h2Contacts/h2Jack Welch, Volunteer Consultant, BlueRibbon Coalition br- Phone: (303) 279-8436 or Cell (303) 324-7185 br- Fax: (303) 279-8214 br- Email: a href="mailto:brjack_w@sharetrails.org"brjack_w@sharetrails.org/a br- Webpage: a href="http://www.sharetrails.org/staff/#JackW"http://www.sharetrails.org/staff/#JackW/a brbrDate: 08/07/2009 br brstrongYet Another "New" Rule Proposed by Park Service for 2009-2010 Season/strongbr /br /by Jack Welchbr /BRC Volunteer Consultant br /br /On Thursday July 23, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the Park Service would receive further public comment on winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Secretary Salazar further announced the opening of a formal rule-making process on a proposed rule. This new proposed rule is essentially the same one that was published in a panic on November 5, 2008, in response to a District of Columbia federal court ruling that declared illegal the rule that was intended to be implemented for the 2008-2009 winter season.br /br /Under the proposed rule, daily snowmobile entries would be limited to 318 "best available technology" (BAT) and commercially-guided snowmobiles and 78 snowcoaches. For whatever reason, the proposed rule indicates it is designed to authorize these use levels "through the 2010-2011 winter season."br /br /This new rule is cause for great concern. There is already a rule to regulate snowmobile numbers for this winter. That rule was ordered by the federal court in Wyoming AFTER the hastily-announced 318 rule. The Wyoming Court ruling allows the Park Service to continue providing the type and levels of snowmobile access to Yellowstone for this season that have proven effective for the last four years. In addition, the Secretary should show greater consideration and concern for the outfitters, gateway communities, the general public and the Park Service who were already planning on the current rule being in effect with up to 720 snowmobiles allowed daily in the Park. The 318 cap that the proposed rule would create, which is more than a 50-percent decrease, would have a devastating effect on visitation this winter.br /br /Also, the call from Washington D.C. by Secretary Salazar is unfortunate. This seems a sad return to "top down" management driven through back-door meetings with special interests rather than careful consultation with, and respect for, local agency officials. To be blunt, the Secretary's media release effectively blind-sided Yellowstone Park staff who had no idea that this proposal was coming from higher levels in the Department of Interior. As a result, Park leadership and staff had to scramble to react to inquiries from interested parties, including the Congressional delegations from the states which surround Yellowstone Park National Park. Such reaction was quick and outspoken. Wyoming Senators Enzi and Barrasso, along with representative Lummis, "blasted" the Washington D.C. announcement with a joint statement calling the Salazar announcement "an insult to our state and gateway communities..." Montana Representative Reberg and Idaho Representative Simpson issued a joint letter to Secretary Salazar asking him to reconsider the surprise announcement proposing a 50% cut in snowmobile access. They pointed out the proposed cut does not factor in current technological advances and stricter emissions requirements and that the Park Service's own studies support the current entry level.br /br /I must voice the obvious concern that the expressed intent to craft a rule through the 2010-2011 season implies a need to create a further rule. History teaches us that numeric limits on recreation only constrict over time, and rarely, if ever, grow to prior levels. Secretary Salazar's announcement could be read to foreshadow awarding the prize that radical preservationists have long coveted: a complete prohibition on all snowmobile access to the Parks.br /br /What does this mean for your winter access to Yellowstone National Park for the 2009-2010 winter season? To answer that I attended a very spirited conference call hosted by Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday, July 29th. I came away from that call with two points of reference.br /br /First, over the last several seasons, BAT snowmobiles have mitigated the sound and emissions issues, and commercial guiding has addressed any supposed "wildlife" concerns. So why is the Park Service proposing a rule that cuts snowmobile entries by 50 percent? There is a plain and simple answer: politics trump sound science. There are politically-powerful special interests who desire a National Preservation System devoid of meaningful human recreation.br /br /Second, the Park Service is determined to open for the winter 2009-2010 season on December 15th and that a combination of Park Service rules and pending court actions will set the number of snowmobile entries into the Park between 318 and 720 per day. br /br /Finally, please remember that numerous courts still have jurisdiction over the Parks' winter use planning. For example, Wyoming has already raised a jurisdictional challenge to the proposed rule, and the ISMA-ACSA-BRC Legal Team are supporting that effort. Court rulings could change the situation dramatically. One would think that by now we have learned that overly-aggressive executive action creates only greater uncertainty and litigation, and disserves the public interest.br /br /Please visit our dedicated website of www.saveyellowstonepark.com for future updates.img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BlueRibbonCoalition/~4/VCZApujQXMg" height="1" width="1"/
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