Feds try again to jam snowmobiles into Yellowstone

[Ten Bears]

Makes sense to me ECR.

 

[Hangar18]

It would be interesting to hear what citations your friend issued, and where. Especially this past season.

Email me at sc_hangar18[at]yahoo.com (to keep the spam patrol out of my inbox)

Like I said before, I am glad they are enforcing the law there. One ignorant jerk can make an entire industry look bad. Not saying there is only one, but you get the idea.

That said, this is not even close to a good reason to close the park to others. According to CNN, there were 358 citations for speeding, drunk driving and wildlife harassment in 2002-03. According to the Billings Gazette 338 were issued for 2001-02, 161 for 2000-01. Most between the west entrance and Old Faithful (350 of 358 in 02-03 for example). The increase was due to more enforcement. That also means at worst around 99.5% of the people that entered YNP didn't break the law.

Again, please explain how this will continue to be a problem when entrance is 100% guided.

Sources
CNN - 2002-03 numbers
Billings Gazette - 2000-01-02 numbers

 

[Ten Bears]

Hmmmmmm, zerrrry intereting...........

 

[Hangar18]

PS - Buzz, this is why I advocate the right to ride in Yellowstone, but don't go there myself. Because you can't do this.

http://www.blizzardice.com/images/ScottyPowPow.JPG

 

[JoseCuervo]

Originally posted by Ten Bears:
Makes sense to me ECR.

Today's sign the Apocolypse is Near!!!!

Ten Beers being the only one able to understand ElkCheese...

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

Ten Beers being the only one able to understand ElkCheese... [/QB][/QUOTE]

And Dipithica and Buzz being the only ones to understand yer dumb ass! I'd say you were in the Minority of the board with yer Left wing nut ass views!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Here is the "environmental impact", where the Park Service considers economic impact... I bet there is some sound "science" there...

Park snowmobile business likely to drop

By MIKE STARK - The Billings Gazette - 08/24/04

No matter which path is chosen for snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park, one near-certainty is emerging: the snowmobile business in the park — and the cash that it provides to area businesses — probably won't be what it once was.

Under the latest three-year proposal for snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, businesses in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho stand to lose between $165,000 and $11.5 million next year in comparison to the winter of 1997-98, according to National Park Service estimates.

Job losses could range from four to 280 compared to the 1997-98 season. Economists used that winter for comparison because they said it represents a typical snowmobile season before the controversy and uncertainty over snowmobiling arose.

"That was really the last winter season where there was relative certainty," said Bruce Peacock, a Park Service economist who helped calculate the latest economic estimates for snowmobiling.

The economic outlook also depends on which prism it's viewed through. Businesses in the three states could make between $11 million and $18 million more than they would make if snowmobiles were banned in the parks, according to Park Service estimates.


The estimates are based on visitor surveys, past spending habits, computer modeling and snapshots of local economies. They don't — and can't — accurately predict whether future winter visitors will change their minds and their behavior when new rules are in place and how local businesses might adapt to those changes, according to the economists who prepared them.

"We just don't know how people are going to react," Peacock said.

Economists figure that the average snowmobiler spends about $555 per visit to the Yellowstone area. Those dollars quickly turn over in the community, not only in direct spending on snowmobile rentals, lodging and food but also to plumbers, electricians and others who support those businesses, Peacock said.

"We looked at how this kind of spending reverberates through the economy," he said.

The economic estimates are part of a 200-page environmental assessment released last week by the Park Service.

The proposal is an attempt to put temporary rules in place, lasting for up to three years, while the long-debated issue works its way through two federal court cases and another in-depth study.

Five alternatives were considered for the temporary plan, ranging from a complete ban on snowmobiles to allowing up to 950 a day.

The agency's preferred alternative, which will be put in final form later this year, would allow 720 snowmobiles a day in Yellowstone. All of the machines would have to meet "best available technology" requirements and all riders would have to be accompanied by a commercial guide.

Commercial guides would not be required for the 140 snowmobiles daily allowed into Grand Teton.

Aside from analyzing the environmental impacts of each proposal, Park Service officials also looked at how the proposals would affect local economies.

But reading the economic tea leaves isn't easy.

In its analysis, Park Service officials offer a long list of caveats for their predictions, including uncertainty over future economic trends, changes in spending patterns, the potential for increasing visitors if snowmobiling is banned and the possibility of new businesses popping up in response to the new rules.

One factor could play a key role in the economics: 38 percent of Yellowstone snowmobilers said in a survey last year that they would not visit the park if guided tours were required.

"But when it comes down to it, as far as how the public will react to some of these alternatives and management tools, we won't know for certain until we actually implement them," Peacock said.

As a result of that difficulty in predicting economic trends, economists offered "high impact" and "low impact" scenarios to describe a wide range of possible consequences for different alternatives.

Here's a look at some of the predictions:

- Compared with the 1997-98 season, banning snowmobiles in Yellowstone could lead to an 18 to 43 percent decrease in winter visitors next winter, the loss of 280 to 740 jobs and an $11.5 million to $30.4 million economic loss in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

- In that same comparison with 1997, all of the local economies would lose money under almost all of the scenarios to keep limited snowmobiling in the park. Only one figure — the "low impact" estimate under the proposal to allow up to 950 snowmobiles per day — shows a $1.6 million windfall for state economies.

- The government's preferred choice, called "alternative 4," would decrease overall winter visitor numbers by less than 1 percent to up to 16 percent when compared with the 1997 numbers. Economic losses to West Yellowstone, the most popular snowmobile hub near Yel lowstone, would fall in a range from $51,495 to $3.5 million.

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

So with your copy and past which I've read a long time ago, what are you saying?

 

[Ten Bears]

He really couldn't tell you. Is the study of economics a science or an art?