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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2002

The Bush administration could have banned snowmobiles at two national parks, The Washington Post argues in an editorial, but bowed to industry interests instead.

The paper says a limit on snowmobiles at Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park is an "improvement" over the status quo. But President Bush and Secretary of Interior Gale Norton had a "better alternative available: an outright ban," the paper notes.

"Mr. Bush and Ms. Norton ought to be demanding the best protection for Yellowstone," the paper writes. "Settling for something less falls short of their duty to the national treasures in their care."

The Billings Gazette in an editorial argues that the proposal is not an improvement at all. Although the total number of machines on certain days is capped, the paper says the changes "actually allow for a substantial increase in the number of snowmobile admissions on most winter days."

"That's why visitors this winter may be greeted by rangers wearing gas masks to protect their own health from concentrations of snowmobile emissions," the paper writes.

The Department of Interior received 360,000 comments on the issue, The New York Times reports. About 80 percent supported an outright ban.

Get the Story:
Opinion: Park plan riding on new engines (The Billings Gazette 11/18)
Editorial: The Snowmobile Deal (The Washington Post 11/16)
Flooded With Comments, Officials Plug Their Ears (The New York Times 11/17)
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