Stop Snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
- by: The Sierra Club
- recipient: Winter Use Draft SEIS Comments
After years of study on snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand
Teton National Parks, the National Park Service has just released
a new analysis of the impact of snowmobiles that supports the
original decision to phase-out these machines.
The Park Service urgently needs to hear FROM YOU that it should uphold
its original decision to phase out snowmobile use and protect our national parks.
BACKGROUND:
In November 2000, after a three-year public process that included 22
public hearings and over 65,000 public comments, the National Park
Service issued a decision to phase out snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks over a four-year period. The existing mass
transit system would be expanded to ensure public access to the parks.
The decision - based on a decade of scientific studies by university
researchers and government agencies - found that snowmobiles are
damaging the parks' wildlife, clean air, natural sounds and quiet, as
well as the unique experiences that Americans expect to find in their
national parks. 
TAKE ACTION:
Public support for the original Park Service is the only way it will be implemented.
Please support the Park Service's decision to phase out snowmobile use
in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks by sending your comments
below. Tell them that:
- Americans want Yellowstone and Grand Teton to remain peaceful places in winter where bison, elk, and other wildlife are not harassed by noisy vehicles.
- Snowmobiles continue to cause pollution, make rangers sick, and prevent visitors from hearing the eruption of Old Faithful or enjoying the solitude that Americans expect from their national parks.
- The original, science-based phase out decision is the only way to adequately protect the nation's first national park and nearby Grand Teton national park.
The Final Rule should reflect Alternative 1a
Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
PO Box 352
Moose, Wyoming 83012
Dear Park Service:
I support the National Park Service decision to phase out snowmobile use
from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. I support a snowcoach
transportation system, which will minimize wildlife harassment, reduce air
and noise pollution, and protect employee and visitor health and safety.
The snowmobile industry has produced no new evidence that warrants changing
your decision to phase out snowmobile use. In fact, the Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) demonstrates again that your original
decision was sound. The SEIS shows that continued snowmobile use in the
parks will result in more noise, dirtier air, and less protection for
wildlife than a transition to snowcoach access.
Rangers should not have to wear respirators, visitors should be able to
enjoy peace and quiet, and wildlife should not have to contend with
harassment from tens of thousands of machines each winter. There is a great
national interest in protecting these magnificent parks. This should not be
jeopardized on behalf of the snowmobile industry.
Please uphold the law that has protected our national parks since Congress created the Park
Service in 1916--by selecting SEIS Alternative 1a. The Environmental Protection Agency has called
this the environmentally-preferred alternative. I urge you to ensure that Alternative 1a's
phaseout of snowmobile use is reflected in the Final Rule for winter use in Yellowstone and Grand
Teton.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
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