07_0103 - Media Release - Good News for YELL

GOOD NEWS FOR YELLOWSTONE:  SNOWMOBILES FALLING OUT OF FAVOR AS MORE VISITORS USE ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY SNOWCOACHES  WASHINGTON, D.C.//January 2, 2007//Yellowstone National Park got the best possible Christmas present last month:  New data show that controversial and heavily polluting snowmobiles are falling out of favor to such an extent that they now barely keep pace with the environment-friendly snowcoaches that more and more visitors are electing to use to access America’s first national park.  

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) noted that a December 27th story in the Casper (WY.) Star-Tribune shows that:  “Nearly as many people are entering Yellowstone National Park on snowcoaches as are riding on snowmobiles so far this season, park statistics show. As of Christmas Day, 1,077 visitors had entered Yellowstone via snowmobiles at the West Entrance since the park opened its winter season on Dec. 20. At the same time, 1,005 visitors had visited the park via snowcoaches.” 

The Star-Tribune article is based on NPS data that reflect the continuation of a long-term trend in which snowmobiles are rapidly falling into disfavor as the preferred means for Yellowstone National Park visitors to see the park.    

As the NPS points out in its November 2006 report entitled “Winter Use Plans:  Draft Environmental Impact Statement - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway,” the number of visitors using snowmobiles to access Yellowstone via the popular Western Entrance held in a steady range of 50,000 or more visitors per year from the 1996-1997 winter throughout the last decade and then peaked at over 60,000 visitors in the 2001-2002 winter. 

Since then, snowmobiles in Yellowstone have been on the skids, going into a steep descent to only about 10,000 visitors in the winter 2004-2005.  Despite a slight rise in use last winter, snowmobiles were back to running roughly neck-to-neck with snowcoaches during the last Christmas week, which is typically one of the busiest winter weeks at the park. Yellowstone has seen a dramatic increase in the popularity of snowcoaches during the past three winters as visitors have opted for their greater affordability, convenience and environmental benefits compared to snowmobile trips. 

(See the long-term chart at the bottom of page 132 of the NPS report at http://mms.nps.gov/yell/pdfs/winteruse/deis/abstract_toc_chapters1-3.pdf.  It documents the sharp decline of snowmobile use at Yellowstone in recent years.) 

Rick Smith, a member of CNPSR’s Executive Council and former acting superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, said: “The good news for those who care about Yellowstone is that more and more Americans want to use snowcoaches to access the park in the winter and we should be doing whatever we can to promote the use of these modern, environment-friendly snowcoaches that are becoming increasingly popular.  Those who are waging the battle for the use of old-style, dirty snowmobiles are fighting over yesterday’s technology and are out of step with what Americans want when it comes to preserving America’s first national park.”   

Bill Wade, a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park and chair of the Executive Council of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, said: “We could not be more delighted by these trends.  These data validate what the public has been saying for several years now -- that snowmobiles should be phased out of Yellowstone National Park. By their actions, visitors are increasingly doing their part to cause that to happen.” 

Wade added:  “However, we still have to keep the pressure on park officials to pay attention to the science and to the public and stop bending over backwards to accommodate the shrinking number of snowmobile users.  There is always the danger here that park officials could do something to artificially boost the number of snowmobiles in the park and undo all of the recent progress.  Those of us who oppose the degradation of Yellowstone by snowmobiles have to remain ever vigilant.”

WHY THE DECLINE OF SNOWMOBILES IS GOOD NEWS FOR YELLOWSTONE 

As CNPSR reported in November, pollution and related ill-health effects have both improved markedly in recent winters at Yellowstone National Park and the principal reason for the turnaround is a two-thirds reduction in the number of snowmobiles entering the park, according to two late 2005 scientific reports recently posted on the Yellowstone National Park Web site.   The first report from the National Park Service (NPS) Air Resources Division states: “Most of the gain in air quality (at Yellowstone) can be attributed to the smaller number of snowmobiles.” 

The second NPS report cautions that despite improved emissions, new 4-stroke snowmobiles remain “much dirtier than light-duty cars and trucks.” That report states that peak concentrations of carbon monoxide in Yellowstone’s air are greater in winter with an average of 250 snowmobiles per day than they are during summer months even though “summer traffic is 60 times the amount of winter traffic.” 

The reports prepared by the NPS Air Resources Division conclude that the sharp reduction in the number of snowmobiles -- which has averaged 250 per day over the past three seasons, instead of the over 700 per day that once dominated the park -- has helped clean up Yellowstone’s air far more than the new generation of technology highly touted by the snowmobile industry.  The first report is available online at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/upload/winteraqstudy04-05.pdf. The second report is available online at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/upload/draft05-06_report.pdf. 

In 2005, NPS reported that snowmobile manufacturers have not lived up to their promises to reduce the environmental impact of their machines further, and “there have been no improvements in snowmobile air or sound emissions since 4-strokes were introduced in 2001.”  

A third recently-released air quality study completed for NPS shows the different directions Yellowstone air quality could take under a final winter use policy to be decided this year. This study, available at http://www.nps.gov/yell/parkmgmt/upload/final_air_quality_report_11_06.pdf, compares alternatives that would continue snowmobile use in Yellowstone with others that would replace all snowmobile use with additional access to the park on snowcoaches. The report states:  “The largest reductions in pollutant concentrations and emissions are seen under alternatives that allow only snowcoaches…”   

ABOUT CNPSR  

The 565 members of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees are all former employees of the National Park Service with a combined 16,500 years of stewardship of America's most precious natural and cultural resources. In their personal lives, CNPSR members reflect the broad spectrum of political affiliations. CNPSR members have served their country well, and their credibility and integrity in speaking out on national park issues should not go ignored. The Coalition counts among its members five former directors or deputy directors of the National Park Service; 24 former regional directors or deputy regional directors; 31 former associate or assistant directors at the national or regional office level; 68 former division chiefs at the national or regional office level; and 134 former park superintendents or assistant superintendents. For more information, visit the CNPSR Web site at http://www.npsretirees.org.  

CONTACT:   Patrick Mitchell, for CNPSR, (703) 276-3266 or pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com.