The National Park Service released its new plan for winter use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park.

The plan follows the interim rule that has been in place for the past three years, which is allowing 720 of the best-available-technology snowmobiles into the park each day.

In reality, however, winter use this past season was fewer than 250 machines a day.

Environmental groups had hoped the park would come out with a complete ban on snowmobiles, which would require anyone interested in visiting the park in the winter to travel by snowcoach.

Their stand was and is that if you build a better snowcoach, visitors will choose indoor comforts to the outdoor elements.

It hasn't happened.

Numbers recently released show both snowmobile and snowcoach use up for the 2006-07 winter season. Snowmobile use, however, rose at a higher rate — 7.3 percent for snowmobiles to 1.7 percent for coaches.

There were 30,040 people entering the park on snowmobiles this past season compared to 28,833 for the 2005-06 winter season.

The number of snowcoach riders was 20,206 this past season compared to 19,856 for the previous season. It should be pointed out that tour operators around the park have been pushing hard to get guests to try coaches.

John Sacklin, the park's winter planner, said new snowmobiles are a "night-and-day change between the way it used to be and the way it is now."

Spin the numbers any way you want, but the reality is visiting Yellowstone in the winter on a snowmobile is a whole lot better than looking out through tinted windows.

The park's decision follows the completion of its environment impact study. The results support those that have been expressed by business owners in West Yellowstone, Mont., for years. Those being that the new best-available-technology machines are quieter, cleaner and, along with the requirement that all snowmobile groups be guided, much less of a bother to the wildlife.

The study found that at the 720-machine limit, carbon monoxide pollution would be around 4,000 pounds a day. This is four times higher than going only with snowcoaches, but is 17 times less than the 68,000 pounds of carbon monoxide released eight years ago when there were no restrictions on snowmobiles.

Given a choice, snowmobiles will always be the preferred means of transportation into Yellowstone.

There's something about being out in the elements — the wind, snow and cold — that gives a greater appreciation to the wonders that belong to the park.

It's simply not the same, sitting in a heated van, no matter the comforts.

Former National Park Service deputy director Denis Galvin, who is among the former park employees trying to ban snowmobiles, said snowcoaches would render "snowmobiles as obsolete as stagecoaches."

What Galvin chose not to address is the fact that snowcoaches are far more expensive to maintain and service than snowmobiles, and that without snowmobiles to offset some of the expenses, operators would be forced to double the price of a ticket into the park in order to stay in business.

The battle is far from over. You can bet when the official record of decision is released, which more than likely will be the preferred alternative of 720 machines, environmental groups will sue. No matter public sentiment or scientific findings, they want things "their way."

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