Thanks, Kevin. That's especially true given the 2000 miles of trails
in National Forest accessible from West Yellowstone and outside the
boundaries of the park. Snowmobilers can go as fast as they want,
there. Riders can drive while drinking (assuming they can avoid the
thin arm of the law monitoring activity within the forests), and wrap
themselves around all the trees they can and still survive, leaving
Yellowstone relatively quiet. Even with the 4 cycle engines (actually
more polluting and noisier than current 2-cycle technologies), we
were able to measure the thrum of the engines 8 miles off the trails
(where we snowshoed).
But the aspect everyone needs to be particularly alert to is the
privatization of the National Park System, a model endorsed by this
administration and framed in the current plans of the Dept of
Interior under Kempthorne. This model, which word has it he hopes to
implement before December, applies to the management of the
infrastructure, the rangers (science and education, especially), and
the administration of the parks. This new plan encourages resource
extraction, including mining and logging. If one thinks that
snowmobiles and jet skis are bad...wait!
Bernie
On Sep 28, 2008, at 3:58 PM, Kevin Colver wrote:
> On two different years in the recent past I was able to join my
> children's junior high school science class on cross country ski
> trips to Yellowstone in January. We always spent one day on the snow-
> track tour trip riding in to Old Faithful. We were always surrounded
> by loud and fume-spewing snowmobiles. It severely degraded the
> experience. I'm sure the snowmobilers were having a thrill but it's
> hard to believe they had a close-to-nature experience. I'm not
> convinced that a motorized thrill ride is a right due to the Park
> visitors. While I support public access to our beautiful natural
> places, I feel that access comes with a responsibility to the natural
> place, it's native human and non-human inhabitants, and fellow
> visitors. Three cheers to Bernie for his testimony in congress about
> Yellowstone noise pollution! May a quiet reverence for these places
> expand and become more universal.
>
> Kevin
>
> On Sep 28, 2008, at 11:02 AM, Bernie Krause wrote:
>
> > Don't know if anyone caught this given the chaos lately, but:
> >
> > * "Bush Snowmobile Plan for Yellowstone National Park Struck Down":
> > "The Bush administration's authorization of increased snowmobile use
> > in Yellowstone National Park violates the fundamental legal
> > responsibility of the National Park Service to protect the clean
> air,
> > wildlife, and natural quiet of national parks for the benefit of all
> > visitors, a federal court ruled today. The administration authorized
> > increased snowmobile use despite scientific conclusions by the
> > National Park Service that the decision would multiply noise and
> > unhealthy exhaust, which disrupt the experiences of visitors, and
> > traffic that harms Yellowstone's wildlife, including bison. Judge
> > Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of
> > Columbia today invalidated the Bush decision in a case brought by
> six
> > conservation groups that together represent more than two million
> > members." Environment New Service had the story September 15, 2008.
> >
> > Bernie
> >
> > Wild Sanctuary
> > POB 536
> > Glen Ellen, CA 95442
> > 707-996-6677
> > http://www.wildsanctuary.com
> >
> > Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
> > SKYPE: biophony
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
>
Wild Sanctuary
POB 536
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
707-996-6677
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
Google Earth zooms: http://earth.wildsanctuary.com
SKYPE: biophony
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