Barbara Cubin: “the decision to ban snowmobiles from the roads of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks is based on politics, not…”

“the decision to ban snowmobiles from the roads of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks is based on politics, not on facts and not on laws. This rule was published just 2 days after President Bush was sworn into office. Much like the roadless rule, this decision was predetermined and more about getting President Clinton in the extreme environmental hall of fame than establishing good public policy. It was one of many sad last-ditch efforts to polish the tarnished Clinton legacy. Predetermining the outcome was an obvious violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, and was well-documented in the lawsuit filed by the State of Wyoming. The Babbitt administration and the Clinton administration rushed to force the snowmobile ban, leaving public tours only to be taken by snowcoaches rather than snowmobiles. What is a snowcoach? It sounds warm and fuzzy and friendly. A snowcoach is a modified sports utility vehicle, a bus or a van, in which the wheels and the drive line are modified to use a track system similar to those used on old Army tanks. We have one here. Notice the bison and how apparently the bison are not bothered by interaction with man. And, by the way, the road we are looking at is the same road that snowmobiles would go on. So it is not going to answer the problem that the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Hoeffel) mentioned about buffalo going down the road. The roads will still be there.”