By Association Press
Billings,
Mont. - Federal officials say they will continue
to allow snowmobiles in a Wilderness study area north of Yellowstone National Park
this winter.
The recent announcement from the U.S. Forest Service came
after a federal appeals court last week rejected the agency's travel plan
for the 155,000-acre study area in the Gallatin National Forest.
Forest officials say that
while they work through that ruling, an interim travel plan
used over the last three winters will stay in place. That plan limited
snowmobile access to 1,800 within the Hyalite Porcupine Buffalo Horn Wilderness
Study Area, also known as the Gallatin Crest.
Agency spokeswoman Marna Daley says no decision has been
made on summer use of the Wilderness study area.