The proposed ban on snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park, which
was the result of a lawsuit by The Fund for Animals, is in serious
jeopardy. You can help imperiled park wildlife and park ecology by
sending your comments on the new draft SEIS for winter use in
Yellowstone National Park before May 29.
The Yellowstone National Park Winter Use Draft
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) is
now available for public comment. The document is available
by clicking here. You may also request a copy of the entire
600-page document (also available on CD-ROM) or a
20-page summary by sending a postcard with your name
and address to:
Winter Use SEIS Request
Grand Teton National Park
P.O. Drawer 170
Moose, WY 83012
Previously, due to a lawsuit filed by The Fund for Animals
(The Fund), the National Park Service (NPS) agreed to
prepare for the first time an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) on winter use activities including
snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
and John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway (parks). In a
politically bold and scientifically sound move, the National
Park Service decided in October 2000 to ban snowmobiling in
the parks beginning in the winter of 2003-2004 due to the
serious, adverse impacts caused by the machines on park
wildlife, ecology, air quality and natural quiet. Although The
Fund enthusiastically endorsed the snowmobile ban, we
disagreed with the ban's unwarranted delay and objected to
the failure by the NPS to analyze the impacts of continued
trail grooming in order to accommodate snow coach access.
Yellowstone bison use groomed roads, thereby facilitating
their emigration from Yellowstone where they are routinely
shot or captured and sent to slaughter by the Montana
Department of Livestock, the political crony of the livestock
industry. Other wildlife, including wolves, elk, mule deer, also
use the groomed trails, thereby changing their distribution,
movements and habitat use patterns and predator/prey
dynamics.
Shortly after the NPS decision, the snowmobile industry filed
a lawsuit challenging the ban. Despite unmistakably legal
and scientific grounds as well as overwhelming public
support for the ban, the new Bush administration elected
not to consult with Park Service officials who were prepared
to vigorously defend their decision, and instead, entered
into an unnecessary settlement agreement with the
snowmobile industry, requiring the NPS to prepare a
"supplemental" EIS (SEIS).
The draft SEIS has just been released and analyzes four
alternatives: Alternative 1A, the "No Action" alternative
which upholds the original NPS decision to prohibit
snowmobiles by 2003-2004; Alternative 1B, a prohibition of
snowmobiles but with an additional one year delay;
Alternative 2 which maintains snowmobile use on all existing
snow roads, but at a reduced level in three years from the
West entrance, but at potentially increased levels from
other entrances, using new technologies to reduce
emissions and sound; and Alternative 3 which also allows
technologically improved snowmobiles on all major roads, but
at reduced levels in some areas.
Permitting snowmobiles, regardless of any technological
improvements, in the Parks would be a clear violation of
federal statutes, regulations and Park Service policy. For
more background information on this issue, please search
here at The Fund's web site. You will also find a copy of The
Fund's Natural Regulation Alternative.
Comments on the draft SEIS must be received no later
than midnight, Mountain Time, May 29, 2002 and
addressed to:
Winter Use SEIS Comments
Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
P.O. Box 352
Moose, WY 893012
Email: grte_winter_use_seis@nps.gov
You may want to make the following points when preparing
your comments:
The NPS must analyze a "no trail grooming" alternative
in the SEIS. The NPS is obligated to disclose the
serious impacts to wildlife and habitat caused by the
practice. Furthermore, the agency must conclude that
the practice is inconsistent with existing federal
statutes and regulations and the NPS own "natural
regulation" policy.
Under no circumstances should the NPS reverse its
proper decision to ban snowmobiles in the parks.
However, the prohibition must begin during the winter
of 2002-2003 and not be delayed any longer.
The NPS must take its legal mandates seriously and
analyze how it can further enhance appropriate winter
use of the parks by a greater number of nonmotorized
users such as snowshoers and cross-country skiers. It
must also analyze other possibilities for suitable and
controlled winter access such as the phased-in
construction of an elevated monorail system along
existing roadways.
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