Snowmobile ban in parks overturned
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Californians Hans and Teresa Nettel with their dog, Prince, park their rented snowmobile after seeing Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in January 2003
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CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) -- A federal judge blocked severe restrictions on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks Tuesday, nearly two months after they were put in place.
U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming ruled the restrictions would cause irreparable harm to companies that rely on snowmobiling in the parks due to lost business.
Brimmer issued a temporary restraining order against the restrictions and ordered the National Park Service to develop temporary rules for the rest of the 2004 season including use of cleaner, quieter snowmobiles.
It was not immediately clear what the next legal step would be, or what rules would be in effect for the 2005 season.
In December, just before the snowmobile season in the parks, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., reinstated a Clinton administration plan to ban snowmobiles in favor of less-polluting mass-transit snow coaches.
Sullivan's ruling allowed a limited number of snowmobiles in the parks this winter, but all had to be part of commercially guided trips. The ruling called for a complete ban next winter.
Snowmobile manufacturers and Wyoming officials appealed Sullivan's ruling, saying the phase-out would devastate communities that rely on winter tourism.
Environmental groups support the ban, arguing that snowmobiles create air and noise pollution in the parks and endanger the health of park workers. They also contend that the snowmobiles harass and hurt wildlife.
Sullivan's ruling scuttled a 2001 settlement between the Bush administration and the state and snowmobile groups.
The settlement did not ban snowmobiles, but reduced the number of the vehicles allowed in the parks and required cleaner-burning machines.
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