An amended Record of Decision addressing a long-term plan to guide management of winter use over Sylvan Pass in Yellowstone National Park has been signed by Mike Snyder, Director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service (NPS).
Beginning in the 2008-2009 winter season, Yellowstone's East Entrance and Sylvan Pass will be open for motorized and non-motorized oversnow travel for a limited core season from December 22 through March 1 each winter, subject to weather, safety, equipment and fiscal constraints.
A combination of avalanche mitigation techniques may be used in Sylvan Pass, including forecasting and helicopter and howitzer dispensed explosives, as well as techniques that may be available in the future. It is the intent of the NPS to review and update the previous Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Operational Risk Management Assessment safety evaluations, and to evaluate additional avalanche mitigation techniques in order to further improve safety and visitor access.
Avalanche management at Sylvan Pass may necessitate unscheduled, temporary closures of the road segment through the pass. Management of the avalanche risk cannot guarantee the pass will be open every day of the winter season.
In addition, beginning this winter, 540 Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles and 83 snowcoaches will be allowed per day in Yellowstone, during a winter season which starts on December 15 and ends March 15 each year, weather and snow conditions permitting. 30 BAT snowmobiles and 2 snowcoaches will be allowed per day through the park's East Entrance during the core season of December 22 through March 1.
All snowmobiles and snowcoaches will continue to be 100% commercially guided, and may travel only on existing park roads groomed for their use. Trail and off-road use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches has always been, and will continue to be, prohibited.
The amended Record of Decision, the original November 2007 Record of Decision, and the Winter Use Plans Final Environmental Impact Statement can be found at the National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site
here.