PARKS SEEK PUBLIC COMMENT ON NEW WINTER USE PROPOSAL
New plan would provide for limited, guided snowmobile and snowcoach travelYellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are seeking public comment on a new plan to guide the management of winter use in the parks.
The previous plan was rejected by a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in September. Neither snowmobiles nor snowcoaches can be allowed in the parks this winter without a new plan and new regulation.
The preferred alternative would allow up to 318 commercially guided, Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles, and up to 78 commercially guided snowcoaches in a day in Yellowstone. The 2008-2009 winter season is scheduled to begin Monday, December 15, 2008.
The preferred alternative would also provide for motorized oversnow travel over Sylvan Pass and Yellowstone’s East Entrance road as agreed to by the Sylvan Pass Study Group this past summer.
The daily snowmobile limit is slightly above last winter’s average of 294 snowmobiles a day. It is well below the 720 a day allowed the past four winters, and lower than the 540 snowmobiles a day that would have been allowed this winter under the plan rejected by the court. The daily snowcoach limit is the same as allowed during the past four years.
In Grand Teton and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, grooming and motorized oversnow travel on the Continental Divide Snowmobile Trail (CDST) between Moran Junction and Flagg Ranch would be discontinued. However, those interested in through travel on the CDST could transport their snowmobiles on trailers between these locations.
Twenty-five snowmobiles a day would be allowed to travel on the Grassy Lake Road, with no BAT or guiding requirement. Twenty-five unguided, BAT snowmobiles a day would also be allowed on Jackson Lake to facilitate ice fishing by those possessing appropriate fishing gear and a valid State of Wyoming fishing license.
The plan would be in effect for a period of up to three winters for Yellowstone. It would provide long term direction for winter use management in Grand Teton and the Parkway.
Park managers believe an approach including both snowmobile and snowcoach access reduces impacts of both to acceptable levels. This environmental assessment addresses the impact concerns raised by the recent ruling of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The Winter Use Plans Environmental Assessment (EA) and an electronic form to submit comments on the Internet can be found on the web at http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Written comments may be submitted through this web site, in person, or by mail. Comments will not be accepted by phone, fax, or e-mail. All public comments must be received or postmarked by midnight, November 17, 2008.
A proposed rule to implement the preferred alternative contained in the new plan will be published in a few days in the Federal Register, and will also be open for a 15-day public review and comment period. The rulemaking process supports, but is separate from, the public review and comment period on the EA. The proposed rule and an electronic form to submit written comments will be available on the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. You can find the proposed rule by searching the “Documents Open For Public Comment” and selecting the National Park Service as the agency.
Once comments are analyzed, the National Park Service will make a decision on the proposed plan. If the preferred alternative is selected, the Regional Director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service would sign a Finding Of No Significant Action (FONSI) containing details of his decision.
A final rule would have to be prepared and published in the Federal Register in order to implement the FONSI and provide for motorized oversnow vehicle travel in the parks this winter. The National Park Service expects to have a decision regarding winter use management prior by the December 15, 2008, scheduled start to the winter season.
Both the EA and the proposed rule are available on CD or in hard copy by writing the National Park Service, Management Assistant’s Office, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. Document requests may also be made by sending an e-mail to Yellowstone Winter Use; by calling 307-344-2019 during normal business hours; or by sending a request by fax to 307-344-2025.
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P.S. At 9am on Friday morning, the temperature in West Yellowstone hovers around 20 and there is a fresh dusting of snow on the ground. Although road conditions at this moment could support plans to go ahead with the tour, all forecasts are predicting with at least 90% certainty that a large scale Pacific storm will reach us by this afternoon leaving an accumulation of snow. With these predictions looming and riders’ safety our first priority, the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce is forced to cancel the Fall Cycle Tour scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday October 11, 2008.
We will have two feed stations along the route again this year. The first will be located at Madison Junction and the second will be located at Old Faithful. We still recommend that you carry enough food to keep you energized and we will provide a few portable snacks at registration. Those of you concerned about your ability to ride the entire 60 miles need not worry. The route is patrolled by 2 or 3 sag wagons (vans with trailers) that, once full, can give you a lift back to West Yellowstone. Two mechanics, Les from Yellowstone Bicycle and Melissa from Freeheel and Wheel, also patrol the route to help with repairs and flat tires.
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.. With the rapidly disappearing Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and the increasing bear population in central Yellowstone, we wonder if this is a situation soon to be faced in our nation's first park?MONEY QUOTE:Up to 30 hungry and desperate bears have attacked and eaten two men in Russia's wild far eastern region of Kamchatka, and have trapped a group of geologists at their remote site.
The bears - apparently starving - killed the men last Thursday, Russian agencies reported. The bears had surrounded a local platinum mining company. Both victims worked at the mine as security guards.
About 400 geologists and miners are now refusing to return to work, afraid of further attacks. Attempts by local officials to fly to the scene by helicopter and shoot the bears have so far failed, because of bad weather, agencies reported.
Morel mushroom poisonings have recently increased in Idaho and Montana, according to the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center.
The Center wants us all to know that it’s dangerous to eat raw, dried, or partially cooked morels, and it’s also unsafe to drink wine or other alcohol with any morels, cooked or not.
Morel poisoning causes impressive, repeated vomiting, usually right after you eat those bad boys.
From the Center’s press release, it’s easy to tell that this is more than a dodgy situation – it’s serious.
Do not drink and eat morels, cook them to death, and reject the dried kind.
“Impressive vomiting” is enough for me.
.. Members of a park s trail crew were working on another section of the Artists Paintpots trail at the time of the accident. Crew members were able to provide immediate first aid and summon park emergency personnel, who took the patient by ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. The extent of Hogan s injuries and current condition are
Today was the perfect day for a spring bike ride in Yellowstone National Park. This early spring ritual is available to all who should choose to gamble on the weather and construction. The closer you live to Yellowstone - the better your chances of having a perfect time. It's a perquisite of living near "Wonderland."
entrance station has been moved to the new entrance station and construction is moving at an appropriate pace.
.. Should you find yourself in the neighborhood, and be sans wheels; fear not!
.. While in town the most exciting thing, other than being mowed down by a bicyclist, is the new roof being installed on the Union Pacific Dining Lodge. This structure has nearly 1/2 acre of roof. It is an Underwood building and is on the National Register of Historic Places. As such the shingles had to be specially ordered and manufactured. The crane was erected last fall and work progressed until the snow became too deep. Roofing resumed last week and is well underway.
.. Ever since that historic outing bicycles have been welcomed in Yellowstone National Park. However as stage roads gave way to auto roads, and auto roads became more congested the bicycle has become less common, and is now both a dangerous and congestive mode of transport in Yellowstone.To three members of the Laramie Bicycle Club — C. S. Greenbaum, W. K. Sinclair and W. O. Owen — belongs the honor of having made the first wheel tour of the Yellowstone National Park, and, having been appointed historian on this memorable trip, it falls to my lot to set down the incidents of the journey for the readers of Outing. There are two routes open to residents of Wyoming; one lies by way of Bozeman, Mon., the other via Beaver Cañon, Idaho. (HTML - PDF)
In 1896 the 25th Infantry rode, walked, and carried their bicycles cross country to Yellowstone Park, 500 miles from their Fort Missoula base. They pose below on Minerva Terrace at the town of Mammoth Hot Springs in a photograph taken and hand colored by Yellowstone's official freelance photographer F. Jay Haynes (1853-1921). Note that the troops mounted from the left side of the bike, according to the custom for mounting a horse. (FROM: Northern Rockies Heritage Center.)
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