Park Rangers with Respirators

“New York Times
Editorial/Op-Ed

March 6, 2002

Park Rangers With Respirators

Unless President Bush bestirs himself, the controversy over snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park is likely to become for Interior Secretary Gale Norton what arsenic was for Christie Whitman: a thoroughly misguided and wholly unnecessary policy initiative that favors a small group of people Mr. Bush has in his camp anyway while annoying a far larger constituency he can ill afford to lose.

This is the sort of simple equation that Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's political adviser, is paid to understand. So far, however, the administration has shown no hint of reversing its pro-snowmobile policy in Yellowstone. Indeed, shortly before Yellowstone celebrated its 130th birthday last week, workers at the kiosks at the park's western entrance were issued respirators to help them deal with the carbon monoxide created by the hundreds of snowmobiles that gather there on winter mornings. Photographs of Park Service employees wearing gas masks in what is supposed to be the crown jewel of the park system are clearly not in the best interests of a president who made enhancing the parks the centerpiece (some would say the only piece) of his environmental agenda in the 2000 campaign.

The policy Mr. Bush inherited from President Bill Clinton made good sense. In November 2000, after more than 10 years of study and hundreds of thousands of public comments, the Park Service recommended a three-year phaseout of snowmobiles in Yellowstone and other national parks. The policy would have been enormously beneficial to the non-snowmobiling visitors to Yellowstone and its wildlife, while doing little damage to the snowmobiling industry. As Senator Harry Reid of Nevada observed during a Senate debate on the matter, of the 130,000 miles of designated snowmobile trails in the United States, only 600 are in the national parks, leaving 129,400 for the machines.

That seemed more than enough to everyone except the Bush administration, which immediately caved in to the industry and put the snowmobile rule on hold along with a host of other Clinton-era regulations like the one reducing arsenic levels in drinking water. It also ordered up another environmental study from the Park Service that, it hoped, would demonstrate that the industry could produce a new generation of cleaner, quieter machines capable of coexisting with nature. The study is now complete, and — no surprise — it shows that even state-of-the-art snowmobiles will not be significantly cleaner or quieter.

Ms. Norton will put this latest report out for public comment, as required by law. But the science is against her, her own Park Service is against her and, if history is any guide, the public will be overwhelmingly against her. When the comment period ends, she should gracefully fold what is obviously a losing hand.”

“Getchyer ying-ding runnin'
Head out on the trail
Lookin' fer adventure
Tryin' not to inhale”

“The Solution!

This is caused by the NPS fee collection at the Park entrance. Eliminate the fee collection toll booth and the lines disappear.

Why didn't the eco-talibans think of that.”

“The 'bilers think it's a God-given right to race through Yellowstone Park on the back of a snow machine. They've politicized it to the point where you're viewed as an obstructionist if you think there ought to be a limit or ban on snowmobiles in the Park. The business people in the gateway communities (primarily West Yellowstone, MT) think it will destroy their livlihood if the machines are banned from the Park. So, essentially, the public is subsidizing these businesses catering to snowmobiles.

The reality is that most of the snowmobiling occurs outside the Park. The sad fact is that the winter solitude of the Park is diminished. Little mention is made of the large numbers of people who travel into the park via snowcoach and skis. I've been in Canyon during the winter and could hear the roar of snowmobiles all night long 30 miles away at West Yellowstone. The reason the Park was designated a park was to protect it and preserve it for future generations. I'm no eco-Taliban or eco- babbling terrorist. I'd just like to be able to go SOMEWHERE now and then and not hear a whiney 2-cycle ringing in my ears!”

“Another thing to add to my list of dumbest things in the backcountry......SNOWMOBILES!

8|”

“I'd like to be able to go somewhere and not hear a whiney eco-purist ringing in my ear.”

“I know, gordon! Let's set up special areas where you can do anything you want; snowmobile, dirt bike, 4-wheel, ATV. No regulations, just a free-for all! After all, it's America and we wouldn't want trample on anyone's rights. Have a nice hike!”

“I thought we had special areas like that already set up. They're called National Parks ;)”

“Isn't Yellowstone a National Park?

"...the lines will disappear..."???

Good idea.....and the other users can pay for the Ying-dings.

Who cares about the air pollution?
That's all a hoax anyway!

Eco-Taliban.....gee, that's clever!
That sounds like a Limbaugh-ism!

Are they still Re-hashed Communists?
Or is that last week's insult?”

“This is all part of "Big Government's" plan to shuffle those pesky humans off, not only the landscape of the “Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem”, but most of the West.”

“i'm getting two cycle boots next time.”

“Hey b2tiny- If it weren't for "Big Govmint" there wouldn't be any people in the West!”

“Under Klinton, an inordinate amount of our countries resources (tax dollars) were being spent on acquiring land for no useful purpose other than to put it under federal government control.”

“bird2tiny:

That's not the governments plan -- it's the eco-terrorist's plan. The Wildlands Project advocates restricting and banning any human use of up to one third of North America.”

“Don’t believe in Eco-terrorists Tommy Boy?

Ever hear of Earth First?

