Vol 3, #101

   Friday, December 3, 1999

YELLOWSTONE
WEATHER
Highs 40s, Lows 10s
Partly Cloudy
 

Yellowstone Net Home Page
 

ROAD REPORT
North entrance
open only.
 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (NPS) -- The National Park Service (NPS) announced today that the public comment period on the Draft Winter Use Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, has again been extended. Comments will be received until December 15, 1999. The extension was approved after the NPS re-evaluated the numerous requests they had received for an extension and decided that an extended review was appropriate in recognition of the complexity of the proposals, the degree of public interest in the draft plan, and the desire of the NPS for thoughtful public input based on a thorough review of the draft plan.

The winter use planning process is the result of a May 1997 lawsuit filed by several conservation and animal rights organizations and individuals. If the lawsuit had been fought unsuccessfully, all winter use of the parks could have been halted until an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was completed. The National Park Service opted instead to pursue a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs, which allowed activities to continue under the existing winter use plan while the EIS was prepared according to a prescribed schedule.

On August 15, 1999, the complete Draft Winter Use Plan/EIS was made available to the public via the Internet (www.nps.gov/yell/technical/planning) for a ninety-day review and comment period--double the length of time required by departmental policy and thirty days longer than required by the settlement agreement. At the time of the Internet release, it was noted that printed copies of the complete document would be available to the public after September 15. Unfortunately, printing and shipping difficulties delayed the availability of the printed document; therefore, the comment period was extended an additional 15 days to December 1, 1999.

When the Draft Winter Use Plan and EIS was released in August, the NPS explained that requests for any additional extensions of the public comment period could not be granted because of a September 1, 2000 deadline for completion of the final plan contained in the settlement agreement. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit have agreed to extend the completion deadline to October 1, 2000 in order to accommodate further public comments.

The public can submit written comments on the plan by writing: Clifford Hawkes, National Park Service, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado 80228; by e-mail at: yell_winter_use@nps.gov; or by calling (307) 344-2500 (this is not a toll-free number).

The complete Draft Winter Use Plan and Environmental Impact Statement may be reviewed on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/yell/technical/planning/ . Printed copies of the complete document (700+ pages) or its executive summary are available by writing to Clifford Hawkes at the above-mentioned address.

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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

CHUGWATER, Wyo. --  State wildlife agents trapped 107 pronghorn antelope in an effort to test the safety of brucellosis vaccines on animals other than bison and elk.  Because of the strong possibility that wildlife other than bison and elk would eat vaccine baits, researchers want to study possible effects of the vaccines on the reproductive performance of pronghorn antelope.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is suggesting a "artificial recovery zone," but the Sierra Club and some other advocacy groups believe such a zone is not sufficient, pointing to the fact that 62% of bear-human contacts occurred outside of the zone.  In particular, the habitat area needs to be extended to the north and west of the Park in order to protect the Grizzly, the Sierra Club maintains.

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YAAK, Mont. -- A 600 pound grizzly which was involved in a number of Yaak Valley predations has been killed, according to federal officers.  The bear was captured at a residence where it had previously killed a goat and pulled down a hanging deer carcass.  The bear had also been foraging in garbage cans, raiding freezers and even walking onto people's porches in the area as well.  As such, there was much concern about the safety of area residents.  Officials note, however, that the bear's aggressive behavior was unusual.

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WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. -- Winter is here and with it the buffalo come out of the Park. Unfortunately they are still stalked by the Montana Department of Livestock (MDOL). The 1999-2000 lease for MDOL's rental of Dale Koelzer's basement and the free land use for the Duck Creek capture facility has been approved

This lease was signed in its traditional form of a handshake on November 4, 1999. Mr. Koelzer is currently pending three poaching charges about a dead buffalo on his land. He did come out in the papers and state that he shot the buffalo. He has now changed his plea to not guilty and asked for a jury trail. His trial date will be set at a December 13 hearing in Bozeman, Montana. BFC and many other outraged citizens and groups will rally together in protest.

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