By: anonymous student (with permission)

Winter use in Yellowstone National Park is an incredibly complex issue, composed of many controversial issues. It is filled with historical, political, environmental, and economical factors. Over the years winter use in Yellowstone has greatly increased, public access enhanced through the use of snowmobiles and snow coaches. As a result, many businesses that surround the Park have become economically dependent upon winter tourism in Yellowstone as their livelihood. Because it is a national park, preservation in its natural state is important, however access to the park is also very important. The issues have come to a head, and the future of winter use in the park is in the hands of park managers and public interest groups.

Winter in Yellowstone allows people to see a preserved area in a very unique setting. It is one of the only places on earth where people can see the winter environnent of a nearly complete ecosystem. The excitement of viewing thermal features in the winter is enhanced by the contrast of hot water and steam combined with a frigid cold air background. Wildlife, including bison and elk, can be seen foraging for scarce winter nourishment. Snow-covered vistas provide for incredible photography. Waterfalls can be viewed with mist freezing to surrounding features, and ice encroaching from the edges of the rivers. These benefits of winter are responsible for the ever-increasing tourism to Yellowstone in the winter.

In the 1930s winter visitation to Yellowstone was almost nonexistent. As recent as the winter of 1963-64, only 1000 people visited Yellowstone during the winter months. By the winter of 1982-83 100,000 people visited the park, provoking park managers to begin preparation on a winter use plan. By the 1993-94 winter season tourism numbers reached 143,000 visitors, a number park managers did not expect to see until the year 2000. Winter use in surrounding National Forests has also seen rapid growth during the same time period. (N.P.S., 1998).

The dramatic increase of winter use in Yellowstone has resulted in the emergence of many issues that need to be addressed. The visitor experience is being compromised, visitor safety is a concern, communities have come to rely on winter tourism for income, facilities in the park are limited, natural resources are being compromised, and wildlife are possibly adversely affected. Some of the causes include inefficient use by snowmobiles as a transportation source, isolated concentrations of people in popular locations, and a harsh winter environment.

Because Yellowstone is a national park, many people have input on the future of winter use within it. The National Park Service and park managers are responsible for the execution of decisions, but they must make their decisions with many different groups of people in mind. Some special interest groups support winter use, while others are against winter use. The general public also makes comments on winter use planning. The interest groups shape policies by actively commenting on park policies, and by filing lawsuits when they feel that proper steps have not been taken.

One of the major problems with current winter use in Yellowstone is safety. "Novice snowmobile drivers are often not trained to handle the heavy traffic and high speed travel that occurs in some areas of the parks" (N.P.S., 1998). Snowmobiles operate very differently than automobiles, accelerating very quickly by simply squeezing a thumb trigger. This contributes to the many accidents that occur in the park throughout the winter. During a three-month season, park rangers record several statistics. On a daily basis there is an average of one snowmobile accident, one drunken driver arrest, and five speeding tickets-the park's maximum speed limit is 45 m.p.h. (Brooke, 1996).

Snowmobiles and snowcoaches are restricted to groomed roadways that follow the park's existing road system. The roadways are groomed every night, so that each morning they start out with a smooth surface. Due to the magnitude of traffic, the roadway surface becomes incredibly rough by the end of the day. Warmer temperatures magnify this safety problem, sometimes forcing the park to close the busier roads to the public. This has occurred one to two times per winter the last few winters (Jawad, 1998).

In conjunction with the increase in winter visitation, the communities that surround the park have become increasingly dependent upon the tourism industry as their livelihood. The communities of Cody, Jackson, and West Yellowstone all rent snowmobiles and provide accommodations to park visitors. Some of these communities have "little or no other economic base during the winter months" (N.P.S., 1998). The communities in the Greater Yellowstone area have developed an expectation, or even dependence, upon winter tourism.

Snowmobiles have been the main source of transportation in Yellowstone since the park opened to over-snow vehicles. Snowmobiles are well designed for over-snow transportation. They are light in weight, well balanced, and very powerful in comparison to their weight. Many visitors also enjoy the unique experience of driving snowmobiles. They are very exciting to drive, and to many people they provide an enjoyable experience.

Overall, snowmobiles seem viewed as the largest issue contributing to the problems with winter use in Yellowstone. Snowmobiles emit very high levels of pollution-roughly the "rate of a 1950s car" (Brooke, 1996). When combined with the high numbers of snowmobiles that are used in the park, pollution becomes a major concern. The town of West Yellowstone even violated Federal air quality standards during Presidents Day weekend of 1995 (Brooke, 1996). In addition, they are loud, and in some cases they even violate the maximum Park decibel restriction of 72 decibels, which is measured from fifty feet away (Jawad, 1998). Although snowmobile use in Yellowstone is intended to be for transportation purposes, many visitor have trouble refraining from more recreational practices such as driving off groomed roadways or racing.

Winter use in Yellowstone currently effects wildlife in many ways. One of the biggest impacts is snowmobile trail grooming. Environmental groups contend that grooming results in "enormous impacts to wildlife, including bison, plants, air quality, and other Park users" (Schubert, 1998). Schubert quotes Dr. Mary Meagher, a park biologist, as saying, "the existence of snow-packed roads ... was the largest factor in contributing to population increase, major distribution changes and ultimately habitat impacts" (1998). This is an important factor because it allows bison to move great distances without using much energy, which in turn allows bison numbers to increase at an unnatural rate. Shubert states this as a major reason that bison exit the park (1998). When they exit the park they are shot due to fear of transmission of brucellosis, a disease that could devastate the cattle industry in Montana.

