get story straight on nps yellowstone study

Newspaper readers throughout the nation are being grossly misled by an Associated Press story that claims the National Park Service is rejecting new snowmobile data as it studies winter use in Yellowstone National Park. The article is loaded with inaccuracies.

For starters, the "draft study" that the reporter "obtained" was merely an internal document that circulated through the National Park Service (NPS) last summer. It was not the Supplemental Environmental Impact Study (SEIS) that has been underway since July and which is expected to produce an honest assessment of snowmobile use in Yellowstone. The results of the SEIS are expected to be released in late March, much later than what the story reported.

Readers also should know that the NPS agreed to conduct the study following a lawsuit by the State of Wyoming, the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association and the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA). The suit challenged the Clinton Administration's scheme to ban snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

The court-approved agreement required that the NPS accept and review scientific data provided by the snowmobile industry and other cooperating agencies, including the states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, five surrounding counties and the Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park team. Moreover, the Clinton-era action based its snowmobile emissions findings on outdated information purposely used to slant the study.

Last November, the NPS received data from ISMA and snowmobile manufacturers showing that some new snowmobile models reduce emissions by 90 percent. These are production models available today from local snowmobile dealers. The NPS has purchased two dozen of these new machines. Indeed, snowmobiles continue to get cleaner and quieter. However, existing snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks has not violated any ambient clean air standards, contrary to what the NPS would like people to believe.

If, as the story reported, the NPS has decided to reject the data that demonstrates great advancements in snowmobile technology, then the NPS is not living up to its agreement. If that's the case, we thank the AP reporter for bringing it to everyone's attention. However, it's hard to believe the NPS would make such a mistake, notwithstanding the elements within the department who are aligned with extremists seeking to eliminate park access to all forms of recreation.

When the SEIS is completed, it will provide alternatives for winter use consideration and we expect it to include recommendations that preserve reasonable snowmobiling access. Upon release, we and other parties will have the opportunity to respond to the alternatives and a final set of recommendations will be announced by the NPS this fall.

We eagerly await the release of the completed SEIS, so that the agreed-upon process can take its course. We remain confident that the truth about snowmobiling will be evident to all who are willing to accept it.