Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan

JThompson · 04-18-2007, 01:27 PM

From - http://sharetrails.org/
Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan
The number of snowmobile visitors to Yellowstone National Park has grown this past winter by 7.3 percent over last year to a total of 30,940. Snowcoach visitors increased 1.76 percent to a total of 20,206. What this means is that, even with the restrictions this past season of the "Interim Rule", snowmobile visitation to Yellowstone is on the rebound and the draft of the "Winter Use Plan" released on Tuesday March 27, 2007, will make snowmobile access to Yellowstone an important part of the winter transportation system in the Park for the future!
It is now time to comment on that draft of the new long-term plan to guide management of winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.
BlueRibbon and its partners from the snowmobile community have reviewed the Winter Use Plan's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and have recommendations for commenting posted at our dedicated website of www.saveyellowstonepark.com. Please use this information to comment on this plan which has been in development since 2005.
It should be noted that the Park Service preferred alternative is similar to the temporary rules which have guided winter use in the parks the last three years. In Yellowstone, it retains the same daily cap of 720 commercially-guided, Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles. The preferred alternative continues to require that snowmobiles and snowcoaches travel only on existing park roads which are groomed for their use. Trail and off-road use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches would continue to be prohibited.
Two major areas of concern in the draft's preferred alternative are the maintaining of the commercially guided only requirement for all snowmobilers entering Yellowstone. In addition, the Park Service plans to close the East Gate to snowmobile access totally.
The Park Service needs to allow non-commercially guided small groups to access Yellowstone by snowmobile. Through adaptive management the Park Service can allow for families to visit the park without hiring a guide! Likewise, closing the East Gate to snowmobile access after thirty years does not make sense! The effects of closing the East Gate on the community of Cody, Wyoming, will be very hard on local economics!
In closing it should be noted that we are now in our tenth year of the battle over access to Yellowstone! Please remember that the fact that Yellowstone has remained open to snowmobiles during these last ten years represents one of the most profound victories over the extreme environmental movement in our lifetime. Enjoy the victory, and together we can make a difference during the current comment period.
To view the DEIS:
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=111&projectId=12047&documentID=18456
IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS
Because the comment period for the Yellowstone DEIS will run through May 31, 2007, we want to deliver these signed letters to the Park Service in mass. We are now collecting all the letters at the BlueRibbon Coalition Office. You can help by signing your letter at our Rapid Response Center at http://capwiz.com/share/home/.
PLEASE IF YOU RECREATE IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK GET INVOLVED NOW!

04-18-2007, 01:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
JThompson Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bellingham WA Posts: 4,819	Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan From - http://sharetrails.org/ Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan The number of snowmobile visitors to Yellowstone National Park has grown this past winter by 7.3 percent over last year to a total of 30,940. Snowcoach visitors increased 1.76 percent to a total of 20,206. What this means is that, even with the restrictions this past season of the "Interim Rule", snowmobile visitation to Yellowstone is on the rebound and the draft of the "Winter Use Plan" released on Tuesday March 27, 2007, will make snowmobile access to Yellowstone an important part of the winter transportation system in the Park for the future! It is now time to comment on that draft of the new long-term plan to guide management of winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. BlueRibbon and its partners from the snowmobile community have reviewed the Winter Use Plan's Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and have recommendations for commenting posted at our dedicated website of www.saveyellowstonepark.com. Please use this information to comment on this plan which has been in development since 2005. It should be noted that the Park Service preferred alternative is similar to the temporary rules which have guided winter use in the parks the last three years. In Yellowstone, it retains the same daily cap of 720 commercially-guided, Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles. The preferred alternative continues to require that snowmobiles and snowcoaches travel only on existing park roads which are groomed for their use. Trail and off-road use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches would continue to be prohibited. Two major areas of concern in the draft's preferred alternative are the maintaining of the commercially guided only requirement for all snowmobilers entering Yellowstone. In addition, the Park Service plans to close the East Gate to snowmobile access totally. The Park Service needs to allow non-commercially guided small groups to access Yellowstone by snowmobile. Through adaptive management the Park Service can allow for families to visit the park without hiring a guide! Likewise, closing the East Gate to snowmobile access after thirty years does not make sense! The effects of closing the East Gate on the community of Cody, Wyoming, will be very hard on local economics! In closing it should be noted that we are now in our tenth year of the battle over access to Yellowstone! Please remember that the fact that Yellowstone has remained open to snowmobiles during these last ten years represents one of the most profound victories over the extreme environmental movement in our lifetime. Enjoy the victory, and together we can make a difference during the current comment period. To view the DEIS: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=111&projectId=12047&documentID=18456 IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS Because the comment period for the Yellowstone DEIS will run through May 31, 2007, we want to deliver these signed letters to the Park Service in mass. We are now collecting all the letters at the BlueRibbon Coalition Office. You can help by signing your letter at our Rapid Response Center at http://capwiz.com/share/home/. PLEASE IF YOU RECREATE IN YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK GET INVOLVED NOW! __________________ Tired of ads? Become a member for an almost ad free site! Also we give away monthly prizes just for posting! Register today! Looking for places to ride! Want to review a riding area? Check them out! PRE-ORDER MOTOTIPS Stickers now. Help keep mototips running! Get your order in today! Buy NOW! Special Discounts for members only! Check out our new discount forum for retailers offering to help you save money! Mototips Discounts

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