Markets trump Bush's politics

Post Register editorial board members are Roger Plothow ,publisher; J. Robb Brady, publisher emeritus ; Marty Trillhaase, Opinions page editor ;and Dean Miller, managing editor .

The message of Interior Secretary Gale Norton's Yellowstone National Park photo op this week was unmistakable. She was championing the Bush administration's success in keeping snowmobiles in America's first national park. As she said Monday after riding a machine, snowmobiles "can play a role" in the park.

Norton and the Bush administration spent the past four years fighting science, public opinion, environmentalists, a federal judge and the Clinton-era policy phasing out snowmobiles in favor of snowcoaches.

They even secured a last-minute Senate rider blocking the courts from challenging their latest plan to allow up to 720 snowmobiles a day in the park.

There's just one thing wrong with this photo op's script. Norton is celebrating the past, not the future.

Park visitation so far this winter is down slightly. But fewer people are riding snowmobiles into Yellowstone. More are taking snowcoaches.

Here are the numbers:

• For the first half of the winter season (mid-December through January), the number of people who toured Yellowstone on a snowcoach increased 28 percent from 7,122 to 9,126.

• For the same period, the number of people who visited Yellowstone on a snowmobile dropped 25 percent, from 13,991 to 10,427.

A lack of snow in December -- when people couldn't take snowmobiles into Yellowstone -- tells only part of the story. Even in January, when snowmobilers could get into the park, the same trend continued. Snowmobile traffic for the month dropped 17 percent at the park's west entrance; snowcoaches carried 20 percent more passengers from West into the park.

• It's part of a long-term story. Fueled by uncertainty about the park's policy, snowmobiling fell 49 percent last year. Coaching was up 23 percent.

• This year, the number of snowmobiles in the park has averaged 166 a day -- well below the cap and last year's average of 260 a day.

What's going on here? Ask Randy Roberson, owner of Yellowstone Vacations. He's been in the winter tourism business for 23 years. Last year, he took a look at the steadily growing market for snowcoaches and expanded his fleet.

It's easy to see why the snowcoach market is expanding.

Coaches are cheaper. A seat on a coach will cost you about $90. Renting a snowmobile and clothing will run between $170 and $190.

If it matters to you, coaches are more environmentally benign. They're quieter and put less stress on wintering wildlife.

Coaches are more comfortable. Equipped with vista windows, they're more amenable to sightseeing. Someone else bothers with the driving.

Communication with the tour guide or other guests is easy. At a moment's notice, the guide can stop the coach so passengers can get a better look.

Imagine how much better off Roberson and the West Yellowstone economy would be today had the Bush administration yielded to common sense and science by continuing the Clinton policy. The community would have had time to adjust to a snowcoach economy that was clearly starting to take shape.

The politicians, lawyers and judges may continue to argue about policy.

But the market is clearly ahead of them. People are voting with their feet -- and their wallets.

– Marty Trillhaase