Park back to life so locals can enjoy it for many years to come.
The Cooke City-Silver Gate area is less than five miles from the northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Damage to the park’s north loop means fewer tourists come through these mountain towns. Wolf and her family own a vacation rental in the area and say all of their summer reservations have been canceled, causing stressors that they and many others in the community are feeling. “This is a really tourism-dependent area, and the tourists are gone. It’s beautiful, the hiking trails are open, and the businesses are open, but there are no customers,” Wolf says.
In one of the local meetings Wolf was a part of, Yellowstone National Park Superintendant Cam Sholly said that full access to the park will not happen until the fall or winter of 2022. Wolf says local cleanup efforts began two days after the floods hit. The Wyoming Department of Transportation has also lent a helping hand in repairing sections of roads connecting Cooke City to Cody, Wyoming, washed out from the floods. They also helped keep the chief St. Joseph Highway open and worked on fixing the Wyoming side of the Beartooth Highway, which may take 6-8 weeks to finish repairs.
Most of the damage sustained from the flood happened in the Silver Gate area, with silt, water, and debris entering from the ground level of many homes. Wolf says three bridges were washed away from the flood, one on a road where they live. Two temporary bridges were put in place, but Wolf says they have just been driving through the creek to get home. Thankfully, their home was not affected by the flooding, and many people evacuated from their homes when the flooding was active have since returned home. Wolf says that wildlife has also started to pop up around their home. They have seen a moose, bison, river otter, and even a black bear.
Now that both mountain towns are cleaning up, they are ready to see tourists again and show them all they have to offer. “So much of the national media has focused on the devastation and the images of houses floating down rivers; that’s very traumatic,” Wolf says. “There hasn’t been a follow-up that says we’re still here, you can get to us, and we’re worth visiting.”
Help these communities by donating to southwest Montana flood relief or donating to the GoFundme for the Field of Cream Park to make it better than it was before. Or escape the heat and visit these picturesque towns! There are plenty of local shops, trails, and more to explore in the Cooke City-Silver Gate area.