Park Chiefs Fear Snowmobile Increase in Yellowstone

Park Chiefs Fear Snowmobile Increase in Yellowstone



March 2007 - The Bush administration 
today announced its proposal to continue allowing snowmobiles 
in Yellowstone National Park, ignoring the protests of former 
National Park Service directors who say the plan will 
"undercut the park's resurgent natural conditions." 
The proposal, open for public comment through May 31, in 
effect extends a temporary rule that has governed snowmobiling 
in Yellowstone since 2004. 
It allows up to 720 snowmobiles daily into the park, calling 
for the use of four-stroke models that are cleaner and quieter 
than older two-stroke models. 
The plan also requires snowmobilers travel with commercial 
guides and stay on park roads in order to protect wildlife. 
But critics contend the plan will escalate snowmobile use in 
the park from its current daily average of 250 snowmobiles and 
do little to quell the long-running controversy over the 
issue. 
The Bush plan calls for a daily limit of 1,190 snowmobiles in 
the two parks and the road that connects them - snowmobiles 
granted park access must by run by commercial operators and 
users must travel with guides. 
The Clinton administration enacted a rule in 2000 designed to 
phaseout snowmobile use in Yellowstone by 2004, but that plan 
was derailed by a legal battle and reversed by the Bush 
administration. 
In a letter sent Monday to U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk 
Kempthorne, seven of the eight living former National Park 
Service directors said the proposal is ill-conceived. 
The proposal would "radically contravene both the spirit and 
letter" of the agency's management policies that emphasize 
conservation of park resources, according to the letter. 
The seven former Park Service chiefs, spanning every 
Democratic and Republican presidential administration from 
Lyndon Johnson to Bill Clinton, said the proposal ignores 
scientific evidence - much of it gathered by the National Park 
Service - that the park is better off without the machines. 
"The proposal is to escalate snowmobile use as much as 
three-fold over current average numbers even though scientific 
studies have demonstrated conclusively that a two-thirds 
reduction in average snowmobile numbers during the past four 
winters is principally responsible for significantly improving 
the health of the park for visitors, employees and wildlife," 
the letter said. 
The latest National Park Service study shows allowing 720 
snowmobiles in the park would bring noise back to areas where 
"visitors are currently able to enjoy natural sounds and 
quiet," the letter said, "… [and] exhaust would increase in 
Yellowstone's air." 
The proposal "sidesteps" the recommendation by scientists that 
snowmobile traffic should be kept at or below current levels 
to minimize disturbance to the park's wildlife, the directors 
said. 
Conservationists worry about the impact of continued 
snowmobile use on the Yellowstone's natural resources and 
wildlife. 
"The study also provides clear evidence that reducing 
snowmobile numbers still further - from 250 per day to zero - 
while expanding public access on modern snowcoaches, would 
further improve the park's health," according to the letter. 
The Park Service has spent $10 million on four studies of 
snowmobile impacts in Yellowstone since 1998 - each one has 
confirmed the machines adversely impact the park's wildlife 
and air quality, as well as visitor experience. 
In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has on 
three occasions agreed that providing access by modern 
snowcoach and phasing out the use of snowmobiles will provide 
Yellowstone's visitors, employees and wildlife with healthier 
conditions. 
But the Bush administration has consistently sided with 
snowmobile advocates, arguing that the machines should be 
allowed in the park and noting that newer snowmobiles are 
cleaner and quieter than older models. 
The letter notes that the four-stroke models have brought 
reductions in air and noise emissions compared to traditional 
two-stroke models, but points out emissions from the newer 
machines "remain significantly greater than those of modern 
automobiles." 
The details of the plan can be found here. 





 

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