The Bush Administration has decided to appeal a court ruling that last month threw out its policy on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, which a federal judge ruled was "completely politically driven"[1] and not based on sound science.
The government filed notice of its intent to appeal last Thursday, according to one of the environmental plaintiffs, Bluewater Network.
"This is another example of how the Bush Administration is in bed with industry," Sean Smith, public lands director for the Bluewater Network, told BushGreenwatch. "Having a federal appeal pending was the only valid way the snowmobile industry could move forward with its legal challenge."
Last month, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the National Park Service to restore a Clinton-era plan to ban snowmobiles in the two parks in favor of quieter, less-intrusive "snow coaches" operated by the park service. He ruled that the Bush Administration's overturning of the Clinton ban was "arbitrary and capricious" and in conflict with the National Park Service's scientific analysis of the impacts on air quality and wildlife.
The state of Wyoming, the BlueRibbon Coalition (a motorized recreational industry group) and the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association sought to stay the district court's decision pending their appeal so that the number of snowmobilers allowed in Yellowstone wouldn't be affected this season.
Bluewater Network and other plaintiffs argued in court that intervenors like the snowmobile industry are unable to seek such action unless the defendant -- the federal government -- filed an appeal. With the Bush Administration now appealing, it gives industry the ability to seek to stay, or freeze, the judge's decision pending appeal.
Under the Clinton plan to phase out snowmobiles, a limited number of the machines is allowed in the parks this winter: 493 per day in Yellowstone and 50 per day in Grand Teton and on the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway that connects the parks.
"It's time for the Bush Administration to let go of this issue. Wildlife science, the courts and the public all support a ban on these machines," said D.J. Schubert, a biologist for the Fund for Animals. "The Administration should go further to restore naturalness to Yellowstone National Park per their own mandate and to protect Yellowstone's important bison population by prohibiting road-grooming activities in the park."
SOURCES:
[1] The Fund For Animals et al v. Gale Norton et al, memorandum opinion, U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, Dec. 17, 2003.
