Ban Banshees in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park in winter is a breathtaking place. Bison trudge the snowdrifts in search of forage. Steam blasts from the geysers into the frigid air. The new wolf packs stalk their prey. Silence blankets the giant park in northeastern Wyoming, for a moment.

Now comes a battalion of deafening, fume-spewing snowmobiles to shatter the peace. Up to 2,000 of the screaming banshees enter the park daily in the wintertime, most of them clawing their way from the West Yellowstone entrance to Old Faithful and back.

The National Park Service, after failing for the past 30 years to develop a winter use plan, has now proposed that tough controls on snowmobile air and noise pollution be phased in over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, the scheme would also provide for plowing the West Yellowstone road to allow automobile access in winter. This is not a solution that would resurrect the peace of Yellowstone in wintertime.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition and its allies have a better idea: to limit access from West Yellowstone to muffled, tracked snow coaches carrying 10 passengers each. Traffic and pollution would be cut 90%, but just as many people would enjoy the park--and that experience would be greatly enhanced.

The snowmobilers are fighting any restrictions, but time and common sense are against them. With their two-stroke engines, the snowmobiles collectively emit more pollutants than all the autos that visit the park in summer. The racket can be heard as far as 10 miles into the wilderness, which, alas, can no longer be considered wild.

The Park Service should take a serious look at the snow coach proposal. It’s viable, affordable and could restore nature’s peace to the Yellowstone winter.