A collaborative project of the Montana State University Library and Yellowstone National Park that catalogs and makes available the sounds of Yellowstone National Park was featured earlier this week in a story that appeared on the Huffington Post.

MSU’s Acoustic Atlas project was featured in “The Sounds Of Yellowstone National Park Remind Us Why It’s Worth Preserving.” The story, which was written by Chris McGonigal and Nick Offenberg, appeared on the online national news outlet on March 1.

“For 145 years, Yellowstone ― which stretches from Wyoming to parts of Montana and Idaho ― has been the inspiration for countless works of art and awe-inspiring photo shoots,” the authors wrote. “But one thing visitors might take for granted are the soundscapes they hear when visiting these treasured national parks.”

That’s where the Acoustic Atlas project comes in. In 2013, MSU, through its Acoustic Atlas project, partnered with Yellowstone National Park to make a collection of public domain sounds from all around the park available online. Those sounds, along with a developing podcast series highlighting America’s first national park, are known as the Yellowstone Collection.

The audio collection aims to create new ways to experience the animals, landscapes and people of the area, by offering a freely accessible online archive of natural sounds, interviews and radio stories focused on the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The Acoustic Atlas was founded in 2013 and includes recordings from throughout the western United States. The Yellowstone Collection builds on its mission to document the sounds of regional ecosystems.

MSU Library Dean Kenning Arlitsch said the Yellowstone Collection of the Acoustic Atlas has been well-received by the thousands of people who have visited the website.

“The sounds in this collection can help people re-live their experiences with wild places, and they can help paint a more complete picture for people who haven’t yet been to those places,” Arlitsch said. “Our partnership with Yellowstone National Park helps tell that story to people all over the world.”

The Huffington Post story is available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yellowstone-national-park-sounds_us_58ac5e14e4b0a855d1d9ecca. To listen to sounds of Yellowstone through the Acoustic Atlas project, visit https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/soundlibrary.htm. The complete MSU Acoustic Atlas is available at http://acousticatlas.org/.