Concerns - National Parks

Overview

Snowmobiling has become controversial in a number of National Parks, National Forests, and other public lands in the United States. The most widely publicized controversy concerns Yellowstone National Park. By the year 2000, visitors were making about 75,000 snowmobile trips and 1,300 snowcoach trips into the Park during a 100 day period each winter. Over 60 percent of these visitors were entering the Park through the West Entrance, from the town of West Yellowstone. On peak days over 1,000 snowmobiles were using this entrance, where conditions often include dense, cold, stable air that is conducive to high air pollution levels.

The debate over snowmobiling in Yellowstone has triggered studies, public meetings, legislative efforts, rulings, lawsuits, editorials, and strong emotions. In May 1997, the Fund for Animals, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Predator Project, Ecology Center, and five individuals sued the National Park Service for failing to comply with federal laws and regulations governing Yellowstone and two other national parks. In 1999, the Bluewater Network and more than 60 other environmental organizations filed a petition requesting that the National Park Service ban snowmobiling in all units of the Park System. When the National Park Service released its Draft Winter Use Plans and Environmental Impact Statement for Yellowstone and nearby areas to the public in 1999 the agency received about 46,500 comments. In November 2000, the National Park Service announced that snowmobiles would be phased out in Yellowstone by the winter of 2003-4. [For more detail see Rules and Regulations.]

Selected Links

Go to the Publications and Links section for a more complete list, including related or overlapping topics.

In February 2000 the National Park Service summarized available information and reports related to the air quality impacts of snowmobiles:

National Park Service Air Resources Division. Air Quality Concerns Related to Snowmobile Usage in National Parks. (282k pdf file) February 2000. (34 pages)

In October 2000 the National Park Service produced a massive Winter Use Plan for the Yellowstone area:

National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Winter Use Plans: Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has taken a leadership role in addressing problems related to snowmobile emissions in the Yellowstone region:

Haines, Howard. 1999. The Snowmobile Dilemma, or, Who Spilled What in the Refrigerator vs. Who's Going to Clean It Up? Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Helena, Montana.

In 1999 the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee brought together 26 biologists and resource managers from the Forest Service, National Park Service, the states of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, and private organizations to produce a wide-ranging collection of articles covering wildlife impacts on mammals, birds, and habitat in the greater Yellowstone area:

Olliff, T., K. Legg, and B. Kaeding, editors. 1999. Effects of Winter Recreation on Wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Area: a Literature Review and Assessment. (1.5M pdf file) Report to the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

In the winter of 1999 researchers from the University of Denver measured carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and aromatics at Yellowstone's West and South Entrances, in order to identify the effect of oxygenated fuels on exhaust emissions:

Morris, Jerome A., Bishop, Gary A., Stedman, Donald H. Real-time Remote Sensing of Snowmobiles Emissions at Yellowstone National Park: An Oxygenated Fuel Study, 1999. (971k pdf file) Western Regional Biomass Energy Program, University of Denver. August, 1999 (42 pages).

In June 2000 the National Park Service announced plans to prohibit snowmobiles from the wilderness core of Denali National Park and Preserve.

In December 2000 the National Park Service released Draft Environmental Assessments for the Management of Snowmobiles in Rocky Mountain National Park and Mount Rainier National Park.

The National Park Service is using alternative fuels and vehicles to address emissions problems in Yellowstone and other National Parks:

U.S. Department of Energy. Sustaining National Parks-A Smart Niche Market. Alternative Fuel News, Volume 3, Number 1.

Organizations Opposed to Snowmobiling in Yellowstone and other National Parks

The Earth Island Institute's Snowmobile Campaign is "an effort to ban snowmobiling in the National Park system." The Bluewater Network, a project of the Earth Island Institute, is committed to "aggressively confronting the root causes of climate change and fighting environmental damage from shipping, oil, and motorized recreation industries." Bluewater Network maintains a list of Snowmobile References, including scholarly reports dating as far back as the 1950s.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition has been a leading organization opposing snowmobiling in Yellowstone. GYC's site contains a history of snowmobile policy in Yellowstone and news updates on the controversy. "Will our first national park be a speedway full of noise, congestion, and toxic fumes or a haven of quiet beauty and pure air?" the Coalition asks.

Among the numerous other organizations on record as opposing snowmobiling in Yellowstone or other National Parks are the following:

Organizations Supporting Snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Other National Parks

The International Snowmobile Manufacturers' Association (ISMA) filed a lawsuit on December 6, 2000, against the National Park Service ban on snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. ISMA's mission is to provide "timely and important information about the sport of snowmobiling in North America and Europe."

BlueRibbon Coalition, one of the leading organizations defending snowmobiling in Yellowstone, is devoted to "preserving our natural resources for the public, instead of from the public." BlueRibbon's site includes a list of organization and business members in most states.

The American Council of Snowmobile Associations site includes news updates and information from every state snowmobiling association.

A number of other snowmobiling sites include news updates related to Yellowstone and other National Parks. Three representative examples are:

SledCity.com "The intent of this site is to present all of the things we snowmobilers always want to know"

SnoWest This site calls itself "The Authority for Western Snowmobiling," and includes "Up-to-date Snowmobile News."

Snowmobile Online includes a regular "Land Use Issues" section.

Business and Commerce In and Around Yellowstone

In 1998 the Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research completed a study of the economic impact of snowmobiling in Montana:

Sylvester, James T. October 1998. Snowmobiling in Montana: a 1998 Update. (42k pdf file)

West Yellowstone and Island Park Online Travel Guide includes links to a number of snowmobile rental companies.

Yellowstone Alpen Guides is a West Yellowstone business that offers snow coach and cross-country ski tours in Yellowstone.

News about the Controversy

In addition to the organization sites listed above, the searchable sites below cover snowmobile-related stories from very different perspectives:

Related sites

The National Park Service maintains an excellent searchable site with up-to-date and older information about policies and decisions related to snowmobiling in the National Parks.

The National Park Service maintains official sites for a number of National Parks where snowmobiling has become a significant issue. For example:

Information about all other National Parks can be accessed from a clickable map.

A debate about personal watercraft in the National Parks has paralleled the one about snowmobiling. Personal watercraft (commonly known as jet skis) are designed for speed and maneuverability and have inboard motors powering a water jet pump as their primary source of power. In 1998 the National Park Service issued a Personal Watercraft Rule and since that time personal watercraft manufacturers have introduced cleaner technologies, including four-stroke engines. A Final Rule (89k pdf file) took effect in April 2000.

An organization that defends the use of personal watercraft in the National Parks is the American Watercraft Association (AWA) AWA calls itself "our nation's most effective watercraft user's legislative action organization. When your right to ride in freedom is threatened, the AWA swings into action immediately, working to protect your freedom." Two organizations actively opposed to allowing personal watercraft in the National Parks are The Bluewater Network and The National Parks Conservation Association. News stories about the personal watercraft controversy can be found on the Environmental News Network site.

The Clean Cities Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, "supports public-private partnerships that deploy alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) and build supporting infrastructure." A number of Yellowstone projects are profiled on the Clean Cities site, including biodiesel and ethanol projects. For a complete list search the term "Yellowstone."

For information about Yellowstone Park's "Greening the Environment" program - including transportation, cleaning products, laundry, and facility maintenance - go to the Green Design Network site.

In the 1977 amendments to the Clean Air Act, Congress established as a national goal the prevention of any future and the remedying of any existing impairment in visibility resulting from manmade air pollution in 156 national parks and wilderness areas.

Department of Environmental Quality

Clean Snowmobile Facts