6
06-19-2002, 05:11 PM
Snowmobile comments 4-1 in favor of ban in Yellowstone, Grand Teton
WASHINGTON (AP) - Comments received by the National Park Service on whether to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks leans 4-1 in favor of an outright ban of the machines, a Park Service official said.
Joan Anzelmo, a National Park Service spokeswoman based in Grand Teton, confirmed a report Monday in Wyoming's Jackson Hole Daily Guide that of about 335,000 letters submitted to the Park Service, about 271,000 favor phasing out snowmobiles and about 62,000 favor continuing to allow snowmobile riders into the two Western parks.
However, Anzelmo discounted the number of letters as unimportant to the agency's process of writing a new rule governing snowmobile use in the parks.
"The final decision will not be about numbers. It's not about the quantity of comments," she said. "It's about new information, new data, that's being offered by the individual or the group."
Also, about 85 percent of the comments appear to be generated as form letters as part of campaigns organized by environmentalists and by allies of the snowmobile industry.
Despite the number of form letters, Anzelmo said many of those had personal notes, letters and comments attached.
So far, the public comment period on the environmental study into snowmobile use in the parks has drawn a record number of comments. Anzelmo said the Park Service probably won't finish tabulating the results until later this summer.
The Clinton administration had ordered an eventual ban of snowmobiles in the two parks after a decade of study.
However, when the Bush administration came into office one of its earliest acts was to settle a lawsuit brought by the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association by putting a hold on the Clinton-era rule and ordering the Park Service to conduct a second environmental impact statement.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Comments received by the National Park Service on whether to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks leans 4-1 in favor of an outright ban of the machines, a Park Service official said.
Joan Anzelmo, a National Park Service spokeswoman based in Grand Teton, confirmed a report Monday in Wyoming's Jackson Hole Daily Guide that of about 335,000 letters submitted to the Park Service, about 271,000 favor phasing out snowmobiles and about 62,000 favor continuing to allow snowmobile riders into the two Western parks.
However, Anzelmo discounted the number of letters as unimportant to the agency's process of writing a new rule governing snowmobile use in the parks.
"The final decision will not be about numbers. It's not about the quantity of comments," she said. "It's about new information, new data, that's being offered by the individual or the group."
Also, about 85 percent of the comments appear to be generated as form letters as part of campaigns organized by environmentalists and by allies of the snowmobile industry.
Despite the number of form letters, Anzelmo said many of those had personal notes, letters and comments attached.
So far, the public comment period on the environmental study into snowmobile use in the parks has drawn a record number of comments. Anzelmo said the Park Service probably won't finish tabulating the results until later this summer.
The Clinton administration had ordered an eventual ban of snowmobiles in the two parks after a decade of study.
However, when the Bush administration came into office one of its earliest acts was to settle a lawsuit brought by the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association by putting a hold on the Clinton-era rule and ordering the Park Service to conduct a second environmental impact statement.