Another Attack on Our Environment, Animal Habitat & National Parks

Yellowstone Proposal Sets Greater Snowmobile Access

I love snowmobiles. They are a heck of a lot of fun. But there are places where snowmobiles should not be allowed, and limits as to how many can be in a park. There are numerous types of flora and fauna that can be disturbed or damaged by haphazard, inattentive or ignorant snowmobile operators. Our state and national parks are supposed to be refuges for wildlife, reservations for historical forests, and a restriction upon the ever-increasing urge of human sprawl.

The beauty of Yellow Stone is its untouched areas and wildlife. It is "God's country" and a part of a sacred trust handed to us by our creator. Allowing human sprawl to invade these sacred grounds by almost triple what was allowed is a crying shame. It betrays the very creation of the National Park system and the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt who pushed for its creation.

So while I love snowmobiles, I would not advocate allowing a human invasion into areas where human sprawl could do irreparable harm. And in this case, the rationale for doing so is very weak on principle, fact and reasoning, but very strong on politics, power and influence peddling.

The latest installment in the long-running debate over the use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park is a proposal to allow as many as 720 to enter each day, nearly three times as many as permitted in the last several years.

The plan, which could be adopted by the end of the year, has drawn fire from environmentalists and praise from snowmobile advocates and some businesses in the communities around the park.

The plan is described in a preliminary draft environmental impact statement that was released to agencies and governments near the park for comment in December. The Park Service could change the plan before releasing a final version to the public next month for comment, but so far it is favoring greatly expanded winter use. About 250 snowmobiles a day use the park now. The historical average in the 1990s was 795 a day, before access was banned by the Clinton administration.

Critics say that snowmobiles will be detrimental to the park’s pristine air, wildlife and quiet. Michael Finley, who was superintendent of Yellowstone for more than six years, and who oversaw the plan that banned snowmobiles, said the Park Service was skirting its responsibilities under the new plan.

“The facts and science gave them a direction to take, then they softened, twisted and contorted the science,” Mr. Finley said. “The plan deserves to be challenged. It deserves burial in deep snow.”

In late 2006, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne reaffirmed the parks’ commitment to policies emphasizing the conservation of natural and cultural resources over recreation.

But Tim Stevens, Yellowstone program director for the National Parks and Conservation Association, said the proposed standards were misguided.

“Instead of meeting the bars they set for themselves, they lowered the bars,” Mr. Stevens said.