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Snowmobilers admiring
the view of the red hills in the Gros Ventre Mountains Northeast
of Jackson Hole Wyoming |
Forget
the sunny Super Bowl, I'll take Wyoming and a snowmobile - by
John Steigerwald
I wouldn't know, because for the past 10
days, I've been about
as far away from Phoenix and the Super Bowl as a guy can get. Well,
actually, I'm closer to Phoenix than you are but only geographically............................While
the 3,000 media who are covering the Super Bowl were being herded
into a stadium on Wednesday to record the 3,000,000 clichés
that would be spewed on Media Day, I was cruising along the semi-frozen
Grey's River in Western Wyoming, looking at some of the most excruciatingly
beautiful scenery available for human eyes. It was 15 degrees and
it was snowing and I was sitting on a snowmobile that was sitting
on top of about five feet of hard packed snow......................As
I was watching four moose - two males and two females - cavorting
in the river, I have to admit-----------------------------------> More
NPS decision keeps east gate open in
winter
By Carole Cloudwalker • Motorized over-snow access to Yellowstone
Park via Sylvan Pass will continue under terms of a Park Service decision
signed Tuesday................................The decision reversed
an earlier Park Service preferred alternative that would have totally
closed Yellowstone's East Entrance in wintertime
after the 2007-08 season.............................A Record of
Decision (ROD) concerning Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks and
the Rockefeller Parkway was signed by Mike Snyder of
Denver, director of the Intermountain Region of the Park Service...........................The
ROD calls for changes in winter use in the two parks beginning
with the 2008-09 winter season.----------------------More
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seventy year old
Louise Mcdonald snowmobiling in Yellowstone |
New limits on snowmobiling in Yellowstone
By Ben Neary • Snowmobile travel in Yellowstone National Park will
be restricted to 540 trips per day starting in the winter of
2008-09, the National Park Service decided Tuesday..................................Conservationists
had wanted a ban on snowmobiling in the park, saying it causes
noise and air pollution. In a recent letter, 86 members
of Congress — none from states surrounding Yellowstone — asked
the National Park Service to phase out snowmobiles due to pollution
concerns............................Snowmobiling enthusiasts and
some local business owners had wanted the daily---------------------------More
 Snowmobile enthusiasts respond to new Yellowstone Winter use plan
the Regional Office of the National Park Service in Denver issued
its Record of Decision (ROD) on winter use in Yellowstone and Grand
Teton National Parks. This is the latest action in the process
of developing a long-term winter use plan for the Parks. The ROD
is the final step from which the implementing rule will be developed.
This must happen in the next 30 days for the Park to open to snowmobile
access December 19, 2007. The ROD formalizes changes and restrictions
in snowmobile access to the Parks.
Jack Welch, President of the BlueRibbon Coalition, stated, "We
are not completely satisfied by the reduced levels of snowmobile
access available only through commercial tour operators, but we
appreciate the difficulty of the Park Service's management balance
and are thankful that the agency has decided to allow for some
level of continued snowmobile access to the Parks." -----------------More
US
Congress Votes to keep Yellowstone Open for Winter Recreation
The United States Senate and House
of Representatives enacted legislation
to keep Yellowstone National Park open for winter recreationists.
The legislative action affirms National Park Service rules
to continue limited guided-snowmobile access on groomed roads
in the Park, using only new technology snowmobiles. The affirmed
rules also provide for snowcoach access and cross-country
skiing in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks this
winter.-------------------------------> More
Winter
in Yellowstone: A Caldera of Your Own
Lisa Torrance Duffy • Want
to tour Yellowstone National Park in near solitude? Visit in winter.
With a fraction of the summer's visitation -- only 140,000 during
the winter season compared to almost 3 million in summer -- winter
is the ideal time to take in the park's astounding natural attractions.------------------------------> More
Wyoming
court contemplates restoring roadless balance
Recreational interests
were among those present in the crowded courtroom as U.S. District
Judge Clarence Brimmer presided on October
19th over the latest legal maneuvers affecting U.S. Forest Service
roadless area management. In this latest lawsuit, the State of
Wyoming seeks to have the Court reinstate its earlier ruling finding
the 2001 Roadless Rule illegal. A number of recreational groups
have weighed in as "friends of the court" in order to
protect recreational access to the approximately 60 million acres
of "roadless areas" potentially affected by the Rule.
The groups, who include the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive
Clubs ("CA4WDC"), United Four Wheel Drive Associations
(UFWDA), the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA),
and the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), have been involved in a series
of Roadless lawsuits including several in the U.S. Districts of
Idaho and Northern California, and appeals court proceedings in
the Ninth and Tenth Circuits. In the present case the recreational
groups are supporting Wyoming's position and are seeking to have
an injunction issued preventing the Forest Service from implementing
the 2001 Rule. ---------------------------> More
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