Obama Administration Aims to Cut Yellowstone Snowmobiles By More than Half
The Department of the Interior is proposing to cut the number of snowmobiles allowed per day into Yellowstone National Park.
According to reports, a proposed rule change issued by the National Park Service would allow up to 318 snowmobiles per day into Yellowstone National Park for the next two winters. The rule would cut by more than half the 720 allowed last winter by the Bush administration. In a notice to be published tomorrow in the Federal Register, the National Park Service says it is reopening a public comment period on the 318-per-day plan that never went into effect.
The growth in snowmobile activity in Yellowstone National Park over the last two decades has been an increasingly contentious issue from the Yellowstone Valley to the halls and offices of Washington, D.C.. The 45-day comment period is certain to bring in passionate pleas from environmentalists, snowmobile enthusiasts, and local businesses who have long battled over the proper number of snow machines in the park.
Under the Bush administration, the Park Service proposed allowing 540 snowmobiles per day into the park. But a federal judge in Washington, D.C., threw out that plan in September 2008, citing the emissions and noise impacts on the park.
Despite the higher limits during the Bush Administration, an average of 205 snowmobiles entered Yellowstone National Park during the 2008-2009 winter season, a number which may have fallen off from previous years’ tallies because of the public uncertainty about the status of snowmobiles in the park.
The park’s peak day last winter was Dec. 29, when 426 snowmobiles entered the park.
Image via GGeter under a Creative Commons License
