So he goes against all scientific data....and continues to spit in the eye of our environment after lying that his party is protecting it in his state of the onion address....what a CROCK
Snowmobile Plan Defies Findings
Bush team allows wider use of machines despite Park Service analysis of environmental threat.
By Julie Cart, Times Staff Writer
The Bush administration chose to expand snowmobile use in Yellowstone and
Grand Teton national parks despite findings by its own National Park Service
that the vehicles cause environmental and health damage, according to
documents released Thursday.
Snowmobiles were scheduled to be phased out of the parks this year under a
rule imposed late in the Clinton administration. But after President Bush took
office, the ban was overturned and replaced in November by a plan allowing
up to 35% more snowmobiles into the parks than visit on a typical day.
Bush administration officials, citing a cleaner, quieter generation of
snowmobiles, chose their plan from among five proposals. The option that
would have banned the machines -- echoing the scientific findings of the
previous administration -- was made public Thursday by the Greater
Yellowstone Coalition, an environmental group.
Snowmobile critics say the Bush administration study -- part of the parks'
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement -- supports 10 years of
scientific analysis that concluded the machines created unhealthy levels of
noise and air pollution and led to President Clinton's order to phase them out.
"They've been telling the American people one thing, while they know another,
based on their own data," said Jon Catton of the Greater Yellowstone
Coalition. "They've been saying the new generation of snowmobiles will make
all the difference when they know they won't."
The study concludes that phasing out snowmobiles "best preserves the unique
historic, cultural, and natural resources" in the parks. The National Park
Service found that banning the machines "yields the lowest levels of impacts to air quality, water quality,
natural soundscapes, and wildlife."
Snowmobile manufacturers say newer four-stroke engines are less noisy and do not pollute as much as
older two-stroke models.
Advocates have also questioned some scientific findings that conclude snowmobile users harass wildlife
and harm air quality.
The $2.4-million environmental impact study found that the National Park Service proposal to reverse
the ban would cause haze and visibility impairment at Old Faithful, a popular destination for
snowmobilers in Yellowstone.
John Sacklin, Yellowstone's chief of planning, said the park is required to include an environmental
alternative among the various proposals but is under no obligation to adopt it as policy.
"It is not the first time that we in Yellowstone have identified a preferred alternative that's different from
the environmentally preferred alternative," Sacklin said. "As an agency we look at the preferred
alternative to strike a balance" among snowmobilers, cross-country skiers and other visitors.
But to former Yellowstone Supt. Mike Finley, the policy favors the interests of snowmobilers. "This
administration is making a decision based on the best short-term interest of the snowmobile industry
and machine renter," Finley said.
The snowmobile issue has been a contentious one for the National Park Service. The agency received
more public comments about snowmobiles in Yellowstone than any other issue in its history. About
80% of respondents favored a ban.
Until recently, the National Park Service had agreed -- issuing the ban after 10 years of study and
following recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration.
The ban was to take effect this year.
Visitors and employees have complained about noise and fumes from the machines. Park rangers at
entrance stations wear respirators and work in kiosks that require fresh air to be pumped in. This
season some rangers will be fitted with sophisticated hearing protection.
But Yellowstone officials maintain that cleaner, quieter machines will make those measures
unnecessary. The new plan would require that 80% of the snowmobiles entering the park be led by
commercial guides using the new-generation engines.
The general public would be able to enter the park on two-stroke engines until the 2004-05 season.
Yellowstone officials said noise and air pollution monitors would be placed around the park to gauge
the new snowmobiles' effects. Yellowstone has a goal of reducing hydrocarbons by 90% and carbon
monoxide by 70%.
The proposed winter management plan for Yellowstone, neighboring Grand Teton National Park and
John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway is scheduled to go into effect in March. |
