Posted on 03/12/2003 8:41:58 AM PST by cogitator
Bipartisan Bill Would Ban Snowmobiles in National Parks
WASHINGTON, DC, March 6, 2003 (ENS) - A bipartisan bill to phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks was introduced in Congress Thursday. The legislation, its sponsors say, would save the parks from the threats posed by the Bush administration's decision to permit increased snowmobile use in both parks.
The Yellowstone Protection Act was introduced in the Senate by Senators Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican, and Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat. It was unveiled in the House by Representatives Rush Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, and Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays.
"This administration continues to ignore its own scientific evidence and the clear voice of the American people and we will not stand for it," Holt said. "Yellowstone is the people's park, and Congress created the National Park Service over 80 years ago to protect it.
"Today we in Congress are taking action to ensure that the Park Service does not compromise its founding mission. We must protect Yellowstone for future generations of Americans to enjoy."
If signed into law, the measure would overrule the National Park Service's recent decision and ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
"Science, law and pubic opinion all strongly support phasing out snowmobiles," Shays said.
The snowmobile controversy in the national parks began in 1998 when the park service began studying the effects of snowmobile use on park wildlife, air quality, human health and visitor experience. The study found snowmobile use was damaging all of them, as did a review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
During a public comment period on the snowmobile rule, some 80 percent of the 350,000 comments received by the Park Service supported the phaseout of snowmobiles, but the Bush administration rejected the rule in favor of snowmobiles.
The outright ban is not needed, the Bush administration said, because daily limits on use of snowmobiles and new technologies can adequately protect the parks.
The Yellowstone Protection Act currently has 134 bipartisan co-sponsors.
"There is a reason that Park Rangers wear gas masks at the west entrance of Yellowstone. It's because they are subjected to a chemical assault," Holt said. "I ask you, is this any way to treat the rangers who work so hard to make sure that all Americans can enjoy their national parks? Is this any way to treat the park itself?"
Conservancy Buys Jewel of Apalachicola River
ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Florida, March 6, 2003 (ENS) - The Nature Conservancy has purchased nearly 300 acres of native forestland bordered on two sides by Florida's Apalachicola River. This short, broad peninsula of bottomland hardwood forest in northern Liberty County juts into the river and is adjacent to Torreya State Park.
The Apalachicola River has the largest forested floodplain in Florida. The new parcel is home to as many as 60 tree species, such as tupelo, sycamore and winged elm. In addition, the rare one-toed amphium (Amphium pholeter) inhabits the rich floodplain soils.
The property is so important that the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks has been, "trying to acquire this land for half a century," according to Albert Gregory, bureau chief of park planning.
The property was purchased for $819,000 from Neal Land and Timber Company through their intermediary PDO Inc. In the 1930s, the Neal family donated the bulk of the land that became Torreya State Park. The park protects portions of steep ravines, upland pine and hardwood forests and river floodplains. The region is biologically unique to Florida and is inhabited by many species more commonly found in the Appalachian Mountains.
The Conservancy has worked with Neal Land and Timber Company and the Division of Recreation and Parks for several years to preserve this land.
"We are thrilled to put this incredible piece of land into permanent protection," added Vicki Tschinkel, state director of the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
The Conservancy has focused on the Apalachicola River as a priority protection area because of the natural resources along the river and in its downstream estuary, Apalachicola Bay.
The Conservancy recently designated the Apalachicola River and adjoining portions of the Florida Panhandle as one of the top six hot spots of biological diversity in the United States.
Numerous rare and imperiled plant and animal species, such as the federally threatened Gulf sturgeon, occur both within the river and in the forested habitats of its floodplains, ravines and uplands.
The Conservancy plans to convey the property to the state for inclusion in Torreya State Park in the near future. Gregory said, "We are very pleased that this important tract will now be added to the holdings of the Division of Recreation and Parks, as it will help us to better manage the entire ecosystem encompassed by this unique Florida park."
So9
After reading the article, then I decided...'just another wasted day in Congress.'
Well, you also scream by other users who don't care to smell a stinkin' two-cycle engine and hear all that noise. Having said that, I think a ban is stupid - Yellowstone is big enough to have snowmobiles in part of it and non-engine recreational use in other parts. But IMO the snowmobiler community has brought a lot of this on itself by their lack of consideration for other users of the outdoors in winter, and the snowmobile industry has been slow to shift over to four-cycle engines with adequate mufflers.
Who does he think is on the snowmobiles? Moose?
They are the princes and the lords after all, and don't have to live by the rules.
It's not really that hard, and a few forays by individuals aren't really a problem. The snowmobile tours are controlled by contractors, and they enter the park at the gates (just like cars). So they'd really just have to watch the entrances.
Sheesh, I can't imagine a better way to travel in a snow covered park.
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