March 2004
Yellowstone Snowmobile Debate Continues
December 16, 2003, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that Yellowstone National Park be closed to snowmobiles per the Clinton rule of 2001 dictated. Judge Sullivan wrote, "In 2001, the rule-making process culminated in a finding that snowmobiling so adversely impacted the wildlife and resources of the parks that all snowmobile use must be halted." He said that the Bush Administration's reversal of this rule was arbitrary. February 10, 2004, Cheyenne-based U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer issued an injunction instructing the National Park Service to develop temporary rules for snowmobile use in the park for the remainder of the season. The Park Service immediately began to allow 780 snowmobiles into Yellowstone each day. The Clinton rule would have reduced the daily limit to 493 this season and replaced them completely with snowcoaches for the winter snow season to begin in December 2004.
Future hearings are scheduled for April, 2004.