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Yellowstone And Grand Teton To Consider Options On New Temporary Winter Use Plan
(Yellowstone/Grand Teton News Release)
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are considering all legal options on a temporary plan for
oversnow vehicle travel this winter.
The latest winter use plan and regulations allowing limited, commercially guided snowmobile and
snowcoach travel were rejected by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on September 15.
Park managers and staff members have been carefully looking at options that would authorize
oversnow access this winter in these parks.
The National Park Service is beginning preparation of an environmental assessment and a proposed
rule, which will be made available for a public review and comment period by early November. The
National Park Service intends to have a final decision effective prior to the scheduled December 15
opening of the winter use season.
Specifics on the use of snowmobiles, snowcoaches, and vehicle numbers have yet to be determined, as
data analysis and formulation of alternatives have just begun. It is the intention of the National Park
Service that any such temporary decision be consistent with the agreement providing for travel on the
East Entrance road over Sylvan Pass, subject to avalanche and safety- related constraints.
The National Park Service further intends to address in the decision any applicable requirements
imposed by existing court decisions as well as the pending decision of the U.S. District Court for
Wyoming.

Snowmobile community and outdoor recreationists respond to Yellowstone order by judge Sullivan

(Haslett, MI-September 16, 2008)The first round of what is likely to be a busy fall of litigation regarding snowmobile access to Yellowstone this winter (2008-2009) has finished. On September 15, 2008, District Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the National Park Service’s December 13, 2007 Winter Use Rule, which provided for recreational access to Yellowstone National Park by up to 540 best available technology snowmobiles per day. He vacated the entire Winter Use Rule, apparently including the snowcoach provisions as well as the snowmobile provisions. He did not put any substitute rule in place and remanded the rule to the National Park Service, which can consider whether to adopt a new rule.

Judge Sullivan’s ruling is only the latest in a long history of litigation surrounding the Park Service’s Winter Use Rules for Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. A second related case, challenging the Winter Use Rule as being too restrictive of snowmobiling, is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming.

While the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association - ISMA, the American Council of Snowmobile Associations - ACSA, and the Blue Ribbon Coalition - BRC strongly object to Judge Sullivan’s ruling, they recognize that this ruling is not the last word on Yellowstone winter use. Judge Sullivan’s ruling does not replace the vacated rule with any other rule for the upcoming winter season, leaving open the issue on whether and how much snowmobile access will be allowed. Oral argument in the related Wyoming litigation took place before District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the same day Judge Sullivan issued his Order. ISMA, ACSA, and BRC are parties to that litigation as well, and intend to ask the Court to reinstate the temporary rule that preceded the 2007 Winter Use Rule and allowed for up to 720 recreational best available technology snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone.

Judge Sullivan’s ruling may ultimately result in there being no snowmobile or snowcoach use in Yellowstone this winter, depending on the Park Service’s response, a possible appeal of Judge Sullivan’s ruling, and the Wyoming litigation. At any rate, Judge Sullivan’s ruling represents a radical departure from established legal principles and interpretations of governing statutes. His broad-ranging and novel interpretations of the National Park Service Organic Act and the Yellowstone National Park Act prohibit the Park Service from approving nearly any visitor activity causing impacts to Natural Park resources. This has the potential to bar a broad range of visitor activities in National Parks year round, including car, truck, RV, motorcycle, and other motorized vehicle access during the Spring, Summer, and Fall months. It also has the potential to do so throughout the Park System, not just in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Finally, Judge Sullivan’s ruling ignores the long history of broad discretion for the Park Service to balance conservation with visitor use and enjoyment in its management of the Park System. By second-guessing the Park Service’s methodology for evaluating the impacts of the rule, it also departs from the well-established legal principles requiring courts to defer to governmental agencies’ scientific and technical judgments.

ISMA, ACSA, and BRC are dedicated to preserving snowmobilers’ access to federal lands, including units of the National Park System. ISMA, ACSA, and BRC will continue to pursue recreational snowmobile access to Yellowstone National Park.

