Los Angeles Times

Friday, October 20, 2000

A Snow Job in Congress

In the final days of Congress' session, a sneaky legislative rider would
overturn a pending ban on snowmobiles in more than two dozen national parks,
including Yellowstone and Grand Teton. This amendment, supported by the
snowmobile industry, should be rejected. The National Park Service is within
a few weeks of final action on a snowmobile rule, after months of work. If
the rider gets to the White House in one of the pending appropriations
bills, President Clinton should give it the emphatic veto it deserves.
     
The amendment, being circulated by Republican senators from the West,
proclaims snowmobiling "an established, traditional and legitimate means of
visitor use and enjoyment" in the parks when conducted in a way that causes
no impact on park resources and values. It's shocking that any member of
Congress would buy that claim, much less try to write it into law. Almost by
definition, snowmobiles shatter park values.
     
This is not at all to say that snowmobiles are bad. They can be raucous fun
and are an important work-and-play vehicle in many rural northern areas.
They are welcome in millions of acres of national forest land and on many
private tracts. The only issue here is national parks, which have a special
environmental and recreational niche.
     
The congressional rider would prohibit any ban or requirement for
significant reduction in snowmobiling in the parks for at least five years
after the Environmental Protection Agency establishes acceptable noise and
exhaust levels. Then all the National Park Service could do is limit
snowmobile outings to those machines that met the new EPA standards. But EPA
standards are not the same as suitability for national parks. Even somewhat
quieter, cleaner machines would disturb sensitive wildlife and the solitude
of the winter wilderness.
     
Snowmobiling never has been allowed in Yosemite National Park. The problem
is most acute in Yellowstone, but the measure would apply to 28 national
parks, including Sequoia-Kings Canyon in California. Congress and the
president should fend off this offensive rider.