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Snowmobiles: Noisy Stinkers or Good Clean Fun
BOZEMAN, Montana, December 13, 2001 (ENS) - Last fall, after more than a
decade of study, the National Park Service determined that the tens of
thousands of snowmobiles entering Yellowstone National Park each winter
were harming Yellowstone's wildlife and impairing the park's clean air and
natural quiet. The park service decided that snowmobile use should be
phased out in order to protect Yellowstone.
This week, Interior Secretary Gale Norton who has responsibility for the
National Park Service suggested that if a phase out happens at all, it
would not be for at least two more years. Environmentalists are up in arms
about this delay, while snowmobilers are delighted.
"In our oldest national park, preserving irreplaceable natural treasures
has always come first," said Steven Bosak of the National Parks
Conservation Association. "Defending snowmobile use that is harming
Yellowstone, instead of defending Yellowstone itself, is a change of
direction in the management of our nation's most cherished places that
millions of Americans will find deeply troubling."
Under a court settlement agreement finalized in June by the snowmobile
community, the state of Wyoming, and the U.S. Department of the Interior,
the National Park Service was directed to reopen its decision making
process regarding the use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone and surrounding
Parks. This led directly to Norton's decision to halt or delay the
snowmobile phaseout.
The American Council of Snowmobile Associations says that over the past
year, millions of snowmobilers across the country mobilized to send a clear
message to Congress to prevent the proposed Park Service ban in Yellowstone
and other parks. They joined efforts with communities surrounding the parks
that would be crippled if snowmobiling were banned.
Tour operators, motels, restaurants, service stations and rental and repair
shops were among the businesses that would have been devastated by the ban,
costing millions of dollars and thousands of jobs.
But Sean Smith, public lands director for Bluewater Network, a San
Francisco based conservation group, said, "By delaying a phaseout of
snowmobiles, the administration is turning a blind eye to the golden rule
that has always guided management of Yellowstone. That ethic holds that we
should do for future generations what our ancestors did - pass on
Yellowstone's natural wonders, unimpaired."
Snowmobile industry experts say factoring the heralded four-stroke
snowmobile engine into the new decision-making will significantly improve
the noise and emissions data cited in the previous Environmental Impact
Statement prepared in 2000.
The snowmobile industry expects that the supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) will counter "inaccuracies and misinformation used to smear
snowmobiles in the original statement," according to Ed Klim, president of
the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association.
Betsy Buffington of the Washington, DC based Wilderness Society said, "On
four separate occasions over the past three years, the public has made it
clear that Yellowstone deserves the highest standard of protection and
ought to be free of unhealthy exhaust, noise, and wildlife harassment. The
administration's suggestion that snowmobile use will be allowed to continue
despite the damage it is causing ignores the public's desire to see
Yellowstone protected for future generations."
Klim said, "We expect to prove that the studies on which the Clinton
administration based its ban were flawed and highly prejudiced. What's
more, in the previous decision-making process, the public was prevented
from participating as fully as the law allows. The agreement helps
ensure that that won't happen this time around."
Michael Scott, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition,
said, "If this administration's reluctance to eliminate damaging activities
had guided past management, imagine what a different place Yellowstone
would be today. Bans on visitors wandering into fragile geyser basins to
chisel off souvenirs, and on feeding bears, recognized that those
activities, like
snowmobiling, were fun, but were also taking a toll on Yellowstone and
diminishing the park for other visitors."
Under the settlement agreement, the National Park Sevice is required to
publish the supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on its
website on January 21, 2002, and in printed form by March 15, 2002.
By March 15, 2002, the park service must issue a proposed new rule,
incorporating all content from the supplemental EIS and stating the
service's preferred alternative for snowmobile use in Yellowstone. A 60-day
comment period on the draft rule will extend through May 15, 2002. On
October 15, 2002, the park service is required to issue the final
supplemental EIS, including all documentation supporting rulemaking.
The final decision and new rule is to be published by November 15, 2002.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2001. All rights reserved.
Links:
National Park Service:
http://nps.gov
The Wilderness Society:
http://www.tws.org
Bluewater Network:
http://www.earthisland.org/bw
American Council of Snowmobile Associations:
http://www.snowmobileacsa.org
International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association:
http://www.snowmobile.org |
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