Shoshone National Forest to Resume the Forest Plan Revision Process
USFS News release
Cody, Wyo. (April 14, 2008) – The Forest Service recently announced the 2008 Planning Rule that will allow the Shoshone National Forest’s plan revision process to resume.
The plan revision process was halted last April after a United States District Court enjoined the agency from using the 2005 Planning Rule.
Forest planning staff officer Bryan Armel said that even though the process was stopped a year ago, work and input from the previous two years of public meetings are still useful for the new forest plan. “I don’t want people to feel discouraged because the process was stopped. We’ll be able to use all the comments and suggestions that people worked so hard to give us.”
Armel thanked everyone for their past efforts, and encouraged the public to attend the next round of meetings. “Once we determine how and when to move forward, we’ll announce meeting dates, probably in the next couple weeks.”
For more information on the Shoshone’s revision process, please visit the revision Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/shoshone/projects/planning/revision/revision_index.shtml.
The 2008 Planning Rule is available at the Forest Service Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/2008_planning_rule.html

URGENT PLEA

Forest Planning Resumes – It’s Time to Get Involved
By Kim Raap, Trails Work Consulting

After a year-long delay due to the March 2007 court injunction regarding their 2005 Planning Rule, the Forest Service is resuming public work on the revision of the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forest management plans. The Bridger-Teton NF recently held a meeting with their Cooperating Agencies and announced a new round of public “Forest Plan Scenario-Building Workshops Exploring possible changes to consider in on-the-ground management.” So while snowmobiling season will soon be coming to an end, the season of ‘working to keep snowmobiling access open’ is just once again resuming. It is critically important that snowmobilers show up at these public meetings, as frustrating they may sometimes be, since anti-motorized folks always show up in force. If we expect to keep our access we need to be at the table during these local planning meetings.
The next Bridger-Teton workshops will be held in Afton on March 26, in Jackson on March 27, and in Pinedale and one other southern BTNF community (either Rock Springs or Kemmerer) in late April. You can keep track of these meetings, as well as review their handouts and other materials on their planning website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/news/forest_plan_revision/index.shtml .
The Afton and Jackson meetings will focus on the Buffalo, Jackson and Greys River Ranger Districts, while the late-April meetings will focus on the Pinedale, Kemmerer and Big Piney Ranger Districts. The objective of these four workshops will be to develop and refine mapped ‘scenarios’ that depict “locations where changes in conditions and trends are needed, as well as potential adjustments to management strategy that could be considered there.” While this step in the process is far from the final decision, it is important because the “scenarios” will ultimately frame the range of management alternatives the Forest will consider when making that final decision. So if snowmobiling isn’t treated favorably in at least one of these “scenarios” built for various geographical areas of the Forest, snowmobiling cannot expect to have favorable treatment in the end decision.
The Forest has identified 21 “Need for Change Emphasis Items” and Item P is “Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement.” If you didn’t know it before, believe it now: snowmobiling is in their sights.
Case in point is the ‘example’ Scenario Development Worksheet the Bridger-Teton provided to their Cooperators (it can be viewed on the website listed above) for “Geographic Area (GA) 45,” which happens to be the Moccasin Basin, Lava Mountain, Tripod Creek, Continental Divide areas of the B-T. An excerpt from this example Worksheet is as follows:
1. What changes, if any, are needed to the description of the Theme for this GA?
MA 45 -- Moccasin Basin
Moccasin Basin, Lava Mountain, Tripod Peak, Continental Divide. High elevation and remote, with low development levels but moderate use in fall and winter, big game habitat, few summer trails, groomed winter trails. Whitebark pine, grizzly bear. Add: Protect scenic quality of Continental Divide Nat’l Scenic Trail, recent wildland fire (Hardscrabble) consider future whitebark pine restoration in N. Fork of Fish Creek – more effective closures needed (standards & guidelines).

2. Given the Theme and the NFC (Need for Change) base maps for this GA, which NFC items are most likely to drive a change in management direction here (NFC Drivers)?
B: Whitebark pine is declining;
P: Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement.

NFC Driver: P: Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement.

Potential adjustments (label multiple options as a, b, c, etc.):
(a) Close the polygon (area drawn on the map) to public motorized access in winter
(b) Close portions of the polygon to public motorized access in winter

Rationale for potential adjustments
(a) Reduces scarcity of non-motorized winter recreation opportunities
(b) Same as for (a), but less so.

