activists still not telling the truth say snowmobilers

The most recent federal government study on the impact of snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grant Teton National Parks shows significant reduction in emission levels associated with use of new technology snowmobiles and provides no justification for banning the popular machines, says the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA).

But the reluctance of the extreme wing of the environmental movement to publicly acknowledge the findings of the report shows that their real agenda is to prohibit all forms of motorized recreation within the two parks, says Ed Klim, president of ISMA, whose members include Arctic Cat, Inc., Bombardier Inc., Polaris Industries and Yamaha Motor Corporation.

"This latest study by the NPS shows that existing snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks has not violated any ambient clean air standards," said Klim. "What's more, it shows that the new technology snowmobiles reduce emissions by 70 percent. So anyone who says the new study reveals nothing new simply hasn't read it. We encourage everyone with an interest in preserving access to Yellowstone to read the findings of the new NPS Supplemental Environmental Impact Study. You'll see that we've been telling the truth about snowmobiling all along, and some people just can't stand it."

Confined to Using Park Roads

Snowmobiles are limited to the use of groomed portions of the road system in less than one percent of the two million acres in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. More than 1.5 million autos, buses, trucks, SUVs, and motorcycles use these same roads each spring, summer and fall.

Christine Jourdain, executive director, American Council of Snowmobile Associations, East Lansing, Mich., said that a general lack of understanding about snowmobiling among the public makes the industry an easy target. "The proposed ban in Yellowstone isn't the first time that snowmobilers have come together to educate people about the facts of the sport and stand up for their right to access public lands. It has caused us to step up the effort over the past two years and that accounts for the groundswell of support that we've found all the way to Congress."

Snowmobilers in the Western states say that the battle over Yellowstone has been over-politicized, and that they've been thrust into what has escalated into a national debate over public access to public lands, according to Terry Manning, president of the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association. "Snowmobiling in Yellowstone is really a local issue," said Manning. "Unfortunately, it's been distorted and used by people in and out of government to further their own anti-recreation agenda."

Preserving Limited Access

"Snowmobilers merely want to preserve winter access to a very limited part of these great National Parks," she added. "This is what we do out West in the wintertime. Of course, the sport also contributes greatly to many livelihoods in this part of the country as people from far and wide come to experience the unique winter beauty of these parks. I just wish someone from the anti-recreation community would accept our invitation to take one of the new technology sleds on a ride up to Old Faithful. I'm pretty sure they'd see snowmobiling in a new light."

The draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) was prepared by the National Park Service as part of a settlement to a lawsuit brought against the NPS by the snowmobile manufacturers, the State of Wyoming and the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association. The suit was filed after the NPS proposed banning snowmobiles in the final days of the Clinton Administration.

The SEIS contains four proposals or "alternatives," including one that would allow the NPS to proceed with the proposed ban that would eliminate all snowmobiling in the winter of 2003-04.

Under alternative two - the only proposal that allows unguided snowmobiling to continue - there would be no greater emissions than if snowmobiles were completely banned and over-the-snow motorized travel was limited to snow coaches, which are essentially cargo vans propelled by tracks. Even this estimate overstates snowmobile emissions because it was based on models predicting 166,000 snowmobiles entering the park when the average for the past several years has been 65,000.

Some Ignore Truth of Park Service Study

Since the SEIS was issued last month, Klim said that environmental activists and some elements in the Park Service have been going out of their way to assert no progress has been made to produce cleaner and quieter snowmobile engines.

"We're surprised that public officials would make statements that are completely contradicted by the draft SEIS," said Klim. "They want people to believe that snowmobiles are running wild throughout the entire two million acres of the park when in fact their use is limited to snow-covered paved roads in less than one percent of the total park acreage.

Klim said all of the snowmobile manufacturers presently sell new technology low-emission models. Moreover, the new models are already in use in the Yellowstone snowmobile rental fleet and the NPS has purchased over two dozen of them.

"For the extremists to be staging photos with park rangers wearing gas masks as snowmobiles enter the park really goes to show just how far they will go to advance their agenda," said Klim.

"The industry has made far greater progress in recent years than our critics want to acknowledge with the development of cleaner and quieter and more reliable snowmobiles," said Klim. "On top of that, the manufacturing community fully endorses additional restrictions and regulations that will ensure responsible use. We have no sympathy for anyone who does not abide by them."