Vol 3, #92

   Friday, October 29, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 40s, Lows 10s
Partly Sunny
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page
 

ROAD REPORT
Some road
construction
delays.
 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Michael Finley has announced that Toby P. Brown (21 years old) and Katrina M. Usher (19 years old) of Upton, Massachusetts, and Andrew S. Trick (19 years old) of Beaver Creek, Ohio, pled guilty on October 13, 1999 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen E. Cole in Mammoth Hot Springs, to the charge of removing natural features from the park. The persons had dug up and collected over 150 pieces of petrified wood around the Petrified Tree, about three miles west of Tower Junction.

On October 8, Tower rangers received two reports from park visitors of two men and one woman digging in the ground with a screwdriver on the slope above the petrified tree. A park ranger responded to the area and saw two of the people digging in the area. The ranger contacted the third person at one of the two vehicles the group was travelling in. The investigation uncovered one bag of about one hundred small pieces of petrified wood in one of the vehicles, and a large number of pieces of petrified wood in a small backpack. Several other mineral specimens and fossils were also found in the car. One of the men said he had taken pieces of travertine and geyserite from one of the thermal areas earlier in the day but denied finding the fossils and other minerals in the park. All of the specimens were seized and will be returned to their natural state if possible.

Each individual was fined $750, placed on three years probation and prohibited from entering the park for three years.

Superintendent Finley reminds all park visitors that disturbing, collecting, and/or removal of natural features from national parks is prohibited by law and subject to fine and/or jail time. Anyone who has information regarding these activities in Yellowstone National Park is encouraged to call park headquarters at (307) 344-7381.

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS

Ralph Maughan
Kim Steinbacher
Kevin Sanders
Steve Brashear
Clint Wilkes
Tim Gourley
Hon. Bob Gammage
Ruth Colter-Frick
Lee Whittlesey
Tom Mazzarisi
Russ Finley
David Monteith
Denise Elmer
Dr. Bob Bara

WASHINGTON, D.C. --  A coalition of environmental and conservation groups has praised new proposed legislation to address the environmental damage, safety concerns, and nuisance complaints associated with personal watercraft use on America's coastlines.  The bill, the Personal Watercraft Responsible Use Act, was introduced by Representatives Jim Saxton (R-NJ), Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Bruce Vento (D-MN).

The legislation is supported by many groups, including American Canoe Association (ACA), Bluewater Network, Friends of the Earth, Izaak Walton League of America and the National Parks and Conservation Association.

"We applaud Representatives Saxton, Gilchrest and Vento for this effort to reel in the reckless and environmentally destructive use of personal watercraft (PWC)," said Erich Pica, spokesman for Friends of the Earth.  "This legislation is an important first step to bring PWC use under control."

The Personal Watercraft Responsible Use Act is the first federal legislation to recognize that Personal Watercraft are used differently from other vessels and have very unique impacts.  This legislation requires States that manage coastal waters to implement enforceable personal watercraft operation policies and provisions.  States that refuse or fail to implement personal watercraft policies can lose some of the federal funding provided for coastal management.

Many water-related recreation groups have been working desperately to get some relief from the threats personal watercraft pose to the safety and enjoyment of other waterway users.  "In many places personal watercraft have made areas unfit for any other type of recreation experience" said David Jenkins, Director of Conservation and Public Policy for the ACA.  "Our members have to avoid areas for fear of their life because of the reckless and irresponsible use of these high-speed machines.  The status quo is simply unfair to the rest of the public."

"This legislation recognizes that jet skis are thrill-craft that need to be regulated differently than traditional boats," Kevin Collins, spokesman for the National Parks and Conservation Association, said.

There are over one million personal watercraft racing across America's waterways, with an additional 100,000 units sold annually.  PWC are not used like traditional boats to travel from point to point.  Rather, they are manufactured and marketed specifically for high-speed, aggressive use.  PWC problems are further magnified by their ability to access shallow and remote waters and the fact that PWC two-stroke motors dump nearly 30% of their gas/oil mixture unburned in the water.  This bill will offer some protection for local ecosystems and area wildlife endangered by personal watercraft use.

"PWCs pose a serious threat to water quality, aquatic life, wildlife and their habitat, especially in fragile aquatic ecosystems managed under the Coastal Zone Management Act," said Laurie Martin, Izaak Walton League conservation associate. "We are pleased to see that Reps. Saxton, Gilchrest, and Vento understand this threat and have shown leadership by introducing a bill to address PWC use in coastal areas."

The legislation would require states to designate sensitive areas requiring personal watercraft to be operated at "no-wake" speed. The Personal Watercraft Responsible Use Act also provides needed grants to State and local entities for law enforcement.  Grants will also be available for the development of local task forces to address user conflicts between personal watercrafts and other recreational and commercial users.

"The environmental community is glad to see that Congress now recognizes the serious and growing problem jet skis represent for America's waterways," said Russell Long, Director of Bluewater Network.

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CODY, Wyo. -- Cody was the setting for the latest public meeting regarding the National Park Service's proposed Winter Use plan for Yellowstone National Park.  Few were in attendance at this meetings, as compared to previous meetings, but the few who were there were nearly unanimous in their desire that the Park Service not plow the road from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful.  As the Winter Use public meetings continue, many business owners in the Yellowstone region are rallying behind a plan that would require cleaner-burning snowmobiles and add some further restrictions to snowmobile usage in Yellowstone.   The Park Service, on the other hand, is proposing plowing the road from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful, while allowing snowmobiling in other sections of the Park.

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GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, Mont. -- Last weekend, Darren Kling of Whitefish, Montana, became the first person to fly over Glacier National Park in a hot air balloon.  It is illegal to land within the Park, so Kling had to make certain the conditions were just right so that he could fly the entire length of the Park.  He also had to maintain at least 2000 feet between his balloon and the ground below for the duration of the flight, as required by aviation regulations.  Kling averaged about 25 miles per hour during the two hour flight and enjoyed the spectacular scenery below him.

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