They published a ‘Death Manual” full of useful traps and tricks to cause physical harm and even death to off road enthusiasts like the spike board, neck-breaker pit, hanging fish hooks from trees, neck level wires and leaving cans of sugar spiked gasoline around.

The imaginary Eco-terrorists are urged to use their imagination and have fun!”

“Klinton should have been a goood prez. and spend that money on bombs.”

“The goal of the Eco-terrorists is to return the West to pre-European conditions. Not only are all forms of motorized recreation threatened, but mechanized and non-motorized are also threatened. That means backpacking too.

You’d be wise to remember Martin Niemöller’s words:

“In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me -
and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

This is not even an environmental issue. Their goal is total government control of all aspects of life. Yes Eco-Taliban is a fitting label.”

“I like that idea, Aero. What if the big bad gov't had stayed out of it and the pioneers had negotiated with the natives on an individual basis regarding land use, say, for everything west of the Appalachians? No Horace Greely ("Go West, young man!"); no Manifest Destiny...

I wonder what things would look like now? Mexico would stretch from southern Texas to California. Think of all the different dialects spoken by descendants of the English, the Piutes, the French, the Shoshone, the Spanish, the Cherokee, ... Imagine what a rich civilization there might have been if there hadn't been wars with the native population...

hahahhahahaha... I'm 'degrading' My Own Thread for a change.


Hey Gordon, what the heck happened to you? Did the EPA swipe some of your property? Was it the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act... what set you off?


Birdy... n e v e r m i n d . . .”

“Get a battery powered, silent snowmobile gowing int he backcountry, and I'd have less of a problem with them. As it stands now, they're noisy machines that scare away all the wildlife and tuin the backcountry experience for everyone else out there that has to listen to all that racket. not to mention the dip#&%!$s that feel compelled to highmark on mountainsides and get buried in avalanches at taxpayer expense. Let 'em race around the trash dump.

Ooooh. They want to kick EVERYONE out of the backcountry. What a bunch of paranoid bs.”

“rosey- ya got that right. You look for just one place you can get away from all the "motorized wilderness fun" out there and the paranoids think you're trampling on their rights.”

“Yer bird's too tiny for what?


Ever heard of the Symbionese Liberation Army?
They're gonna get ya too!

That sounds like more "Pinky and The Brain" paranoia.......

They're coming to take me away, ha ha!!!

Total government control of all aspects of life?

What do you think the Butch Regime is up to NOW?
roseymonster-
I like that idea!
Let 'em race around the trash dump
with their mullets flyin' free!
And for goodness sake, don't wear a helmet!”

“The bird is RIGHT.

The hidden agenda of the EMERGING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE is to reduce the population of the world to 300 million people! Population control is their excuse for this genocide. The entire North American continent is to be A PARK FOR THE ELITE.”

“Reducing levels of snowmbile exhaust in Yellowstone
= EMERGING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE




"Help, the paranoids are after me!"”

“For guys like gordon?”

“To achieve their goal, the elite have been using their DRUG MONEY to legislate “forced psychiatric treatment” laws. This drug money is from both legal and illegal drugs. The legal drugs of the pharmaceutical companies have financed PSYCHIATRIC PERVERSION AND SUBVERSION OF OUR SOCIETY for decades. Once their power is completely absolute, they will force millions of people to take a psychiatric exam. Upon taking this exam, you will be diagnosed as MENTALLY ILL and forced to take psychiatric medications. These psychiatric medications are brain damaging, poisonous chemicals that will hasten your death. If anyone protests, they will be quickly REMOVED FROM THE PUBLIC EYE by being sent to mental institutions. There, the unfortunate victims will be shocked with electricity, drugged with brain damaging chemicals, restrained, injected with powerful tranquilizers, confined in SOLITARY ISOLATION ROOMS and thus slowly tortured to death a bit quicker than those out in public.”

“Is that assertion based on your personal experience Marvy?”

“quotes:

"We have got to share this planet with the other living creatures, and sharing means not merely preserving them in zoos
or National Parks, but setting aside huge areas. Whole regions perhaps that will be free of human interference.
Ideally, I would like to see certain large areas of the planet set off-limits to human entry of any kind, even aerial over flights."
--Edward Abbey-Deep Ecology for the 21st Century: The Natural Wonder: An Ecocentric World View. New Dimensions Radio, 1998

"The only hope of the Earth is to withdraw huge areas as inviolate natural sanctuaries from the depredations of modern industry
and technology. Move out the people and cars. Reclaim the roads and the plowed lands."
--Dave Foreman,
Confessions of an Eco-Warrior


"Does all the foregoing mean that Wild Earth and The Wildlands Project advocate the end of industrialized civilization?
Most assuredly. Everything civilized must go..."
--John Davis, editor of
Wild Earth magazine


Ecology is a limited science which makes use of scientific methods."
"...it should, first of all, be borne in mind that the norms and tendencies of the Deep Ecology movement are not derived
from ecology by logic or induction."
--Naess, Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, pgs 154-153


"Furthermore, most attempts to use sustainability as a management paradigm have been anthropocentric,
biased toward commodity production, and seriously flawed from a biological standpoint."
--Wild Earth, pg 13

"Expand park and wilderness areas to include adjacent old growth, roadless areas, and ecological areas.
Size depending on context may range from 10,000 acres to 25 million acres, but bigger is better.
It should be roadless, existing roads should be closed.
Human access greatly reduced or eliminated all together: "Many ecologists (myself included) would just as soon see huge areas
of land kept off limits to human activities of any kind."
--Noss, WWF Discussion Paper, pg 12”

“gordy- shouldn't you be over on the NASCAR forum?”

