WESTERN
ROUNDUP - Nov.
8 , 2004
Judge vaporizes Yellowstone snowmobile ban
by Michelle Nijhuis
A second judge will likely demand some
limits on winter traffic
On Oct. 14, U.S. District Court Judge Clarence
Brimmer emphatically struck down the Clinton-era ban on snowmobiles
in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Brimmer called the
ban, which would have prohibited snowmobile traffic but allowed visitors
to enter the park in van-like snowcoaches, "a wrong-headed decision,
based on poor judgement." The decision came in response to a lawsuit from the states of Wyoming
and Montana, a snowmobile industry group, and several individuals
and other organizations. In his 40-page ruling, the Wyoming judge
concluded that National Park Service officials, in the process of
making their decision, "pre-judged" the outcome, failed
to cooperate with other agencies, and deprived the public of a meaningful
chance to comment. Brimmer also argued that the Park Service failed
to adequately study emissions, noise, and the other impacts of an
increased number of snowcoaches in the park.
Though the Park Service had reviewed previous studies that compared
snowmobile and snowcoach emissions, and conducted a study of snowcoach
noise, the judge commented that "nowhere was there a study
of the small windows of snowcoaches usually fogged by passengers’
exhalation, the cramped, uncomfortable seating, and the slowness
of the coaches, all of which are to the detriment of Park visitors’
enjoyment of their trip."
Snowmobile advocates, Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, and Interior
Secretary Gale Norton cheered the decision. Not surprisingly, environmental
groups announced plans to appeal. Though Brimmer repeatedly called
the ban a "political" decision, studies conducted by the
Park Service under the Clinton and Bush administrations have consistently
concluded that a snowmobile ban is the best way to protect park
resources.
Snowmobile critics also point out that the initial comment period
on the ban had, at the time, attracted one of the greatest number
of public comments in Park Service history. "It’s ironic
that that process is being thrown out on the grounds that it didn’t
involve the public," says Abigail Dillen, an Earthjustice attorney
who intervened in the case on behalf of the Greater Yellowstone
Coalition.
Despite the uproar, Brimmer’s ruling may not have much of
an impact on the snowmobile controversy — thanks to another
lawsuit in a separate court.
Last December, in response to a lawsuit from environmental groups,
Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.,
nixed a pro-snowmobile plan issued by the Park Service and reinstated
the Clinton-era ban (HCN, 2/16/04: Tipping the scales). In February,
Brimmer shot back with a restraining order on the newly revived
Clinton rule. In response to Sullivan’s ruling, the Park Service
is working on a set of "temporary" rules. These rules,
which the agency plans to finalize by early November and enforce
for up to three winters, would require all snowmobiles to use four-stroke
engines instead of the dirtier two-stroke models. Snowmobilers in
Yellowstone would have to travel with a professional guide.
The proposed rules would allow 720 snowmobiles into Yellowstone
and 140 into Grand Teton each day — only slightly less than
the average visitation before the ban. But Judge Sullivan will review
the new rules before they go into effect. Though Brimmer’s
Oct. 14 ruling prohibits Sullivan from returning to the Clinton
ban, environmentalists argue that he could demand significantly
tighter rules than the Park Service is now proposing.
Stephen Saunders, former deputy assistant secretary of the Interior
for fish, wildlife and parks and one of the architects of the Clinton
snowmobile policy, says that despite the most recent ruling, the
ban will have a durable legacy. "Even the Bush administration
is not trying to go back to the completely unlimited rule we had
in effect before," says Saunders. "There’s no way
that could be justified with the findings that we made about the
damage that was occurring (from snowmobiles) to park resources and
values. So now, the argument is over how to limit them."
The author is contributing editor for High Country News.
