David Thomas: “I know it is now summer, but I will now talk about using snow machines in the Yellowstone Park in the wintertime. It is…”

“I know it is now summer, but I will now talk about using snow machines in the Yellowstone Park in the wintertime. It is a question that has become quite political, as a matter of fact. There have been letters sent to the Department of the Interior from the Senate on both sides. For a number of years, in Grand Teton, in Yellowstone Park, and many of the other parks, the principal access people have had in the wintertime to enjoy their park was with snow machines. It has been done for a long time, really. Frankly, there hasn't been much management of that technique, unfortunately. The park officials have not had much to do with it. They have not sought to organize how and where it is done, separate the snow machines from the cross-country skiers, which can be done so each can have their own opportunity. It has to manage numbers sometimes, for instance, if they become too large around Christmas vacation. They can make changes, but they have not done that. They have an opportunity, and we have an opportunity to have much cleaner machines, which are less noisy and which are less polluting. The manufacturers have indicated they can and will do this. Of course, they need some assurance from EPA that having done it, they will be able to use these machines. But none of these things have happened. Instead, because of the difficulties that are, in fact, there and without management, an EIS study went on for several years.…”