Interior Secretary Gale Norton made her stance on air, noise, and water pollution in National Parks known to all. Last week, Secretary Norton went on a three-day snowmobile tour through Yellowstone, holding a press conference and photo opportunity where she proclaimed her solidarity with snowmobiles.
The Winter Wildlands Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving human-powered winter outdoor recreation, has been waging a legal battle to try and preserve a program that would phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park. The WWA won an initial ruling, but it was overturned on appeal.
During her 150 mile drive through Yellowstone and the subsequent press conference, Secretary Norton did not mention human powered recreation. Instead she spoke out against the use of snow-coaches, a cleaner way to get more people into the park during winter, saying they were “not as special” as snowmobiles.
According to WWA, the Environmental Protection Agency has determined on three separate occasions that banning snowmobiles and substituting expanded snow-coach visitor access is the environmentally preferred alternative which would best protect park resources.
Mark Monlove, the WWAs Executive Director, told BOSS, “Secretary Norton used a tactic that has been well-honed by this administration. By pitting snow-coaches against snowmobiles she is deliberately changing the dialogue surrounding this issue. Instead of addressing the real issue – human-powered recreation – she changed the subject. This is very disappointing and, I think, pre-conceived.”
Under the current regulations, Yellowstone allows 720 snowmobiles to enter the park per day. Under the previous regulations, only 300 were allowed, and park rangers were still requesting respirators in heavy snowmobile use areas.
Menlove acknowledged that not much headway has been made in their battle to cut back snowmobile use in Yellowstone, but he also pointed out, “ the deck is stacked against WWA.”