Potential trade-offs and rationale (indicate adjustment option and NFC item or DC):
(a) Slightly reduces availability of winter settings for shared use including snowmobiles (DC {Desired Condition} 2.1.3), perhaps negligible relative to remaining area available. Reduction of motorized access could benefit lynx (NFC items G and O)
(b) Same as for (a) but less so.

If this “example” doesn’t motivate you to get involved, I don’t know what will. You need to show up to advocate so there are more than just example options (a) or (b) [close all or close portions of the area to snowmobiles]. What about asking for an option to consider leaving the area ‘all open’? What about being there to comment that ‘snowmobilers are the ones being displaced’ by those who want all the forest designated for only non-motorized recreation? This is just one isolated example of “scenarios” that will play out in numerous areas across the Bridger-Teton National Forest as they conduct their workshops. Don’t let their jargon confuse you or scare you away. We need your help. While WSSA will continue to work on this process, we need local snowmobilers to fill these meetings to speak on behalf of continued snowmobiling access. The world is run by those who show up, so please turn out to support our sport!

While public meetings and public input for the Shoshone National Forest plan have not yet resumed, they will shortly, and can be monitored at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/shoshone/projects/planning/revision/revision_index.shtml . Stay tuned and watch WSSA’s web site (www.snowmobilewyoming.org ) for updates and action alerts as these plans progress over the summer. Please show up as meetings like this occur over the next year and help make a difference for the future of snowmobiling access in Wyoming!

It's a win-win!
Thanks to a partnership between ACSA, the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association and Sleds2buy.com a promising new opportunity for sled sellers, buyers and organized snowmobiling has been created.
If you have a sled, an atv or a trailer you would like to sell and you would like to get the word out to the state, country, or even world-wide we can deliver! For just $30 you can place an ad with up to 30 pictures for a month on sleds2buy.com. In addition to helping you sell your item, when you use sleds2buy.com to do so, a portion of your listing fee comes back to the WSSA and ACSA to help support and preserve snowmobiling in Wyoming and beyond.



