Yellowstone Snowmobile fighting and fighting and fighting-In December 2003, just as the snowmobile season in Yellowstone Park was getting underway, a federal judge made a stunning decision to ban Yellowstone snowmobiles. This is an archive of articles about that 2003 decision and its aftermath.
12-18-2003. Read the text of judge sullivan's decision. "Fund for Animals, Greater Yellowstone Coalition vs. Norton"
On Oct.15 2004, Wyoming Judge Clarence Brimmer overturned both the Clinton and the Bush limits on snowmobiles while reversing the late 2003 ruling banning snowmobiles.
Read about it: Yellowstone snowmobile ban overturned. CNN. "A [Wyoming] federal judge on Friday struck down a ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, calling it a "prejudged, political" move that sought to exclude the vehicles from all national parks."11-23-2004. Appropriations bill "rider" ends ensures snowmobiles inside Yellowstone Park this winter. By Scott McMillion. Bozeman Daily Chronicle. And so in the end, the controversy was temporarily settled by mid-night legislation.
11-15-2004. Noise pollution. Editorial Salt Lake Tribune. Unlike the editorial says, the Park Service hasn't become blind and deaf. Their sight and hearing has been taken away by the Bush regime in Washington.
11-11-2004. Tourism group sues over sled ban. By Bill Luckett. Casper Star Tribune capital reporter. And here is yet another lawsuit.
11-11-2004. Sled plan faces new lawsuit. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette. "Environmental groups want a federal judge to set aside temporary rules for snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park because questions about grooming roads in the winter have not been answered."10-13-2004. Bush snowmobile policy Gets a Ride on the House. Taxpayers Pay for Election-Year Mailing. By Juliet Eilperin. Washington Post Staff Writer. Rep. Pombo chairs the House Resources Committee. He was chosen to be chair by the ethically challenged majority leader of the House, Tom DeLay. Pombo has long been known for his anti-environmental extremism.
9-28-2004. EPA seeks stricter park snowmobile plan. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette.
9-8-2004. Yellowstone snowmobile rules are on a fast track. By Scott McMillion. Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer.
9-4-2004. Avalanche Strategy: Explosives dropped by helicopters to replace cannon fire in Yellowstone. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette.
Related. Unexploded avalanche-control shells pose a hazard in Yellowstone Park. By Michael Milstein. Billings Gazette Wyoming Bureau. This story dates back to 1999, but nothing has changed and is very relevant to the controversy today.
8-30-2004. Backward policy on snowmobiles. Editorial from the Denver Post.
8-21-2004. No Snowmobiles. New York Times. "When it comes to snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park, the Bush administration seems to have a hard time understanding what science has to tell it. So here's the bottom line: no snowmobiles."
The opinion argues the root of the Bush policy is NOT to gain support from snowmobilers or boost the economy of West Yellowstone. It is a fundamental hostility to the very idea of natural landscapes.
8-21-2004. Idaho Statesman. Our View: Feds try again to jam snowmobiles into Yellowstone.
8-21-2004. Yellowstone unveils new snowmobile plan. By Scott McMillion. Bozeman Chronicle.
"The number of snowmobiles allowed to enter Yellowstone next winter could more than double, even though last winter's limited numbers exceeded the Park Service's own 'threshold' for acceptable noise."
8-20-2004. Three more years on the snow. Park Service wants to buy time to solve [snowmobile] problem. By John Heilprin. Associated Press writer. Casper Star Tribune. The last 4 paragraphs of this story leave me wondering: is this "temporary plan" permanent? How can they say it won't significantly hurt people or the environment when they don't have the details of the plan yet? Second article: U.S. Would Allow 720 Snowmobiles Daily at Yellowstone. By Michael Janofsky. New York Times.
7-3-2004. Recent court ruling on Yellowstone snowmobiles leaves Park Service scrambling. By Scott McMillion, Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer.
7-1-2004. Federal judge sets new deadline set for Yellowstone snowmobile rules. Casper Star Tribune
6-23-2004. Park's snowmobile studies have cost $6 million and rising. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette.
6-18-2004. House rejects Yellowstone snowmobile ban. CNN.
6-14-2004. A vote in Congress this week could end the Yellowstone snowmobile menace. New York Times.
6-3-2004. Snowmobile fate remains uncertain. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette Staff. The Park Service is now preparing a third massive snowmobile study and the rules for next winter may not be set until just a few days before snowmobile season opens.
5-11-2004. Tax revenues decline in West Yellowstone along with snowmobiles. Great Falls Tribune.
4-16-2004. New snowmobiles called noisy. By Ted Monoson. Billings Gazette Washington Bureau. Yellowstone National Park's chief of maintenance has called the much-touted new 4-stroke snowmobiles as almost as loud as the noisy 2-strokes they are supposed to replace.
3-25-2004. Keep the Old Faithful. Palm Beach Post Editorial.
