DOI won't confirm settlement plans

APRIL 4, 2001

The Billings Gazette today reports that the Department of Interior couldn't confirm if it is negotiating a settlement with snowmobile manufacturers who have filed a lawsuit challenging a ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park.

The ban was instituted under former Secretary Bruce Babbitt and it applies immediately to most national parks and phases out snowmobile use at the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks by 2003-2004.

The International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association has filed suit in federal court to stop the rules implementing the ban. The Bush administration has also been asked by Republicans to overturn them but according to a previously published report in The Washington Post, the Interior is considering a "quiet settlement" that would limit the rules rather then rescind them outright. The Association says an out-of-court settlement hasn't been discussed.

At a speech to the National Parks Conservation Association in Washington, DC, last month, Secretary Gale Norton said there were potential ways to mitigate the noise and effect on the environment snowmobiles have in the parks. Environmentalists fear she will drop them.

Get the Story:
Will Bush drop snowmobile ban? (The Billings Gazette 4/4)
Bush to Counter Environmental Criticism (The Washington Post 3/31)