Yellowstone open for some winter uses

Seely said visitation is up this year, "but people are still reluctant to visit the park in the winter. There are still those who think the park is closed."

At this point, a final decision on the future of winter use inside Yellowstone is expected sometime before the start of the 2007 season

There is still a number of groups fighting to close the park in the winter to everything but snowcoach and ski traffic.

Snowmobiles, however, remain the most popular means of transportation into the park. Both Seely and Johnston said the snowcoach business is building, due in part to restrictions on snowmobile use. They also point out that the snowcoaches used today have little resemblance to the cramped coaches of old.

New coaches are comfortable, roomy and have wide viewing areas for passengers.

The most popular route into the park is from West Yellowstone into Madison Junction, then south to Old Faithful, said Stacy Vallie, park spokesperson for the NPS.

This year 400 snowmobiles, all approved for sound and emissions by the National Park Service, can enter into the park daily from the west entrance. The remaining 320 are spread between the other three entrances. Nearly 30 snowcoaches and over-the-snow vehicles with the capacity to hold 10 to 25 passengers also have daily access through West Yellowstone.

According to park counts, the number of visitors entering the park in December was up nearly 10 percent — 6,049 to 5,507 in 2005. The same report showed snowcoach riders dropped from 4,266 to 4,106.

Vallie also noted that the visitors center at Old Faithful is being razed and will be replaced by a new center, "that is much larger, much nicer and will be a state of the art facility with interactive features."

Gas, food and lodging services are all available at Old Faithful and Mammoth locations.

As for current park conditions, snow totals are below average, but all of the roads into the park have more than sufficient coverage and are continuously being groomed.

And the park's full-time residents have taken up their usual winter locations. Geese, ducks, eagles and swans have staked out spots on the rivers, while buffalo, elk, coyotes and the occasional wolf can be seen from roadside vantage points.

Both Seely and Johnston said consensus is that visitors are returning to the park in the winter, albeit slowly, but that there are still those who are not sure if the park is open or not. And, as Seely was quick to point out, "It is open."

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