The federal judge who just rejected a plan to allow more snowmobiles into Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks did the right thing for the right reason. If only this sensible ruling could be the end of this long-running dispute.
The wrangling won't stop here, though. Those who want more access for snowmobiles in the national parks will appeal. And a separate suit brought by the state of Wyoming and a county that borders Yellowstone is being heard in a federal court in Cheyenne.
The ruling rejecting the Bush administration's plan to allow 540 snowmobiles a day into the parks was issued in U.S. District Court in Washington by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. He says that's too many. The suit being heard in Wyoming says that number isn't enough; it wants the court to order that the plan allow as many as 720 a day. Over the last several years, the average number has been about 260 a day.
This battle has been fought over and over. The park service decided years ago that snowmobiling had gotten out of hand, with as many as 1,700 of the machines entering the park on some weekend days, and park rangers wearing respirators to breathe amid the exhaust. In 2000, the Clinton administration ordered a ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton to take effect in 2004.
But the Bush administration, never much of a friend to the national parks, moved to keep the ban from taking effect, and there have been rulings, lawsuits, appeals and confusion ever since.
Judging from the number of people who weigh in during public-comment periods, snowmobiles in Yellowstone is the most controversial issue dogging the park system. It's not that huge numbers of Americans visit Yellowstone during the winter. Nor is it that snowmobiles are the only way into the parks in winter, or that the parks are the only place in the area to ride. Those who visit the parks in winter can travel by less disruptive snow coaches. Those who want to ride snowmobiles can use trails in nearby national forests or on private property.
The level of interest is high partly because the dispute is symbolic of a larger controversy over the national parks that has come to the forefront under President Bush.
This administration has viewed the national parks as playgrounds for those who can afford to play there and as resources to be developed. Its motto could be: Have fun here, make money now, and don't worry about the future.
But Sullivan went to the heart of the matter when he noted that the primary mission of the national parks is to preserve natural treasures for generations to come. If preservation and "use" conflict, then preservation must prevail. The parks are to be open to visitors, but they must visit lightly. To allow hundreds of snowmobiles to roar in each day, polluting the air, disrupting wildlife and disturbing visitors who come to appreciate nature, is to abandon the park system's responsibility to protect the parks, he wrote.
The judge is right. We hope any future rulings will be similarly wise, and we hope the next administration will better carry out the mission of the national parks.
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