Snowmobiles in Yellowstone to be limited to 540 per day

CHEYENNE — The National Park Service will limit snowmobile travel in Yellowstone National Park to 540 commercially guided snowmobiles a day and allow an east entrance pass to remain open as long as there is no threat of avalanches, under a management decision issued Tuesday.

The final decision, signed by Park Service Regional Director Mike Snyder, follows preliminary snowmobile estimates proposed for Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks as well as the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway, which connects the two parks in northwest Wyoming.

The new snowmobile limits will take effect in the winter of 2008-09. This winter's operations, which begin Dec. 19, will remain subject to rules followed for the past few winters, allowing up to 720 commercially guided snowmobiles a day in Yellowstone.

Snowmobile opponents wanted to see the machines eliminated from the park, saying they cause air and noise pollution, while snowmobile supporters want more, arguing many local businesses rely on income from snowmobilers.

"This decision is fully supported by the science, and I believe it's the best professional judgment of the managers at Yellowstone as well as this region as a way to go forward," Snyder said. "I feel strongly that it's going to protect resources, and I feel strongly that it's going to do a really good job both serving visitors and access to Yellowstone."

Politicians weighed in on both sides. In a recent letter, 86 members of Congress — none of them from states surrounding Yellowstone — asked the National Park Service to phase out snowmobiles due to pollution concerns.

Yellowstone had as many as 1,400 snowmobiles daily during the 1990s, when louder, more polluting two-stroke engines were the norm.

Bill Wade of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees said the decision ignored science and was not good for the park, the park system and the American people.

"It circumvents the conservation emphasis that has guided management of the national parks since the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916," Wade said.

Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said he could not comment on what options may be available to snowmobile opponents in fighting the decision.

"Ultimately, we would like to see individual snowmobiles phased out of the park," Camenzind said.