Blizzard of misinformation aims to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone

The Obama administration recently weighed in on the issue of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, a subject I suspect few, if any, within the administration really know much about.

I have no doubt suspect environmental groups looking to completely ban the machines have captured an ear or two.

The administration is recommending cutting the maximum limit from 720 machines per day to 318. The 720 was a number used while ongoing environmental studies were conducted. As a result of those studies, the National Park Service is recommending allowing 540 per day under very strict guidelines. All machines must be of the low-emissions "best available technology," and all trips into the park must be guided.

The concern I have is: Just what information has been delivered to the president's staff to make them wade into something they likely know nothing about.

Over the years I have received a lot of very bad information from groups trying to ban machines, in some cases misrepresentations and in others outright false claims.

Here are a few examples.

News releases made the claim that snowmobiles were destroying Yellowstone's "clean air and quiet" and quoted a report from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality that "1,000 snowmobiles entering West Yellowstone on a busy day release a volume of hydrocarbons equal to that of 3 million cars."

Except: A Montana department engineer said its study reported nothing even close to that number. And, he said the agency has sent numerous letter to the groups, even one from the governor of Montana, asking that the releases be corrected. At the very most, testing older, high-emissions 1990s-model machines, the figure he said should have been no more than 100,000. The releases were never corrected.

D.J. Schubert, with The Fund for Animals, claimed they had not seen the letters and they stand behind the 3 million figure.

Using 3 million would certainly tilt public opinion toward a complete ban where actual findings wouldn't. The cause justifies the message, right?

After the NPS had set a limit on machines, releases came out claiming "unlimited snowmobile use." When challenged, a spokesman said "unlimited" to them meant "the possibility of more."

Another release from The Fund for Animals, directed at stopping trail grooming, said bison were using the groomed roads to leave the park, which resulted in the bison being shot. The release said the use of snowmobiles and groomers "continue to devastate Yellowstone and its unique wildlife."

Grooming, in fact, is in part responsible for the increased number of bison in the park. Groomed roads require less energy to get between feeding areas.