CHEYENNE — On Friday, Gov. Dave Freudenthal and the State of Wyoming challenged the National Park Service’s limit of 318 commercially-guided, Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles a day into Yellowstone National Park.
The limit, Freudenthal said, “continues the Park Service’s unacceptable pattern of limiting public access to the public’s lands.”
“This rule fails the eyeball test,” he continued. “The Park Service itself has determined a significantly higher number of snowmobiles can be allowed into the Park without harm, but yet they settle on 318 a day.”
The issue has been hotly debated in Congress, the public square and in the courts, ever since the parks proposed phasing out snowmobiles in favor of snowcoaches, in the closing days of the Clinton administration in 2000. Traditionally, circuit and appeals courts tend to defer to the judgment of federal agencies.
The lawsuit asks the court to vacate both Yellowstone and Grand Teton’s plans and revert back to the 2004 rule allowing 720 snowmobiles and 78 snow coaches a day in Yellowstone. The Park Service contends that fewer snowmobiles results in less environmental impact on Yellowstone, while conservationists have argued that science supports a total snowmobile ban.
“We all agree Yellowstone needs to be protected. But what the Park Service is proposing is incompatible with its own findings,” the governor said.
“The Park Service needs to balance its duty to protect Yellowstone against its obligation to help as much of the public enjoy the Park as possible. They have failed to do that when their own research shows no harm from 700 snowmobiles and then they set the limit to 318,” Freudenthal said.
“Snowmobile traffic into Yellowstone is a major driver of tourism into the state during the winter. Wyoming deserves a compelling reason before the federal government does something to limit visitors to our state, especially in this challenging economic environment,” he added.
The Wyoming Attorney General’s office has filed a request with the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, asking the Court to set aside the NPS interim rule and reinstate the 2004 temporary rule approved by the Court in 2004.
“A better solution than the inflexible ceiling the Park Service is proposing is a variable use rule,” Freudenthal said.
The interim rule affects Yellowstone in the winter season, which opens Dec. 15. A separate but related final rule limits snowmobile traffic into Grand Teton National Park to 50 per day.
“A variable use rule will allow more visitors into the Park on days when more folks want to go to Yellowstone, particularly Christmas, New Year’s and Presidents Day,” Freudenthal said.
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