3-16-2004. An odd winter season closes; Snowmobile's future in Yellowstone remains uncertain. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette.
3-14-2004. Snowmobile arguments switch to ’05 season. By Ted Monoson. Lee Washington Bureau
3-6-2004. Editorial: Yellowstone/Snowmobiling can't continue. Minneapolis Star Tribune.
2-26-2004. Columnist did not add to snomo debate, he inflamed it. Letter on Bozeman Chronicle from Gardiner, Montana. As for myself, I've noticed that one of the most prominent tactics of the snowmobile/ATV/dirt bike crowd is name calling rather than argument. It dates back to the late 1980s, when the executive director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition starting calling opponents "Nature Nazis."
2-18-2004. Use of sleds in park down. Figures.
2-17-2004. D.C. Judge Criticizes Administration for Halting Yellowstone Snowmobile Phaseout. US Newsire.
2-14-2004. Snowmobiles Unbound. Editorial opinion of the New York Times.
2-12-2003- Recent snowmobile ruling likely to lead to more legal wrangling. By Scott McMillion. Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer.
2-11-2004. Snowmobile ban temporarily lifted by WY federal judge; Parks scramble again for new rules. By Robert W. Black. AP Writer. Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
2-4-2004. Snowmobile traffic down in park. By Scott McMillion Bozemen Chronicle Staff Writer.
2-1-2004. Yellowstone Park experience much quieter this year. Opinion in the Bozeman Chronicle.
1-30-2004. The Sound of Silence (in Yellowstone). By Becky Bohrer. AP
1-18-2004. Renewing the gift of Yellowstone. By Mike Finley. Former YNP superintentdant. Casper Star Tribune.
1-15-04. In Yellowstone, quiet marks snowmobile debate. Federal court won't immediately stop phaseout of snow machines. By Rebecca Huntington. By Jackson Hole News and Guide.
1-14-2004. Court Won't Suspend Yellowstone Decision. By Jack Sullivan. AP Newsday.
1-13-2003. Key Montana officials misjudge state's interest in Yellowstone snowmobiles. Opinion of the Great Falls Tribune. "The problem lies in the two politicians' assumption that Montana's interest is the same as the snowmobile industry's interest in the park."
1-12-2004. West Yellowstone and snowmobiles. Feature article. By Steve Lipsher. Denver Post Mountain Bureau
1-12-2004. Yellowstone snowmobile numbers sink. Billings Gazette.
1-7-2004. Snowmobile case surfaces in new court. By Mike Stark. Billings Gazette. Wyoming federal judge Clarence Brimmer has entered the fray. He has a reputation for legislating from the bench and ignoring his conflicts of interest.
1-1-2004. Resorts adjusting to Yellowstone snowmobile ruling. Associated Press.
12-28-2003. Guest Opinion: Judges hold politicians accountable. Billings Gazette. By Jim DiPeso. Republicans for Environmental Protection America.
12-21-2003. Opinion of the Idaho State Journal (Pocatello). Blame the White House for judge's decision on snowmobiles.
12-21-2003. Opinion of the Oregonian. Quieting the roar in Yellowstone: A federal judge properly blocks a plan to expand snowmobile use in the nation's premier national park
12-18-2003. Opinion of the Idaho Statesman. Our View: More noise, no closure in snowmobile controversy
12-18-2003. Opinion of the New York Times. Banishing Snowmobiles.
12-18-2003.National forests offer option to Yellowstone snowmobiling. Wyoming plans to appeal ban in national park. Idaho Statesman.
12-18-2003. Confusion reigns on 1st day of park snowmobile season. By Brett French. Billings
Gazette Outdoor Writer.12-17-2003. Judge chokes snowmobiles. Ruling rejects Bush plan, calls for no sleds during winter of 2004-05.By Rebecca Huntington. Jackson Hole News and Guide.
12-17-2003. Judge revives ban on Yellowstone snowmobiles era rule, snowmobiles will be phased out of Yellowstone during the next two years. By Brent Israelsen. The Salt Lake Tribune. Does the petulant statement by the off road vehicle shill that "It's one more step in removing families, the elderly and those who prefer vehicles from America's public lands" make sense?" Do families prefer snowmobiles to snowcoaches? Do the elderly prefer a jarring ride on a snowmobile to a snowcoach? Has anyone noticed vehicles disappearing from America's public lands, or have you instead noticed an increase in damaging hill climbs, and the widening of trails into ATV highways?12-16-2003. Judge strikes down Bush snowmobile plan for Yellowstone! By Jack Sullivan. AP. Newsday.
12-16-2003. Yellowstone Court Decision Draws Swift Approval. Newswire.
12-16-2003. Decision on YNP snowmobiles comes down to the wire. Bozeman Chronicle. By Scott McMillion. Snowmobiling under new rules slated to begin tomorrow. Decision today could derail that.