[Geysers] Re: Snowmobiles in Yellowstone

[srlb at eskimo.com]

Grover Schrayer wrote:

> I sincerely hope that everyone who
> treasures the freedom to go out to
> watch a White Dome eruption by the
> light of an aurora at two a.m. will
> realize that the same logic that
> underlies the move to ban snowmobiles
> can also be used to ban private
> automobiles if the park service deems
> it necessary. It's my personal opinion
> that many attempts to introduce such
> things as monorails into the park have
> more to do with controlling people than
> any sincere wish to protect the resources.
> Careful what you wish for.

I agree. Here's part of a 2002 article published in the New York Times
quoting a park official that reflects your concerns. The URL is no longer
valid, but I've included it to meet copyright requirements. If anyone
wants a copy of the entire article, email me and I'll send it to you.


>> http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Yellowstone-By-Bus.html
>>
>> Yellowstone to Try Public Transit
>>
>> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>>
>> Filed at 2:57 a.m. ET [09/26/2002]
>> BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- Yellowstone National
>> Park is preparing to test the public's appetite
>> for mass transit, hoping visitors will consider
>> giving up their minivans and road-clogging
>> recreation vehicles for commuter buses.
>>
>> ``This park is just being loved to death,''
>> said Jim Evanoff, a management assistant at
>> Yellowstone. ``We're starting to send the signal
>> that private cars are not necessarily going to
>> be the future at Yellowstone.''
>>
>> The mass transit idea, still in its early
>> stages, is part of a program intended to help
>> cut down on air and noise pollution and improve
>> the environment within the country's first
>> national park.
>>
>> Yellowstone recently purchased a small fleet
>> of the famous old yellow tour buses that were
>> phased out of service in the park in the 1950s.
>> Once a chief source of visitor transportation,
>> the buses will be refurbished and are expected
>> to be returned to service in a few years,
>> Evanoff said.
>>
>> The buses likely would be used at first for
>> shuttle service between some of the park's more
>> popular sites, which are often clogged with
>> vehicles and slowed by traffic jams.
>>
>> Evanoff and others, however, hope the buses
>> will eventually be just one part of a greater
>> transportation system that would dramatically
>> cut the number of private vehicles touring the
>> park.
>>
>> ``I envision mass transportation, such as bus
>> companies bringing people to entrance gates and
>> people hopping onto some sort of transportation
>> system ... where you have control of the visitor
>> and minimal disturbance of wildlife,'' Evanoff said.

>> <SNIP>


I'm sure we all understand that when we visit Yellowstone, the NPS needs
to control us more than they do now. Right?

>                  Grover Schrayer

Bob Berger
srlb at eskimo.com