	Issues and Alerts Yellowstone And Grand Teton To Consider Options On New Temporary Winter Use Plan (Yellowstone/Grand Teton News Release) Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are considering all legal options on a temporary plan for oversnow vehicle travel this winter. The latest winter use plan and regulations allowing limited, commercially guided snowmobile and snowcoach travel were rejected by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on September 15. Park managers and staff members have been carefully looking at options that would authorize oversnow access this winter in these parks. The National Park Service is beginning preparation of an environmental assessment and a proposed rule, which will be made available for a public review and comment period by early November. The National Park Service intends to have a final decision effective prior to the scheduled December 15 opening of the winter use season. Specifics on the use of snowmobiles, snowcoaches, and vehicle numbers have yet to be determined, as data analysis and formulation of alternatives have just begun. It is the intention of the National Park Service that any such temporary decision be consistent with the agreement providing for travel on the East Entrance road over Sylvan Pass, subject to avalanche and safety- related constraints. The National Park Service further intends to address in the decision any applicable requirements imposed by existing court decisions as well as the pending decision of the U.S. District Court for Wyoming. Snowmobile community and outdoor recreationists respond to Yellowstone order by judge Sullivan (Haslett, MI-September 16, 2008)The first round of what is likely to be a busy fall of litigation regarding snowmobile access to Yellowstone this winter (2008-2009) has finished. On September 15, 2008, District Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated the National Park Service’s December 13, 2007 Winter Use Rule, which provided for recreational access to Yellowstone National Park by up to 540 best available technology snowmobiles per day. He vacated the entire Winter Use Rule, apparently including the snowcoach provisions as well as the snowmobile provisions. He did not put any substitute rule in place and remanded the rule to the National Park Service, which can consider whether to adopt a new rule. Judge Sullivan’s ruling is only the latest in a long history of litigation surrounding the Park Service’s Winter Use Rules for Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. A second related case, challenging the Winter Use Rule as being too restrictive of snowmobiling, is ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. While the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association - ISMA, the American Council of Snowmobile Associations - ACSA, and the Blue Ribbon Coalition - BRC strongly object to Judge Sullivan’s ruling, they recognize that this ruling is not the last word on Yellowstone winter use. Judge Sullivan’s ruling does not replace the vacated rule with any other rule for the upcoming winter season, leaving open the issue on whether and how much snowmobile access will be allowed. Oral argument in the related Wyoming litigation took place before District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the same day Judge Sullivan issued his Order. ISMA, ACSA, and BRC are parties to that litigation as well, and intend to ask the Court to reinstate the temporary rule that preceded the 2007 Winter Use Rule and allowed for up to 720 recreational best available technology snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone. Judge Sullivan’s ruling may ultimately result in there being no snowmobile or snowcoach use in Yellowstone this winter, depending on the Park Service’s response, a possible appeal of Judge Sullivan’s ruling, and the Wyoming litigation. At any rate, Judge Sullivan’s ruling represents a radical departure from established legal principles and interpretations of governing statutes. His broad-ranging and novel interpretations of the National Park Service Organic Act and the Yellowstone National Park Act prohibit the Park Service from approving nearly any visitor activity causing impacts to Natural Park resources. This has the potential to bar a broad range of visitor activities in National Parks year round, including car, truck, RV, motorcycle, and other motorized vehicle access during the Spring, Summer, and Fall months. It also has the potential to do so throughout the Park System, not just in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Finally, Judge Sullivan’s ruling ignores the long history of broad discretion for the Park Service to balance conservation with visitor use and enjoyment in its management of the Park System. By second-guessing the Park Service’s methodology for evaluating the impacts of the rule, it also departs from the well-established legal principles requiring courts to defer to governmental agencies’ scientific and technical judgments. ISMA, ACSA, and BRC are dedicated to preserving snowmobilers’ access to federal lands, including units of the National Park System. ISMA, ACSA, and BRC will continue to pursue recreational snowmobile access to Yellowstone National Park. Shoshone National Forest to Resume the Forest Plan Revision Process USFS News release Cody, Wyo. (April 14, 2008) – The Forest Service recently announced the 2008 Planning Rule that will allow the Shoshone National Forest’s plan revision process to resume. The plan revision process was halted last April after a United States District Court enjoined the agency from using the 2005 Planning Rule. Forest planning staff officer Bryan Armel said that even though the process was stopped a year ago, work and input from the previous two years of public meetings are still useful for the new forest plan. “I don’t want people to feel discouraged because the process was stopped. We’ll be able to use all the comments and suggestions that people worked so hard to give us.” Armel thanked everyone for their past efforts, and encouraged the public to attend the next round of meetings. “Once we determine how and when to move forward, we’ll announce meeting dates, probably in the next couple weeks.” For more information on the Shoshone’s revision process, please visit the revision Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/shoshone/projects/planning/revision/revision_index.shtml. The 2008 Planning Rule is available at the Forest Service Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/2008_planning_rule.html URGENT PLEA Forest Planning Resumes – It’s Time to Get Involved By Kim Raap, Trails Work Consulting After a year-long delay due to the March 2007 