Letters Needed to Support Closing Snowmobile Trails
12/2/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Letters Needed to Support Closing Snowmobile Trails
Source: D.J. Schubert at
202-588-5206 or
or The Fund for Animals' home
page at
Date: 12/2/97
ACTION ALERT
SNOWMOBILE TRAIL CLOSURE IN YELLOWSTONE NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT: FIRST STEP TOWARD
ENDING BISON SLAUGHTER
The National Park Service (NPS) has recently published a draft environmental
assessment (EA) analyzing the impacts of closing at least one snowmobile
trail in Yellowstone Park to all winter use.
Since the late 1960s, the NPS has permitted snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
has facilitated their use by packing down or grooming the snow on all Park
roads. Park Service scientists and The Fund for Animals have argued that
bison use of the groomed trail system not only facilitates bison emigration
from the Park into Montana where they are slaughtered, but has completely
and artificially altered bison population size, distribution, movements, and
the natural ecology of the Park.
This EA is a product of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by The Fund for
Animals and other organizations against the NPS over its management of
winter recreation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The EA
proposes to close at least one trail segment in Yellowstone to all winter
use in oredr to study the impact of groomed trails on Yellowstone bison.
This is the first time that a trail may be closed in Yellowstone since it
was opened to snowmobiles.
The information gained from this study will be used in an Environmental
Impact Statement that the NPS will prepare on the impacts of winter
recreation on Park wildlife and Park ecology. The Fund believes that the
EIS must conclude, based on the scientific and legal evidence, that trail
grooming and snowmobile use in Yellowstone must end. This would be
enormously beneficial to Yellowstone's bison because without the groomed
trails far fewer bison are likely to migrate into Montana. Over the last 10
years, over 3,000 bison have been killed due to the unsubstantiated fear of
disease transmission to domestic livestock.
THE NPS WILL ACCEPT PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ITS EA THROUGH DECEMBER 15, 1997.
YOUR LETTERS IN SUPPORT OF CLOSING SNOWMOBILE TRAILS TO PROTECT BISON ARE
NEEDED BY THAT DATE. THE FUTURE OF YELLOWSTONE'S BISON, OTHER WILDLIFE, AND
OF YELLOWSTONE PARK IS IN YOUR HANDS.
In your letter tell the NPS that:
* You support Alternative 1 but that you believe more snowmobile trails
must be closed this winter in order to engage in a proper study of the
impact of groomed trails on bison and to prevent bison from wandering into
Montana where they are unnecessarily killed.
* Trail grooming and snowmobiling in Yellowstone causes significant
adverse impacts on bison and other Park wildlife, including grizzly bears
and wolves, pollute Yellowstone's air, and destroy the serenity of the Park
experience and, therefore, must be banned.
Send your comments to Yellowstone National Park, P.O. Box 168, Yellowstone
National Park, WY 82190.
In addition, please send a letter to Yellowstone National Park
Superintendent Mike Finley at the same address thanking him for agreeing to
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on winter use and its impact to
the wildlife and natural resources within the Park despite harsh criticism
he has received for so doing from numerous public officials and interest
groups.
For more information about this issue please contact D.J. Schubert at
202-588-5206 or or visit The Fund for Animals' home
page at . A copy of the EA is available at
.
Thank you for participating in this critically important issue.
FACT SHEET
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON WINTER USE OF YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON NATIONAL
PARKS
In May 1997, The Fund for Animals, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, Predator
Project, Ecology Center and several individuals filed suit against the
National Park Service (NPS) for its violation of several federal laws in
administering winter use of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The
plaintiffs claimed that the NPS was in violation of the National
Environmental Policy Act and Endangered Species Act for failing to evaluate
the environmental impacts of winter recreation, particularly snowmobiling
and grooming snowmobile trails, on Park wildlife, including threatened and
endangered species like the grizzly bear and gray wolf, air quality,
solitude, and Park ecology.
Among the many impacts associated with winter recreation in the Parks is
the impact of the groomed snowmobile trail system on wildlife, particularly
bison. These trails facilitate bison emigration out of Yellowstone where
nearly all have been killed as a consequence of Montana's unjustifiable and
abhorrent bison management policies. Moreover, since the trails provide
bison with energy efficient travel routes, scientists and others believe
that bison use of these trails has substantially altered bison population
dynamics, movements, distribution, and habitat use to the detriment of the
bison and Park ecology. Dr. Mary Meagher, the world's foremost expert on
Yellowstone bison, has concluded that bison use of the groomed trail system
led to a doubling of the size of the bison population by the fall of 1994
compared to what would have existed if trail grooming did not occur.
After nearly two months of negotiations, on September 23, 1997 a settlement
agreement was reached between the parties. This settlement was subsequently
approved by the Court on October 28, 1997.
As delineated in the settlement, the NPS has agreed to:
1. Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the
environmental impacts of all forms of winter recreation and use on Park
wildlife and Park ecology. The NPS will initiate scoping for the EIS no
later than April of 1998. A draft EIS will be available for public comment
on or before August 1, 1999 with a final EIS and decision notice expected by
September 2000.
2. Prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the impacts of
closing at least one road segment to winter use this winter and in
subsequent winters to study the impact of groomed trails on bison. The
proposed action in the EA, which became available to the public on November
15, is to close the trail segment between Fishing Bridge and Canyon,
approximately 14 miles, to all winter use except in the case of an
administrative emergency. The public comment period will close on December
15, with a decision to be made by January 10, 1998. If the NPS decides to
close the trail to winter use, then it will not be groomed beginning on the
date the decision is made. The NPS is not limited to only closing this
trail but could close additional trails to winter use this coming winter.
In addition, the NPS must consider closing at least a similar length of
trail in subsequent winters to study the impact of groomed trails on bison.
In other words, at least 14 miles of trails must be considered for closure
in Yellowstone Park each winter until the EIS is completed.
3. Each winter until the EIS is completed, the NPS will solicit public
comment through publication of a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER on the type,
location, and methodology for studying bison use of the Park's snowmobile
trail system. This information will be used to determine where trail
closures may be needed to facilitate the study of the impact of the groomed
trail system on bison. After considering comments generated by the public,
the NPS will publish notice of its intended study plans by December 1 of
each year.
This is a fair and reasonable settlement which will permit all interested
parties to participate in the NPS decision-making process regarding the
study and management of winter use, particularly snowmobiling and trail
grooming, in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.