Snowmobile debate moves to Capitol Hill

Snowmobilers gathered on Capitol Hill to voice concern about the future of their sport on National Park Service lands

May 30, 2000
Web posted at: 10:48 a.m. EDT (1448 GMT)

By Environmental News Network staff

The snowmobile community converged on Capitol Hill last week to directly challenge the National Park Service on its recent decision to immediately enforce existing rules on recreational snowmobiling, which would more than likely lead to a ban on snowmobiling on 42 Park Service lands where the sport is currently allowed.

The announcement ignited a backlash from the snowmobiling community, which believes the decision was not based on scientific evidence and did not take into account the improvements in snowmobile technology over the last decade. It also prompted the House and Senate to organize the May 25 hearings. Folks on both sides of the issue were invited to testify.

"As an industry, we are appalled by the actions taken to ban snowmobiles in national parks," said Pierre Beaudoin, president and COO of Bombardier Recreational Products. "There is no scientific evidence to support a ban and certainly no due process in creating the snowmobile ban policy."

Interior Department representative Don Barry (assistant secretary of fish, wildlife and parks) spoke on behalf of the Park Service in an effort to validate the service's decision, which is not an outright ban on snowmobiles in Park Service units.

The decision was based on the fact that the Park Service has not upheld certain laws and executive orders that require it to study the effects of snowmobiling in national units, first closing areas to snowmobiling before opening those units, and monitoring and policing snowmobiling activities, said Park Service representatives.

The snowmobile community feels the Park Service acted irrationally in its decision, and says it is willing to work with the service to implement regulations.

"We were portrayed as having complete and total access to national parks, and that's just not true. We are already regulated," said Ed Klim, president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association who attended the hearings. Snowmobiling is allowed on only .02 percent of park service lands, said Klim. "As long as they achieve some management objective, regulation is fine."

While snowmobiling, for the most part, is not regulated on millions of acres of Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands, as well as private land, the snowmobiling community is up in arms about the potential ban on their national park service lands.

"I guess it's symptomatic. Snowmobilers are American taxpayers and we don't think we should be run by a king. It pisses us off that one guy (Barry) can sit up there and make all the rules. Who gave him the key?" said Klim. "Snowmobilers and snowmobile manufacturers feel some of the agencies are a little out of control — who are they answerable to? If all bureaucrats were like Mr. Barry, and acted like he acted, they can do whatever they want."

The Park Service, on the other hand, says the snowmobile industry has not been cooperative with federal agencies, and has not made great strides in reducing snowmobile emissions and noise.

Klim admits that snowmobile manufacturers could build quieter, less-polluting snowmobiles, but they are waiting for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to come out with its emission regulations, which are due Sept. 29.

"It's hard to build something to certain regulations when you don't even know what regulation to build to," said Klim. Not to mention that developing new technology costs millions of dollars, he says.

The DOI, while not required in this case to do so, will initiate a rule-making procedure by hosting public meetings on the service-wide decision.

The hearing also included dialogue on a recent EPA decision. Upon review of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks' Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the agency found that replacing snowmobile use with a mass-transit snowcoach system was the only legal alternative to the pollution, health and safety problems wrought by snowmobiles.

Yellowstone National Park, currently revising its winter-use plan, has been a popular destination for snowmobilers

Recently, all four snowmobile manufacturers and leaders of the snowmobile community, who represent 4 million North American snowmobilers, met to develop a plan to combat the NPS decision on recreational snowmobiling.

"The entire sport and everyone it affects is rallying around this issue," said Chris Twomey, CEO of Arctic Cat. "We're going to work together to protect the freedom of hundreds of thousands of families in this country who have enjoyed wintertime getaways in the parks for more than 30 years."

The nine-hour meeting resulted in a unified organization and an action plan to attack the national park ban on three fronts: legislative, legal and public opinion.

As far as public opinion, Klim referred to a recent poll that showed 78 percent of Americans do not support a ban on snowmobiling in national parks. Remember that the decision was not a ban.

As with all controversial issues, there are two sides to the recreational snowmobiling debate. And each side is holding firm that its position is the most popular.

Bluewater Network and the National Parks and Conservation Association, in conjunction with several other environmental groups, released results May 24 of a national poll showing that 59 percent of Americans support the National Park Service's recent decision to phase out recreational snowmobile use from the entire park system. Twenty-nine percent of those polled opposed the phase-out.

"The poll confirms that the public wants the Park Service to follow its legal obligation to protect national park resources. Congress should join the overwhelming majority of Americans and support the NPS decision to adhere to the law," said Sean Smith, public lands director for Bluewater Network and a former Yellowstone ranger.

Since the NPS's decision in late April, the White House has received more than 20,000 comments supporting the system-wide phase-out and continues to receive at least 1,000 favorable comments a day, according to the Bluewater Network.

Snowmobiles' severe adverse effects on park resources such as air quality, water and soil quality, wildlife, natural quiet and visitor health, safety and experience left NPS in violation of both its legal mandate under the Organic Act to "leave [park resources] unimpaired for future generations," and Executive Order 11644, says the coalition.

"We hope there is happy medium, but I'm not sure," said Klim.

Copyright 1999, Environmental News Network, All Rights Reserved

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Bombardier Recreational Products
Interior Department
International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association
Bluewater Network
National Parks and Conservation Association
The Blue Ribbon Coalition
The National Park Service
Sled City.com

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