What would nature loving Americans do if three separate
studies showed that a single, preventable type of activity was damaging
the majestic Yellowstone National Park?
If you were George Bush's National Park Service, you'd
nearly triple that activity!
Yes, it's true. The National Park Service (NPS) proposes
Yellowstone guidelines that will nearly triple nitrogen oxide
emissions, double hydrocarbon emissions, and push carbon monoxide
emissions up 60 percent in the park.
To what end would our government increase such
pollution, you ask? To allow a near threefold increase in snowmobiling.
Despite the analyses in 2000, 2003, and 2004 finding
current snowmobile emissions and noise levels a threat to the park's
health, the NPS just couldn't bear to bridle these fuel-dripping,
two-stroke screamers. Instead it seeks to expand the daily number of
snowmobiles in the park from an already-harmful 250 to a whopping 720.
Fortunately, the NPS is taking comments right now on the
rule change for snowmobile use. While it is pushing its "preferred
alternative" to increase the number of snowmobiles in the
park, there is another alternative we can support -- "Alternative
2" -- that would allow motorized access through the park only through
snowcoach, and would phase out the use of snowmobiles (see below to
find out just how dirty snowmobiles are).
Submit your comment now, urging the NPS to adopt
"Alternative 2" -- then get everyone you know who cares about the
preservation of national parks to send in a comment too.
Using snowmobiles in Yellowstone is a bad idea --
expanding their use there is sheer madness.
Sincerely,
Kate Horner
Friends of the Earth
Take action here: www.FOE.org/SaveYellowstone
Read the letter urging the phase out of all
snowmobiles at Yellowstone, signed by a bipartisan group of every
living NPS director but one (under ethics guidelines, the recently
retired Fran Mainella cannot comment within a year of departure).
Some Facts About Snowmobiling
Snowmobiles cause far more pollution than automobiles.
Two-stroke engines power nearly all snowmobiles.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), two-stroke
engines dump up to 30% of their fuel, a mixture of gas and oil,
directly into the environment. By contrast, automobiles are driven by
four-stroke engines which release 97% fewer emissions than two-strokes.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), using data from the
International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association, concluded that
seven hours on a typical snowmobile produces more pollution than
driving a modern car over 100,000 miles!
At Old Faithful, every weekend of snowmobile traffic
produces a year's worth of park-wide automobile pollution. In addition,
snowmobile advocates often fail to mention the staggering volume of
carbon monoxide (CO) spewed from snowmobiles.
According to industry statistics, snowmobiles discharge
1,000 times more CO than automobiles.
Send your comments to the NPS now!
Snowmobiling may causes dizziness, nausea, and headaches.
The snowmobile industry often states that snowmobiling
is a healthy way to enjoy the outdoors. But recent tests show that
carbon monoxide levels behind a single snowmobile are equal to the
Montana State exposure limit designed to protect public health. And
rarely is a snowmobile operator exposed to exhaust from only one
snowmobile. Most snowmobile enthusiasts spend most of their day riding
behind multiple machines, and are frequently exposed to dozens of
machines at rest stops, entrance stations, and gas stations.
Common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are
headaches, dizziness, nausea, and impaired judgment. At high levels,
carbon monoxide exposure eventually leads to death.
In the areas where snowmobiles congregate, and along
busy trails, dangerous carbon monoxide levels exist. After repeated
complaints from park employees stationed at snowmobile entrance booths,
the National Park Service tested carbon monoxide levels. Levels were
found to exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for
carbon monoxide. The levels were higher than carbon monoxide levels
found in Los Angeles and Denver - two of the country's smoggiest cities.
While the NPS acted to protect rangers by providing
respirators and pumping fresh oxygen into enclosed ranger stations,
most people exposed to dangerous emissions levels from snowmobiles
remain unaware of the problem.
Send your comments to the NPS now!
Snowmobiles injure wildlife.
Snowmobile advocates also claim that snowmobile activity
has no impact on wildlife. They even claim that since wildlife use
snowmobile trails, snowmobiling is beneficial to animals. Wildlife
biologists are discovering otherwise.
According to the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS),
motorized recreation such as snowmobiling is identified as a
"significant threat" to the survival of the Canada Lynx. Snowmobiles
are a threat to lynx because snowmobile trails allow bobcats and
coyotes to reach habitat that was previously only accessible to the
lynx. These new predators reduce the lynx's food supply by eating the
rodents, birds, and hares that sustain the cats, causing reductions in
the lynx population, and other disruptions in wildlife community
balances.
In Yellowstone, snowmobile paths also facilitate the
migration of Bison out of the park. Unfortunately, once the bison are
beyond park boundaries, agents from Montana's Department of Livestock
(DOL) legally shoot them. During the winter of 1997, Department of
Livestock agents slaughtered nearly one-third of Yellowstone's bison
population. Bison are an important food source for park predators such
as the endangered Grizzly Bear and Grey Wolf. Permanent removal of
significant numbers of the herd threatens these endangered species.
Finally, noise levels caused by snowmobiles can also
cause significant disruption to wildlife, including avoidance of normal
feeding grounds and disruption of communication patterns.
Send your comments to the NPS now!
The damage caused by snowmobiles does not disappear with
the snowmelt.
At Yellowstone, it is estimated that the 60,000
snowmobiles storming the park each winter dump over 100,000 gallons of
unburned gas and more than 2,000 gallons of unburned oil into the
park's environment. Studies confirm that the toxins released by
snowmobiles can affect water quality and marine ecosystems. Air
pollution at trailheads and snowmobile corridors, which often run along
rivers and streams, increases the acidic and toxic concentrations of
nitrogen, sulfate and hydrocarbon compounds in snow. Elevated levels of
NOx cause acid rain and acid snow.
Pollutants from snowmobile emissions, including highly
persistent hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs), are "locked" within the
snowpack. The toxic effects of accumulated pollutants in the snowpack
are magnified during the first few days of spring, when they are
released during snowmelt, resulting in higher death rates for aquatic
insects and amphibians. This release of pollutants may have
far-reaching consequences for surrounding watersheds. Acidity
fluctuations can disable a watershed's ability to regulate its own pH
level, possibly triggering system-wide problems and resulting in
long-term alterations of entire ecosystems.
Land and plants damaged by snowmobiles may not recover
until well into the summer; vegetation that is crushed by snowmobiles
or broken off at the base may never recover.
Send your comments to the NPS now!