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ISMA President
The first round of what is likely to be a busy fall of litigation regarding
snowmobile access to Yellowstone this winter has finished.
On Sept. 15, District Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia vacated the National Park Service’s Dec. 13,
2007, Winter Use Rule, which provided for recreational access to
Yellowstone National Park by up to 540 best available technology
snowmobiles per day.
He vacated the entire Winter Use Rule, apparently including the snowcoach
provisions as well as the snowmobile provisions. He did not put any
substitute rule in place and remanded the rule to the National Park Service,
which can consider whether to adopt a new rule.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling is only the latest in a long history of litigation
surrounding the Park Service’s Winter Use Rules for Yellowstone National
Park, Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,
Memorial Parkway. A second related case, challenging the Winter Use
Rule as being too restrictive of snowmobiling, is ongoing in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Wyoming.
While the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA),
the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA) and the Blue
Ribbon Coalition (BRC) strongly object to Judge Sullivan’s ruling, they
recognize that this ruling is not the last word on Yellowstone winter use.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling does not replace the vacated rule with any other
rule for the upcoming winter season, leaving open the issue on whether
and how much snowmobile access will be allowed.
Oral argument in the related Wyoming litigation took place before District
Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the same day Judge
Sullivan issued his Order. ISMA, ACSA and BRC are parties to that
litigation as well and intend to ask the Court to reinstate the temporary rule
that preceded the 2007 Winter Use Rule and allowed for up to 720
recreational best available technology snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling may ultimately result in there being no snowmobile
or snowcoach use in Yellowstone this winter, depending on the Park
Service’s response, a possible appeal of Judge Sullivan’s ruling, and the
Wyoming litigation. At any rate, Judge Sullivan’s ruling represents a radical
departure from established legal principles and interpretations of governing
statutes. His broad-ranging and novel interpretations of the National Park
Service Organic Act and the Yellowstone National Park Act prohibit the
Park Service from approving nearly any visitor activity causing impacts to
Natural Park resources. This has the potential to bar a broad range of
visitor activities in National Parks year round, including car, truck, RV,
motorcycle, and other motorized vehicle access during the Spring,
Summer, and Fall months. It also has the potential to do so throughout the
Park System, not just in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Finally, Judge Sullivan’s ruling ignores the long history of broad discretion
for the Park Service to balance conservation with visitor use and
enjoyment in its management of the Park System. By second-guessing the
Park Service’s methodology for evaluating the impacts of the rule, it also
departs from the well-established legal principles requiring courts to defer
to governmental agencies’ scientific and technical judgments.
ISMA, ACSA and BRC are dedicated to preserving snowmobilers’ access
to federal lands, including units of the National Park System. ISMA,
ACSA and BRC will continue to pursue recreational snowmobile access to
Yellowstone National Park.
The first round of what is likely to be a busy fall of litigation regarding
snowmobile access to Yellowstone this winter has finished.
On Sept. 15, District Judge Emmett Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia vacated the National Park Service’s Dec. 13,
2007, Winter Use Rule, which provided for recreational access to
Yellowstone National Park by up to 540 best available technology
snowmobiles per day.
He vacated the entire Winter Use Rule, apparently including the snowcoach
provisions as well as the snowmobile provisions. He did not put any
substitute rule in place and remanded the rule to the National Park Service,
which can consider whether to adopt a new rule.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling is only the latest in a long history of litigation
surrounding the Park Service’s Winter Use Rules for Yellowstone National
Park, Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,
Memorial Parkway. A second related case, challenging the Winter Use
Rule as being too restrictive of snowmobiling, is ongoing in the U.S.
District Court for the District of Wyoming.
While the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA),
the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA) and the Blue
Ribbon Coalition (BRC) strongly object to Judge Sullivan’s ruling, they
recognize that this ruling is not the last word on Yellowstone winter use.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling does not replace the vacated rule with any other
rule for the upcoming winter season, leaving open the issue on whether
and how much snowmobile access will be allowed.
Oral argument in the related Wyoming litigation took place before District
Judge Clarence Brimmer in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the same day Judge
Sullivan issued his Order. ISMA, ACSA and BRC are parties to that
litigation as well and intend to ask the Court to reinstate the temporary rule
that preceded the 2007 Winter Use Rule and allowed for up to 720
recreational best available technology snowmobiles per day in Yellowstone.
Judge Sullivan’s ruling may ultimately result in there being no snowmobile
or snowcoach use in Yellowstone this winter, depending on the Park
Service’s response, a possible appeal of Judge Sullivan’s ruling, and the
Wyoming litigation. At any rate, Judge Sullivan’s ruling represents a radical
departure from established legal principles and interpretations of governing
statutes. His broad-ranging and novel interpretations of the National Park
Service Organic Act and the Yellowstone National Park Act prohibit the
Park Service from approving nearly any visitor activity causing impacts to
Natural Park resources. This has the potential to bar a broad range of
visitor activities in National Parks year round, including car, truck, RV,
motorcycle, and other motorized vehicle access during the Spring,
Summer, and Fall months. It also has the potential to do so throughout the
Park System, not just in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Finally, Judge Sullivan’s ruling ignores the long history of broad discretion
for the Park Service to balance conservation with visitor use and
enjoyment in its management of the Park System. By second-guessing the
Park Service’s methodology for evaluating the impacts of the rule, it also
departs from the well-established legal principles requiring courts to defer
to governmental agencies’ scientific and technical judgments.
ISMA, ACSA and BRC are dedicated to preserving snowmobilers’ access
to federal lands, including units of the National Park System. ISMA,
ACSA and BRC will continue to pursue recreational snowmobile access to
Yellowstone National Park.