yellowstone stays open to sledders
Amsnow
There is good news for the snowmobile community and their efforts to keep Yellowstone National Park open to sledding. A U.S. District Judge in Wyoming issued a temporary restraining order on Feb. 10 preventing the National Park Service (NPS) from implementing the Clinton Administration Yellowstone snowmobile ban proposed in 2001.
U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer ordered the NPS to prepare temporary rules to govern snowmobile access in the park to ensure that winter use for the remainder of the season is not unregulated.
The ruling comes two months after a U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the 2003 Yellowstone National Park Winter Use Plan, which allowed snowmobiles continued winter use of Yellowstone's road system. The combined court rulings return the NPS to the regulatory situation that existed before either the Clinton or Bush Administration acted on Winter Use Plans for Yellowstone.
As a result of the ruling, NPS has increased the daily entry limits for snowmobiles in Yellowstone from less than 500 to 780 for the remainder of the season.
The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) will be cooperating with NPS to assure that continued snowmobile use of the Yellowstone Park road system will remain subject to reasonable regulations.