[Geysers] Plowing the park in winter

[Mauree0258 at aol.com]

Hello from Maureen who lives in West Yellowstone and is  an advocate of 
plowing the roads in Yellowstone!
 
The web site, PLOWYELLOWSTONE.ORG will be updated regularly with more  
articles about why the park being plowed in winter would be a GOOD thing for  
everyone.
 
Paul Strasser raised some questions that maybe put some fear into people  
about Yellowstone in winter.  The road from Mammoth to Cooke City is open  
year round, and is much more desolate of terrain than the Old Faithful 
corridor  and in my 30 years living here I have never heard of a major accident or 
death  because of people on the roads in the night.  
 
Yes, Rangers will have to patrol the roads.  The conditions most of  the 
winter are no more extreme than they can be in mid April, when the park  is 
open, and again in mid October.  Below zero temps are possible at those  times 
and everything seems to work OK.  Yes, Rangers will need jumper  cables, 
and blankets in their vehicles, yet keeping the road open should not  cause 
anyone extreme concern.  Someone at Fountain Paint Pots in distress  would 
hopefully have a Ranger to their rescue in due time.  
 
Paul was concerned about gas stations.  I would guess there would  be a gas 
station open.  Demand would require it.  And whether or not  they build 
more winter worthy structures, well, that could happen.  Tear  down some of the 
shacks and put up winterized facilities.  
 
As to the town of West Yellowstone, the town is currently dying in  winter. 
 There is NO WAY that 500 people going in the gate a day can  sustain an 
economy the size of West Yellowstone.  People have had to close  shops or 
leave town to get by in winter.  Plowing the roads would provide a  12 month 
economy for the town, with the gate open 365 days a year, things will  be much 
better for people in West Yellowstone, believe me.  Snowmobile  shops can 
still rent snowmobiles for riding the hundreds of miles of trails  around West 
and the Snow Coach folks can change over to buses, like they do in  summer. 
 Guided tours will not go away, people will just have the chance to  drive 
in on their own schedule, with their own vehicles.
 
As to Norris access, I think the talk is they would plow from Madison to  
Mammoth as well.  People wanting to access Canyon and Lake could take trips  
starting at Norris or Old Faithful.  That the few hearty souls that "do the  
loop" on snowmobiles could no longer do it, well, some things must be 
sacrificed  for the greater good.  Plowing to Mammoth would provide year round 
access  from West to the Lamar valley.  Now folks have to drive a very long 
way to  get there in winter from West.  
 
As to the Rangers needing a rest, that made me laugh.  If there  is year 
round access to Old Faithful, they will have to take  vacations, like people 
do in the rest of the world.  I do not think there  will ever be a lack of 
people wanting to work in Yellowstone as park  personnel.  It will add jobs 
for folks in West, who are laid off from their  gate positions, or maintenance 
jobs in winter.
 
Yes, there will have to be more money allocated  to Yellowstone.  Yet 
Yellowstone is supposed to be the Crown Jewel of  parks, and hopefully the 
Department of the Interior will help make this all a  reality.  
 
The main point is public access to Yellowstone.  The public has a  right to 
access Yellowstone without spending hundreds of dollars for one day in  the 
park.  Plowing is the answer, and letting us bring in our own cars as  we 
do successfully the rest of the year.  Please comment in favor of  plowing by 
March 30th.  Every voice counts.  
 
 
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