Yellowstone National Park was established as the nation's first national park in 1872. Rich in wildlife and spectacular scenery, Yellowstone is beloved by people all around the world. But snowmobile use -- more than 70,000 each year -- shatters the solitude, pollutes the air, and diminishes the quality of experience many visitors seek.

Yellowstone is a land of superlatives. It has geysers that shoot off hourly; huge cauldrons of boiling mud; mammoth hot springs; grizzlies, buffalo and wolves. On a frosty winter evening, you can stand beneath sky as dark and deep as velvet, tracing the trails of shooting stars. And, in the distance, you may hear the howl of a wolf.

But too often today, winter visitors to Yellowstone are likely to hear the growl and whine of snowmobiles. Snowmobile use in Yellowstone causes air and noise pollution, human health risks, and stress to wildlife.

While cars outnumber snowmobiles 16 to one and are only used 3 months out of the year, snowmobiles are responsible for up to 68 percent of the park's total carbon monoxide pollution and up to 90 percent of the park's hydrocarbon emissions.

Park Service employees routinely suffer from symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning such as headaches, nausea, sore throats, and stinging eyes. Astonishingly, in 2002, park employees were issued gas masks in order to protect their health. Another problem is noise pollution, which affects visitors 90 percent of the time at 8 of 13 sites studied and drowns out the natural sounds and quiet of the park. The noise is so bad Park employees are being fitted with special devices to prevent hearing loss. Wildlife, particularly bison, are also affected by snowmobiles. The machines harass and stress the wildlife causing the animals to deplete critical energy supplies necessary to survive the winter.

Threats
For more than ten years the National Parks Service (NPS) has been studying snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park. Following years of scientific research, 22 public meetings, and hundreds of thousands of public comments in support of snowmobile restrictions, the park announced a policy to phase out the use of snowmobiles and replace them with a snowcoach mass transit system.

But in June, 2002, under considerable political pressure, the Park Service reversed its position. In November, 2002, the agency announced it would delay implementation of a phase-out by at least a year.

The National Park Service must make a final decision on whether to ban snowmobile use, in the form of a rule, by March 21, 2003. It is likely that the rule will allow continued snowmobile use despite some 350,000 public comments on the SEIS, 80 percent of which do not support continued use.

What We Are Doing
Our WildAlert online community of activists generated tens of thousands of comments on the issue of Yellowstone snowmobiles. We are also lobbying for the passage of the Yellowstone Protection Act that will effectively phase out snowmobile use in the Park.