Parks’ Snowmobile Ban May Be Loosened or Delayed

A ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park set to go into effect next winter could be delayed or altered if federal officials adopt one of several options under review, but critics warned Tuesday that they would oppose any rollback of the restrictions.

None of the proposed options would allow unhindered use of snowmobiles. One option would permit their continued use with noise and pollution limits, a National Park Service official said, while another would keep the ban in place as approved but delay its implementation by a year.

The ban was imposed during the Clinton administration, but the Bush administration agreed to review it as part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed by the snowmobiling industry, outdoor enthusiasts and the state of Wyoming. All of those groups argued that the initial study did not take into consideration a new generation of cleaner, quieter snowmobiles that are friendlier to the environment.

In addition to Yellowstone, the nation’s oldest national park, the ban affects Grand Teton National Park. At a news conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill, proponents of the ban said the latest study was a waste of time and taxpayer money, and they urged the park service to maintain its current schedule of phasing out snowmobile use beginning next winter.

“The new review finds that continued snowmobile use will harm wildlife, just as the original report did,” said William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society. “It finds that continued use will harm air quality--just as the original report did.”

Meadows was joined by Reps. Susan A. Davis (D-San Diego) and Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Steven Bosak, an official with the National Parks Conservation Assn. They said the alternative options were not supported by the study’s findings.

Davis said even the most advanced snowmobiles harm the environment and detract from other visitors’ enjoyment of Yellowstone and Grand Teton, places with unique ecology and geology that need to be protected.

“We’re not saying people shouldn’t snowmobile,” Davis said. “But there are other places to do that.”

But Ed Klim, president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Assn., said proponents were working from a draft several months old that did not represent the final report and did not include data that the industry and other agencies had presented.

Klim said snowmobiles use the same park roads in the winter as cars do during the summer, and that the industry would support options under consideration that would include increased limits, such as the number of snowmobiles allowed.

“We have never been for unfettered snowmobiling in Yellowstone,” he said. “There is a bit of misunderstanding of our position.”

Under the Clinton administration plan, snowmobiling would be phased out and access to the parks would be provided by snow coaches, essentially buses on skis managed by the park service, said parks spokeswoman Marsha Karle. A phaseout of snowmobiles would begin in winter 2002-03, with a full ban by the following winter.

The first option under the new study to be presented by park officials calls for no change to this plan. A second option would keep the same rules as the original plan but would delay its implementation until 2003-04, with a full ban in effect by winter 2004-05.

The third option would allow unguided snowmobiling in the parks as long as the snowmobiles met stricter emission standards and decibel levels than currently allowed. Under this option, the park service would increase law enforcement and educational programs to limit the effect of snowmobiles on the park’s environment.

Under a fourth option, only guided snowmobile tours would be allowed and only if the tours use the most clean and quiet snowmobile models available. A limit would be placed on the number of snowmobiles in the parks.

The report, prepared by officials at the parks, is scheduled to be available for public comment by March 29.