“Well, quotes are okay... as far as they go... but they aren't what 'set you off' are they?

You weren't reading these individual works and realised you violently disagreed with the viewpoints of the authors... ? I thought For Sure you had had a more personal run-in for the reaction anything related to Environmentalism produces in you.


P.S.

Did somebody say 'avalanche'?”

“Hey Gordo. There have to be extremes to keep things in the balance. You defeintely pulled from sources bordering more on the extreme tho I really don't have a problem with the concept of sanctuary areas that are off limits to humans. You act like were the only thing living on this planet. Guess what. Things have taken a dramatic turn for the worse on this planet since modern humans showed up. Ask any grizzly bear.

I feel confident that if even some areas were designated as "off limits" to humans in order to maintain "pure" habitat, there would be adjacent areas that would be open to human access. That's what the National Parks are all about and as long as the Blue Ribbon Coalition is shmoozing everyone, no doubt they'll be "eco-resorts" in every National Park so we can ORV to the top of every peak.”

“Dammit rosey, quit being so reasonable!”

“Oh yeah, and I highly support the trend of snowmobilers who like to see how far they can get their machines across open water before they drown.”

“The debunker's role in all of this is to convince us that there is no environmental conspiracy. That everything continues as it always has. Preserve the status quo. Keep 'em pacified and ignorant. This is what they are hired to do. They do derive a certain warped glee from this work- feeling intellectually superior to the rest of us and enjoying the fencing with us on a level which they feel confident in. In truth, however, roseymonster, Tilt, Tommy Boy and aero are merely pawns in the grand scheme of things and are, in fact, being toyed with by parties who only chuckle at their arrogant pomposity.”

“Excerpt from the Science News article...

Watch out for that tree!

People and avalanches are a bad mix. More than 600 people have been killed in avalanches in the United States since 1950, says Dale Atkins of the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in Boulder. The rate of fatalities increased dramatically between 1950 and 2000; almost 40 percent of reported avalanche deaths occurred in the 1990s. Atkins suggests that the striking jump in avalanche deaths from the 1980s to the 1990s—from 143 to 234—is probably simply the result of more people enjoying recreation in the backcountry. For example, snowmobile registrations in Colorado almost doubled between 1989 and 1999.

More than 83 percent of all avalanche victims since 1950 were engaged in some sort of recreation at the time of their deaths, says Atkins. The profile of the typical avalanche victim has changed through the decades, however. During the 1960s and 1970s, mountain climbers topped the list of fatalities. In the 1980s, backcountry skiers led the pack, and in the 1990s snowmobilers accounted for the highest percentage of deaths.”

“You should change your name to brain2tiny!!”

“Yes, yes, Tilt. Let’s let paternalistic government protect us from everything! By your logic, backcountry skiing and mountain climbing should be prohibited. What next? Cars? Bathtubs?”

“roseymonster – You should change your name to Mr. Debunker. Why not at least be up-front about it?”

“More petulant child than debunker, I should think. You do flatter yourself. If that's too many syllables, try on 'troll' for size.

"If the foo #&%!$s..."

Attempting to provoke people into fiery outbursts is quite a calling, but failing that, what to do next?”

“Oh I don’t know. Maybe engaging in pointless, circular, dysfunctional dialogues? Any better ideas?”

“Trollin' Trollin' Trollin'

Though the threads are swollen..

Keep them posts a' rollin'

Run-hide!”

“Limit the access for snowgoers lets say weekly to monthly thru the winter season in limited areas of the park. Allow for "quiet" times, a off season. Charge extra fees for snowgo's. Introduce and promote more dogsledding companies or anything that will help stimulate the local ecomony by catering to winter tourists.”

“< G >”

“It does make you wish there were a conspiracy to eradicate all off-road vehicles once you have them ruin your experience in the wilderness. Where do I sign up?”

“as we head home from the backcountry, we hafta put up with all the street bikes blistering the mountain roads.

Freakin' noise noise noise. And gee - I'm *mostly* deaf in one ear!”

“Thats has gone way to far!!!!

8|”

“I read in the paper recently that the snow coaches put out more polution than the snowmobiles.

Once snowmobiles are banned guess what will be next?

Then when snowcoaches are banned guess what will be next?

Then when dogsleds are banned guess what will be next?

Then when people are banned guess who will have the big playground to themselves?”

“Good point!

8|”

“(lucky I didn't bring up friggin'jet skis)”

“Where is the logical step from banning snowmobiles from the National Parks to banning hikers? I don't see it. So, no matter where you are hiking or camping, I have the right to roar by you whenever and wherever I feel like it? I do not get it! Snowmobiles, Atvs, and dirt bikes have PLENTY of places to travel without using Yellowstone.”