In 1994, bison numbers peaked at 4,000 animals, making it the largest herd in the United States (Wuerthner, 1995). Yellowstone's winter habitat could not support such great numbers of bison, and they began to use the groomed roadways to exit the park. Over half the herd had to be killed over the next two winters due to the fear of a disease they carry that can be passed onto cattle. Mary Meagher has said that if the roads in the park were not groomed, the bison population would stay at more natural level of around 1,500 to 2,000.

"Energy is of crucial importance in the winter. As winter progresses, many ungulates experience a negative energy balance with more energy being use to survive that is being consumed in the form of forage. Natural (i.e. predators, snow) or, artificial (i.e. snowmobiles, hunting) perturbations to an animal's environment or behavior which affect, either negatively or positively, an animal's energy balance or stress level can have a substantial effect on survival and productivity" (Schubert quotes: Dorrance et al. 1973; Greer 1979).

Yellowstone is currently managed by a winter use plan that was released in 1990. The plan was written with the expectation that winter use in the park would increase at moderate levels by the year 2000. However, by the winter of 1993-94, use had reached "143,000" (N.P.S., 1998), a number not expected until the year 2000. Under the winter use plan, park managers were supposed to implement a visitor use management system by the time winter use had reached those numbers. The purpose of the winter use plan was to provide recreational experiences, appropriate by location or setting, that will not adversely impact sensitive natural resources, wildlife, cultural areas, or the experiences of other park visitors (N.P.S., 1998).

There are several lawsuits being argued over practices that are currently in use. David Simpson, a writer for the Jackson Hole guide, writes that the Fund for Animals, Biodiversity Legal Foundation, and the Ecology Center, sued the Park Service in May of 1997 to force park officials to study winter use and snowmobiling. This lawsuit was settled in October of 1997 agreeing that the Park Service would complete a three year Environmental Impact Statement assessing the effects of "snowmobiling and other winter recreation on park wildlife and other resources" (Simpson, 1998).

ot long after the settlement the Park Service released this statement. "A notice of intent to begin an environmental impact statement (EIS) was published in the Federal Register on April 14, 1998. A draft EIS is scheduled to be released in August of 1999. Following a public review of the draft, a final plan will be formulated, and is expected to be released in October of 2000" (N.P.S., 1998). The plan is supposed to study the effects of current winter use on wildlife and the environment. After the EIS is completed, options for future winter use can be developed (N.P.S., 1998).

The most recent lawsuit, filed in October 1998, by the groups that had filed the earlier lawsuit states that "Yellowstone Park officials did not honor their word to close at least parts of the park to snowmobiling last winter" (Simpson, 1998). Park officials state that they will not close any roads until the EIS is completed. The suit also contends that the Park Service violated National Environmental Policy by allowing surrounding agencies to be involved in the winter use EIS (Simpson, 1998).

There are many options that have been identified by the Park Service as winter use possibilities in Yellowstone. More opportunity for nonmotorized use could provided, the current use of snowmobiles and snowcoaches could be continued allowing for flexibility of use, certain segments of roads could be closed to protect wildlife or address safety, the road from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful could be plowed to allow for a broader spectrum of use, the number of facilities could be increased to spread out use, or snowmobiles could be required to meet strict but reasonable emission and noise standards. The Park Service added that options would not be limited to those mentioned above (N.P.S., 1998).

James Brooke (1996), also mentions that park officials have pushed snowmobile manufactures to investigate the possibility of manufacturing a "green machine." This would be a snowmobile that puts out acceptable amounts of emissions, and operates quietly. While manufactures have stated that this type of snowmobile has not been desirable in the past-due to a drop in performance-there may be a market for the "green machine" today.

All of these complex issues are combined leaving Yellowstone's managers with a great task. There are many problems that still need to be solved. It will be impossible for park managers to come up with solutions that will make everyone happy, but hopefully they can come up with solutions that will satisfy most of the people who care about the park. The challenge they face, is to come up with a plan that will preserve the park in its natural state, while still allowing public access. The results will become evident with future policy, shaped and molded by the interests of many.

References

Brooke, James. February 18, 1996. A Quiet, Clean, Solitary Winter in Yellowstone National Park? Vroom! Cough! Think Again. Page 10(N), col 1. New York Times Volume 145.

Jawad, Arthur. October 30, 1998. Interview with Park Ranger. National Park Service. October 30, 1998. http://www.nps.gov/htdocs4/yeH/winteruseplan.htm.

Shubert, D.J. October 30, 1998. Adverse Effects of Trail Grooming and Snowmobile Use on Winter Use Management in the Greater Yellowstone Area with a Special Emphasis on Yellowstone National Park. http://www.arrs.envirolink.org/fund/facts/snowconirn.htm/.

Simpson, David. October 14, 1998. Second suit seeks closure of park snowmobile trails. Jackson Hole Guide.

Wuerthner, George. November/December, 1995. The Battle Over Bison. Pages 36-40. National Parks.