More Snowmobiles in Western Parks

“Let the fascism begin! I know. Lets drill for oil in Yellowstone. And maybe a casino! God, I hate Republicans.”

“Never discuss religion, or politics.

I'm out of here.”

“japhy i agrea with you! bush is only interested in making more money for his buisness suporters...drill this, mine that, take away wilderness! ARGH! Damn him!”

“AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrr!”

“Federal judge blocks restrictions on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Parks.

Link”

“Just one more of the Bush administration's Socialist bailouts to industry.”

“It seems we can expect pro business rulings from Brimmer ---

Anon. 1992. Ruling could restrict bison, elk movement. Feedstuffs. 64: 4.
(note: the entire text of the article follows) A federal judge has ruled that two U.S. agencies were at fault in not restricting movement of brucellosis-infected bison and elk herds roaming the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks in northwestern Wyoming. The ruling, handed down here by Judge Clarence Brimmer, found that the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service did not sufficiently limit the herds' sizes. He explained that the herds grew larger than the parks could support, forcing infected bison and elk outside the parks in search of food. Brimmer's ruling came on a suit brought by the Parker Land & Cattle Co., which claimed the bison and elk infected its cattle, causing them to abort fetuses and requiring their destruction. However, Brimmer did not award damages to Parker, saying the ranch, which grazes on adjacent forest service land, did not prove the cattle were infected by the wildlife. The ruling also could turn out to be contrary to Parker's and other ranchers' interests, according to government officials and public lands ranchers who submitted supporting briefs or testified in the case. The park and wildlife services suggested that the ruling means they either must destroy bison and elk because brucellosis vaccines effective for cattle are not proven to work for bison and elk, or they must withdraw public grazing permits on nearby land.

http://www.montana.edu/~wwwcbs/brucbib.html




FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NATIONAL FOREST 'ROADLESS RULE'
A U.S. District Court judge on Monday struck down the U.S. Forest Service rule banning road-building in millions of acres of roadless national forestland. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer called the so-called roadless rule a "thinly veiled attempt to designate 'wilderness areas' in violation of the clear and unambiguous process established by the Wilderness Act."

http://www.esa.org/pao/policy_news/epudocs/072503.php”

“And you all thought you could keep politics out of backpacking! HAHA!”

“Really.

I wonder how all that crap about the AT on Saddleback mountain turned out? Supposedly there were negotiations to buy the land from the ski resort, but they were jacking up the price.....

More Politics.


The simple fact is that we have to keep a close eye on the people who have a say in how public lands are managed --- so they don't #&%!$ up tooooooo badly, LOL”

“And all those summer tourists' cars don't pollute?”

“I have no problem with them allowing snowmobiles in the park as long as they are only allowed on existing roads and trails that allow motorized vehicles the other months of the year. All other areas should be off limits.”

“The snowmobile use issue comes up in Baxter Park every now and then...they are only allowed on the perimeter road where the speed limit is 20 mph. The trail is not groomed.

Some winter trekkers don't like the noise and the smell, but they want the trail to be broken for them to ski in on.

I don't mind them at all, never had a problem, only met nice friendly people...out there for similar reasons, just different ways of getting out there.

I remember one year we were in the park, got 16" of snow overnight...we waited for the first snowmobiliers to break trail for us.”

“if the nps has studied the problem well enough to establish a limit of 540/day then they must have a good understanding of how this motorized use would impact the park. if the judge didn't feel that the nps did a good job explaining what this rationale was then he is well within his rights to reject the plan.”

“I like the 20mph rule too. I wish they'd pass something like that here in NY. Nothing like being out on a lake ice fishing and having 20 sleds fly through the middle of your tipups going 90mph. I've even setup traffic cones and caution tape, which hasn't done much.”

“the 20mph rule is only in BSP, and only because that's the year round speed limit...and I'm not sure anyone actually follows that, but not having groomed trails helps. Ice seems to be one of those places they just let loose on...”

“I cry when one of them gets buried in an avalanche while highsiding.”

“You probably cry when you masturbate, too.



Do they have regular snowmobile trails now or is this just an expansion of areas open to snowmobiling? (sorry, didn't read the entire thread)

We have hundreds of miles of groomed trails in our state but there are still areas where they ride off trail---usually two tracks and old logging roads. (It's not easy breaking new trails, believe it or not.) As for the speed limit, it's not a bad idea for safety's sake, really. Darwin welcomes quite a few of the speed demons every single year around here.”

“Well, it does feel pretty dang good...”

“A little consideration for others. I've been out and when I see skiers I slow way down before I get to them and aways afterwards. My friend, he's not so nice, so when I went with him, we usually didn't get any smiles or waves, even with me being the nice guy. Breaking trail works both ways. I have used skiers tracks in fresh snow and they have followed my tracks when I went first. Lately, with me away from home all week, if we get snow, I have to take care of my place first, then go riding. By then, XC skiers have been out and made their tracks.

You are right about Darwin, every year it seems, someone gets banged up pretty good. Those new sleds haul a$$ and when you mix no law enforcement, alcohol, speed and lack of justment, something gives. I agree about limiting sleds to roads in Jellystone, animals can't move fast in the snow and sleds would be able to harass them pretty easy without even trying hard. Locals I have talked to, say it isn't that much fun up there, you have to go too slow, that takes the fun out.”