court injunction regarding their 2005 Planning Rule, the Forest Service is resuming public work on the revision of the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forest management plans. The Bridger-Teton NF recently held a meeting with their Cooperating Agencies and announced a new round of public “Forest Plan Scenario-Building Workshops Exploring possible changes to consider in on-the-ground management.” So while snowmobiling season will soon be coming to an end, the season of ‘working to keep snowmobiling access open’ is just once again resuming. It is critically important that snowmobilers show up at these public meetings, as frustrating they may sometimes be, since anti-motorized folks always show up in force. If we expect to keep our access we need to be at the table during these local planning meetings. The next Bridger-Teton workshops will be held in Afton on March 26, in Jackson on March 27, and in Pinedale and one other southern BTNF community (either Rock Springs or Kemmerer) in late April. You can keep track of these meetings, as well as review their handouts and other materials on their planning website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/btnf/news/forest_plan_revision/index.shtml . The Afton and Jackson meetings will focus on the Buffalo, Jackson and Greys River Ranger Districts, while the late-April meetings will focus on the Pinedale, Kemmerer and Big Piney Ranger Districts. The objective of these four workshops will be to develop and refine mapped ‘scenarios’ that depict “locations where changes in conditions and trends are needed, as well as potential adjustments to management strategy that could be considered there.” While this step in the process is far from the final decision, it is important because the “scenarios” will ultimately frame the range of management alternatives the Forest will consider when making that final decision. So if snowmobiling isn’t treated favorably in at least one of these “scenarios” built for various geographical areas of the Forest, snowmobiling cannot expect to have favorable treatment in the end decision. The Forest has identified 21 “Need for Change Emphasis Items” and Item P is “Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement.” If you didn’t know it before, believe it now: snowmobiling is in their sights. Case in point is the ‘example’ Scenario Development Worksheet the Bridger-Teton provided to their Cooperators (it can be viewed on the website listed above) for “Geographic Area (GA) 45,” which happens to be the Moccasin Basin, Lava Mountain, Tripod Creek, Continental Divide areas of the B-T. An excerpt from this example Worksheet is as follows: 1. What changes, if any, are needed to the description of the Theme for this GA? MA 45 -- Moccasin Basin Moccasin Basin, Lava Mountain, Tripod Peak, Continental Divide. High elevation and remote, with low development levels but moderate use in fall and winter, big game habitat, few summer trails, groomed winter trails. Whitebark pine, grizzly bear. Add: Protect scenic quality of Continental Divide Nat’l Scenic Trail, recent wildland fire (Hardscrabble) consider future whitebark pine restoration in N. Fork of Fish Creek – more effective closures needed (standards & guidelines). 2. Given the Theme and the NFC (Need for Change) base maps for this GA, which NFC items are most likely to drive a change in management direction here (NFC Drivers)? B: Whitebark pine is declining; P: Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement. NFC Driver: P: Increased winter recreation is causing visitor conflicts and displacement. Potential adjustments (label multiple options as a, b, c, etc.): (a) Close the polygon (area drawn on the map) to public motorized access in winter (b) Close portions of the polygon to public motorized access in winter Rationale for potential adjustments (a) Reduces scarcity of non-motorized winter recreation opportunities (b) Same as for (a), but less so. Potential trade-offs and rationale (indicate adjustment option and NFC item or DC): (a) Slightly reduces availability of winter settings for shared use including snowmobiles (DC {Desired Condition} 2.1.3), perhaps negligible relative to remaining area available. Reduction of motorized access could benefit lynx (NFC items G and O) (b) Same as for (a) but less so. If this “example” doesn’t motivate you to get involved, I don’t know what will. You need to show up to advocate so there are more than just example options (a) or (b) [close all or close portions of the area to snowmobiles]. What about asking for an option to consider leaving the area ‘all open’? What about being there to comment that ‘snowmobilers are the ones being displaced’ by those who want all the forest designated for only non-motorized recreation? This is just one isolated example of “scenarios” that will play out in numerous areas across the Bridger-Teton National Forest as they conduct their workshops. Don’t let their jargon confuse you or scare you away. We need your help. While WSSA will continue to work on this process, we need local snowmobilers to fill these meetings to speak on behalf of continued snowmobiling access. The world is run by those who show up, so please turn out to support our sport! While public meetings and public input for the Shoshone National Forest plan have not yet resumed, they will shortly, and can be monitored at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/shoshone/projects/planning/revision/revision_index.shtml . Stay tuned and watch WSSA’s web site (www.snowmobilewyoming.org ) for updates and action alerts as these plans progress over the summer. Please show up as meetings like this occur over the next year and help make a difference for the future of snowmobiling access in Wyoming! It's a win-win! Thanks to a partnership between ACSA, the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association and Sleds2buy.com a promising new opportunity for sled sellers, buyers and organized snowmobiling has been created. If you have a sled, an atv or a trailer you would like to sell and you would like to get the word out to the state, country, or even world-wide we can deliver! For just $30 you can place an ad with up to 30 pictures for a month on sleds2buy.com. In addition to helping you sell your item, when you use sleds2buy.com to do so, a portion of your listing fee comes back to the WSSA and ACSA to help support and preserve snowmobiling in Wyoming and beyond. In order for credit to be given to the Wyoming State Snowmobile Association, please enter the sleds2buy.com website from this site or bookmark the following url: http://www.sleds2buy.com/Default.aspx?MediaID=48
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