Industry, Blue Ribbon Coalition to appeal Judges Yellowstone ruling

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Opponents of snowmobile ruling plan appeals

By Gazette Staff
And Associated Press
In the wake of Tuesday's ruling by a federal judge in Washington,
D.C.,
overturning the Park Service's plan for snowmobiles in Yellowstone and
Teton
national parks, Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank hustled Wednesday
to appeal
the court order.

The ruling came the day before the start of the parks' winter season.
With a
Clinton-era plan to phase out snowmobiles revived, the number of
snowmobiles
allowed this winter will be limited to 493 in Yellowstone and 50 in
Grand Teton
before they are banned completely next winter.

Crank said Wyoming disagrees with the finding by U.S. District Appeals
Judge
Emmet Sullivan that extra fact-finding was needed for the National
Park Service
to change course from the Clinton-era plan without the changes being
arbitrary
and capricious.

"We believe that the record of decision here is sufficient and it does
show why
there has been a change in the winter use plan," Crank said. "The
change is that
we have new technology. We have snowmobiles that are less offensive to
the
environment."

The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association Inc. and
BlueRibbon
Coalition also filed a request Wednesday for a stay of Sullivan's
decision,
saying it would prevent thousands of visitors from seeing Yellowstone
and would
devastate local economies.

"The fight's not over," said Bill Dart, public lands director with
BlueRibbon
Coalition.

Sullivan said he would take written arguments. If Sullivan rejects the
request
for an emergency stay, as seemed likely Wednesday, the industry would
request
that the Appellate Court review his decision.

"We are always hopeful," snowmobile industry attorney Barbara A.
Miller said,
when asked about the prospect that Sullivan would grant the request.
"The rules
of the court require us to file it in front of him before it goes to
the
Appellate Court."

"We're definitely going to appeal it," Miller said. "We think the
judge's
conclusion that the (National Environmental Policy Act) was violated
is not
correct."

If the Wyoming officials and snowmobile industry lawyers are unable to
overturn
Sullivan's ruling, lawmakers may try to pass legislation overturning
it.

"It's outrageous that the environmental lobby continues to insist that
decisions
on how best to use our public lands should be made by liberal courts
on the East
Coast and not by the people who depend on our public lands to make a
living,"
said Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., in a statement.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said he is asking Interior Secretary Gale
Norton to
have her department immediately appeal and request a stay of the
decision.

"The courts need to hold up on this until the appeal process is over,"
Burns
said. "The impact of this decision is far ranging and potentially very
damaging."

Other issues

While reaction to Sullivan's ruling has focused on reverting back to
the ban,
the judge also told the federal government to re-examine the question
of
grooming roads in Yellowstone and to respond to an earlier petition to
prohibit
snowmobiles in all national parks.

Sullivan said the National Park Service must further study the
environmental
impacts of packing snow on the 25-foot-wide roads for snowmobiles and
snowcoaches. Specifically, the judge said park officials need to look
at how
grooming affects bison and other wildlife.

The ruling responded to a lawsuit by the Fund for Animals and
Bluewater Network,
which claimed that road grooming facilitates the movement of bison
outside
Yellowstone, where they can be captured and slaughtered as part of a
regional
program to reduce the spread of brucellosis.

They also claimed grooming is harmful to bears, wolves and Canada
lynx.

In his ruling Tuesday night, Sullivan chastised the Park Service for
not fully
considering a ban on grooming roads.

"It defies logic that an option considering the cessation of trail
grooming was
not considered," he wrote.

Additionally, Sullivan ordered the Park Service to respond to a 1999
petition
from Bluewater Network to ban snowmobiles from all national parks.

Given the studies of snowmobiling in Yellowstone - particularly those
that led
to the decision in 2000 to ban them - Sullivan said a decision is
needed on
whether they can remain elsewhere in the national park system.

"It is clear that the impacts of snowmobiling in other parks could
also be
severe," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said the Park Service's delay in responding to the 1999
petition was
"unreasonable." He said he would not advocate for one position or
another in
terms of banning the machines in all national parks, but the
petitioners have a
right to a response "in a reasonable amount of time."

The judge gave the Park Service until Feb. 17 to file its response to
the
group's request.

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