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Science Forum Index » Environment Forum » Judge upholds Yellowstone snowmobile ban
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| Aozotorp |
 Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 8:02 pm |
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http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2003/12/24/b
uild/wyoming/20-snowmobiles.inc
Headline:
Judge upholds Yellowstone snowmobile ban
By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff
The curtailed snowmobile season in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks
will stay in place - at least for now.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday denied a motion to temporarily
put on hold his earlier decision requiring the National Park Service to
reinstate a plan to ban snowmobiles in the two parks.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said those who made the request "failed to
present any new evidence to persuade the court that its holding was in error."
Later in the day, the state of Wyoming and a snowmobile advocacy group vowed to
quickly appeal Sullivan's decision and said they also planned to revive a
dormant case in a Wyoming federal court that challenged the Clinton
administration's plan to prohibit snowmobiles in the parks.
"This is not over," said Bill Dart, public lands director for the Idaho-based
BlueRibbon Coalition.
On Dec. 16, a day before the start of the winter season in Yellowstone,
Sullivan ruled that the Bush administration should not have set aside a
previous ban on snowmobiles in favor of a new proposal to allow a limited
number of "cleaner and quieter" machines into the parks.
In his ruling, Sullivan ordered the Park Service to reinstate the plan to phase
out snowmobiles, which means a 50 percent reduction in the number of
snowmobiles this year and a complete ban on the machines starting in the winter
of 2004-05.
The ruling sent shudders through the snowmobile industry, especially those that
bank on winter business in Yellowstone.
Shortly after the decision, the state of Wyoming, the International Snowmobile
Manufacturers Association and BlueRibbon Coalition filed motions asking for
Sullivan to stay his decision.
On Tuesday afternoon, Sullivan issued a six-page order denying the motions.
Sullivan said the groups failed to back up their claims that his last-minute
decision would cause "irreparable harm" and "lead to chaos" in the parks. Those
allegations were "disingenuous at best," Sullivan wrote. ... (cont) |
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