isma upset over national park service rules

Sled manufacturers are more than peeved at the conditions the National Park Service is proposing to allow snowmobiling to continue in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. In March, the NPS revealed their plan to allow snowmobiling to continue on parts of the Yellowstone road system only. This means that snowmobiles would use the same roads that more than 1.7 million automobiles and busses use to travel in the warmer months. This also means that approximately 99 percent of the Park and its backcountry would be off limits to 'bilers.

But another part of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association's beef has to do with the emissions limitations imposed by the NPS. It's the NPS' intention to reduce emissions by 70 to 90 percent per snowmobile. That's even higher than the emissions and best available technology standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The ISMA argues the NPS' emissions standards are based on inaccurate emissions data. The ISMA figures snowmobile useage figures and emissions levels data in the Park were overestimated by 75 percent.

After a peer review of the NPS findings by the Sierra Research firm, a nationally recognized firm specializing in air quality analysis, it was discovered that the NPS' environmental impact studies wrongly claimed a snowmobile traveling at 15 mph produces the same emissions as a snowmobile traveling at 50 mph. Not only that, but the hourly snowmobile useage figures during peak hours and days were overestimated, also. The Park Service estimated almost 60 percent of sleds enter the park during the busiest hours of the day when in actuality, historical data points to only 33 percent of sleds entering during peak hours.

"We're disappointed that the NPS believes snowmobiles should be subject to a different set of standards than any other class of vehicle entering a national park," said Ed Klim, president of the ISMA, in a press release. "This would be no different than the NPS allowing only certain hybrid models of automobiles into Yellowstone during the summer months."

Klim went on the say, "Today's snowmobiles feature clean, quiet and efficient engines, creature comforts, exciting design and reliable performance.

Manufacturers will continue to push the envelope of technology, but they have very good reason to want a level playing field when making a decision that will impact the future of snowmobiling in our national parks. It's important for snowmobilers and for everyone who enjoys access to public lands