Adventure-Crew.com

Written by Tessa Schweigert
Powell Tribune     

It may be a few months before snowdrifts settle in at Yellowstone National Park, but flurries of litigation over its winter-use policy are in the current forecast.

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced plans to reduce the number of snowmobiles allowed in the park to 318 per day — less than half of the previous daily limit of 720. The announcement was followed on Friday by Gov. Dave Freudenthal and other state officials seeking to keep the cap at 720. The state’s congressional delegation also voiced its opposition to this latest development in a decade-long saga.

The number of snowmobiles has been under scrutiny and debate since the Clinton administration set to ban the machines altogether in 2000.

Since then, the figures 318, 540, 720 and zero all have been tossed around in a tug-of-war to determine exactly how many snowmobiles can enter the park’s gates on any given winter day.

Those who live in the Yellowstone area are justifiably annoyed that people thousands of miles away have a sway in the park’s governance. Yet, since it is a national park, it is up to Americans — whether in Wyoming or Washington — to decide.

With the 318-per-day proposal last week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar also announced a 45-day public comment period, which ends Sept. 8.

This is an opportunity for those living at Yellowstone’s threshold to denounce or praise the newest snowmobile cap.

As Freudenthal said in an Associated Press article: “It would be nice if they sat down and said, ‘What really works for the folks who are wanting to visit, and the folks who are making a living up in Yellowstone?’”

Eventually, a permanent limit will be reached. Until then, speak up.

And so the conflict continues…

By MATTHEW BROWN (AP) – 1 day ago

BILLINGS, Mont. — The state of Wyoming on Friday asked a federal judge to force Yellowstone National Park to allow up to 740 snowmobiles daily during winter — more than twice what the Obama administration wants.

The administration said Thursday it wants to cut the number of the machines to 318 daily and require all riders to take guided tours.

That would last for two years while a permanent rule is crafted on how many are allowed.

Also Friday, six members of Congress — from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and Utah — asked Interior Sec. Ken Salazar to reconsider the administration’s proposal.

Since an outright ban on snowmobiles was proposed by President Bill Clinton in 2000, the number allowed has gone up and down according to competing court orders and power shifts in Washington.

Yellowstone includes portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

The Obama proposal also reduces the number of snowmobiles in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park and the adjacent John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, a park spokeswoman said Friday.

Under the prior plan, those parks allowed a combined 140 snowmobiles per day. The new one calls for just 50 per day, said Jackie Skaggs at Grand Teton National Park.

The administration proposal is now in a 45-day public comment period.

The number of snowmobiles desired by Wyoming would be the same as what was in place for the past several years.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne issued an order last November saying the old rules should be kept in place until permanent numbers for the three parks are settled on.

The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office on Friday filed court documents asking Brimmer to enforce that order.

“It would be nice if they sat down and said, ‘what really works for the folks who are wanting to visit, and the folks who are making a living up in Yellowstone?’” said Wyoming’s Democratic Gov. Dave Freudenthal.

“It seems to me that the environmental groups aren’t going to be satisfied with anything more than zero, so we’re going to continue to have a fight,” he added.

The prior cap of 720 machines was never reached. An average of 205 snowmobiles daily entered the park in 2008-09, when the busiest day of the season saw only 426 of the machines.

Associated Press Writer Ben Neary in Cheyenne contributed to this story.