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| MONDAY October 30, 2000 Vol 4, # 68 |
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| MONDAY October 30, 2000 Vol 4, # 68 |
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| Site Search | Support Yellowstone! Discussion Free Internet, Email, More Email Newsletter | |
YELLOWSTONE ROAD
REPORT PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-
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 PROTECTING YELLOWSTONEby Bruce Gourley Yellowstone is a national treasure which is owned by the American public. Protecting Yellowstone is the responsibility of the American public. This weekly feature will help identify and explore the issues which are crucial to the ongoing, healthy existence of the "Crown Jewel" of America's National Park system. YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (YNET) -- The National Park Service's comment period on the proposed snowmobile ban in Yellowstone ends tomorrow, October 31. The Park Service expects to issue a final ruling next month. Snowmobile advocates and some county, state and congressional officials are preparing to try to force Congress to override the Park Service's ruling. Senator Craig Thomas, Republican, of Wyoming is spearheading such efforts, with support from other Republican Senators and Representatives in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. Their concern is that the snowmobile ban would limit access to the Park and be detrimental to the economies of nearby communities, concerns that have some merit. Senator Thomas' answer to the NPS snowmobile ban is to force the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Park Service to mandate new emissions standards for snowmobiles and give snowmobile manufacturers time to adapt to new, cleaner technologies. Wait a minute. Haven't environmental groups been pushing the snowmobile industry for years to produce cleaner-burning sleds? Haven't environmental groups been asking snowmobile manufacturers for years to especially produce such sleds for Yellowstone? And hasn't the National Park Service been doing the same thing? Hasn't the snowmobile industry for years been purposefully dragging their feet with the blessing of the same politicians who now are calling for cleaner-burning machines? Who's kidding whom here? The truth is that cleaner-burning snowmobiles, as environmental groups and Yellowstone officials have long advocated, would be better for Yellowstone. For the very politicians and groups who have long opposed such measures to suddenly reverse themselves and then blame the National Park Service and the EPA for dragging its feet is the pinnacle of hypocrisy. And yet, despite this rather strange turn of events from Sen. Thomas and others, it may well be far too little and far too late to turn back the snowmobile ban in Yellowstone. (Yellowstone Net provides you opportunity to voice your opinion regarding the various Yellowstone issues to your congresspersons and to editorial sections of magazines and newspapers by clicking here.) |
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AND COLUMNISTS Ralph Maughan
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BISON
UDPATE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- With winter approaching, some bison have already wandered outside of Yellowstone's boundaries. The Montana Department of Livestock is already hazing and harassing the buffalo with cracker guns. Three horses were injured by buffalo in Dale Koelzer's (who allows DOL to use his land) fields near Duck Creek. The horses belong to a local Department of Livestock (DOL) agent. Why the DOL is keeping its horses there is unknown. There are no cattle in the area and no good reason why the DOL should be hazing and stressing the buffalo at this time of year. It is known that hazing, capture and confinement places additional stress on bison, separates members of the herd and breaks social bonds. Additionally, "[r]epeated hazing in early winter may produce weight loss and poor body condition, which decreases the animal's ability to endure the remaining winter." (Bison Final Environmental Impact Statement; Volume I, page 762) The fact that they are hazing and not yet slaughtering implies that the DOL has their hands tied until after the upcoming elections. Regardless of how the elections turn out, the DOL will likely continue its vendatta against the buffalo this year. |
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| FALL VISITOR NUMBERS DOWN News Brief YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. -- September visits to Yellowstone Park were down 20 percent from a year ago as both Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks posted big declines in visitors for the month. Although forest fires in the region were confined to the Yellowstone backcountry in September, news of the fires may have kept some visitors away, according to Park Service officials. Compared to September 1999, Yellowstone posted a 20.5 percent decline in recreational visits during September. The park recorded 353,728 visits last month, and 445,057 in September 1999. Grand Teton reported a 16 percent drop from 392,841 in September 1999 to 329,923 last month. |
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| GRAND CANYON UPDATE National Park Service GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ari. (NPS) -- Last week the National Park Service opened Canyon View Information Plaza, a new state of the art transportation/orientation hub. The Grand Canyon Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating knowledge, discovery, and stewardship for the benefit of Grand Canyon National Park and its visitors, also opened a new bookstore on the plaza. The opening of this facility represents the first major step in implementing the park's 1995 General Management Plan, a plan that focused on public transportation and enhanced educational and recreational opportunities. Canyon View Information Plaza was designed to fulfill four functions: provide visitors with their first glimpse of the canyon - away from noise and vehicle congestion; introduce visitors to the park's major interpretive themes - enriching the visitors experience; offer visitors a menu of recreational options that include orientation to riding shuttle buses, biking, hiking, and ranger guided activities; and connect visitors to other points in the park with the completion of a mass transit system in early 2004, that will include alternative fuel buses and light rail. The Grand Canyon Greenway, a multi-use trail system will eventually extend from Canyon View Information Plaza to the future Grand Canyon Transit Center north of Tusayan, and to Desert View and Hermits Rest. The facility is the result of many people and organizations sharing a vision and working together to reach this milestone. It is the first of its kind and scope in a national park - designed to accommodate up to 4,200 people per hour at peak times, the facility will eventually serve as a hub for four modes of transportation; bus, train, biking and hiking. It is also the first major project completed at Grand Canyon with funds from the Recreational Fee Demonstration Program, a pilot program approved by Congress in 1996 that allows the national parks and other federal agencies to keep up to 80% of most user fees collected. The opening of Canyon View Information Plaza is one of the first steps in many to come. Because the facility will open prior to the completion of the mass transit system several changes in traffic patterns will occur to accommodate the visiting public and local community. The National Park Service has already begun to install temporary traffic devices and directional signing that will direct visitors to parking areas within the park. Visitors will be asked to park their vehicle, board a shuttle bus, and visit Canyon View Information Plaza to begin their connection to the Grand Canyon. Once the light rail system is completed, day use visitors will park their cars outside of the park at the Grand Canyon Transit Center and board a light rail train for the short trip to Canyon View Information Plaza. Beginning with the opening of the Canyon View Information Plaza, the park's shuttle system is now a year round service. The Village Route, connecting Canyon View to the South Rim Village, now operates from an hour before sunrise to 9:00, 10:00 or 11:00 p.m., depending on the season. The Hermits Rest Route to overlooks on the west rim now operates from an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset from March through November. The Kaibab Trail Route now operates during the same hours throughout the year. Hermit Road (formally West Rim Drive) and the South Kaibab and Yaki Point Road is now open from December through February. Although there will be many changes over the next several years, the National Park Service is excited over the transition to a new and better way to visit. "We are beginning a new era," stated Acting Park Superintendent, J.T. Reynolds, "we are responding to change in an innovative way that provides greater protection to park resources and a better experience for park visitors. We are transforming the visitor experience at Grand Canyon from one of congestion and limited opportunities to one of greater opportunity!" |
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