Sierra Blogging Post Archives

The snowmobile saga continues in Yellowstone National Park.

The National Park Service wants to increase the number of snowmobiles (from 290 to 540) that are allowed daily in Yellowstone National Park. But a judge tossed the proposal out, saying the increase would add to air and noise pollution and disturb wildlife in the country's first national park. The judge said that the National Park Service improperly "elevates use over conservation."



"According to NPS's own data, the (plan) will increase air pollution, exceed the use levels recommended by NPS biologists to protect wildlife, and cause major adverse impacts to the natural soundscape in Yellowstone," U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said in an order Monday (via an article on MSNBC).

I don't understand why the National Park Service, the agency that's supposed to be protecting our national parks, would want this proposal passed. I guess the judge didn't either. Judge Sullivan also said, "The National Park Service fails to articulate why the plan's 'major adverse impacts' are 'necessary and appropriate to fulfill the purposes of the park."

Conservationists want to ban snowmobiles all together in Yellowstone. They believe the machines seriously degrade environmental conditions and threaten wildlife.

What do you think? Should snowmobiles be banned or multiplied in Yellowstone?