A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

Preservation for all

SNOWMOBILES do not belong on the roads of Yellowstone or in the wilderness
of Alaska's Denali National Park.

United States law clearly prohibits the environmental damage these vehicles
inflict on delicate ecosystems. The National Park Service has banned their
use in Denali's wilderness core and initiated a phased-in ban in Yellowstone
over two years.

Yet the Bush administration is seeking to reverse these directives by
negotiating with the snowmobile industry to settle lawsuits brought against
the Park Service last year. The agreements being discussed might allow 800
snowmobiles per day to enter Yellowstone - about the average now, say
environmental groups - and, through legislation, allow snowmobiles into
400,000 acres of Alaskan wilderness, even though the 1964 Wilderness Act
bans motorized vehicles in such areas.

Similarly, the government is talking with swamp buggy enthusiasts who
brought suit over environmental controls in Florida's ravaged Big Cypress
National Preserve.

The White House sees these disputes as a public access issue and thinks
denying some people the right to enjoy a national park is unfair. But parks
have had rules since their inception, precisely to ensure the broadest
possible public access that allows people to experience nature's jewels
without harming them.

''Snowmobilers saying they need to ride their machines to enjoy the park is
like saying you can't really enjoy the Liberty Bell unless you ring it,''
says Scott Kovarovics, director of the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition.
The National Park Service proposal called for snow coaches in Yellowstone -
vans with special tires and sled runners - to transport from eight to 16
people into the beauty of winter, when the park roads are closed to cars.

But Ed Klim, president of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers
Association, says that's not experiencing nature. ''We should have an open
discussion on what Americans want. Do we want to get on buses, put our noses
to the window, and point?'' he asks. ''Do we want to get off the bus when
the driver tells us to, take our pictures in a group, and then get back on
the bus?''

Yes - if we want to ride into Yellowstone in the winter. We'd ride that way
in the summer too if the park brought in shuttle buses available at
Yosemite, Zion, and Acadia.

No American is being denied access to a park. A machine is being denied
access. Air and noise pollution are being denied access. Even with cleaner,
quieter engines, snowmobiles still spew carbon monoxide and can mute the cry
of a hawk.

The national parks are a gift, and government must preserve them for future
generations - not chip away at their treasures to please a narrow, vocal
constituency.


This story ran on page 22 of the Boston Globe on 6/29/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

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