Yellowstone possible Snowmobile reduction

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Judge will not block Yellowstone snowmobile plan
StoryDiscussionBy The Associated Press | Posted: Thursday, September 17, 2009 1:40 pm

CHEYENNE -- A judge in Wyoming says he has no authority to block a federal plan to reduce snowmobile traffic in Yellowstone National Park this winter.

Wednesday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer may mean no more than 318 snowmobiles will be allowed in the park each day this winter. Last year, the park allowed 720 snowmobiles.

The number of snowmobiles that should be allowed in the world's first national park has been the subject of a long, convoluted legal battle.

Snowmobile proponents, including the state of Wyoming, say the activity is important to the economies of communities around the park during the winter. Environmentalists contend the machines cause noise and air pollution in the park.

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National Park Service seeks temporary order for coming season

Court: Snowmobile appeal may be moot
StoryDiscussionPHIL WHITE - Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Saturday, September 26, 2009 12:00 am | (4) Comments

LARAMIE -- A three-judge panel of the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals hinted during **** arguments here Friday that a forthcoming temporary order setting limits on the number of snowmobiles that can enter Yellowstone National Park this winter would nullify the appeal before them.
The circuit court heard **** arguments on an appeal filed by the National Parks and Conservation Association challenging U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer's authority to reinstate a 2004 National Park Service rule allowing 720 snowmobiles per day to enter the park. The state of Wyoming is defending that ruling in the appeal and has also recently moved the circuit court to return the matter to Judge Brimmer to give him a chance to prohibit the Park Service from going ahead with an interim order for the coming winter season.
Calling it all "a procedural morass," James Kaste of the state attorney general's office informed the 10th Circuit panel that the Park Service has proposed that 318 snowmobiles per day be allowed this winter. He said the Park Service is presently accepting comments on the proposal and would probably issue a new rule by November 15th that will go into effect when Yellowstone opens for the winter on December 15.
Much of the discussion during the **** argument concerned the conflict between Judge Brimmer's ruling last fall which was issued after a ruling from the District of Columbia federal district court finding that the Park Service's 2007 permanent order allowing 540 snowmobiles per day violated the National Environmental Policy Act. That court remanded the matter to the agency for further action.
Having lost in Washington, D.C., the state of Wyoming, the Park County Commissioners and a snowmobile industry group then went to the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, where Judge Brimmer issued the ruling under appeal, directing the Park Service to allow 720 snowmobiles per day until it could adopt "an acceptable rule." Kaste argued Friday that "acceptable rule" referred only to a permanent rule.
Arguing for the National Parks and Conservation Association on Friday, Washington attorney Robert Rosenbaum said Judge Brimmer had no authority to reinstate a 2004 rule which had expired by its own terms after three years. Rosenbaum pointed to a Park Service rule providing that snowmobiles were not allowed in national parks unless a "special regulation" had been adopted. Because the D.C. court had nullified the 2007 Park Service order, Rosenbaum argued, there was no "special regulation" in place to allow any snowmobiles at all in Yellowstone last year.
Rosenbaum said Judge Brimmer had no authority to step in and issue a directive for the 2008-09 season after the D.C. district court had nullified the 2007 permanent rule. He argued that only the D.C. court had authority to administer its order, not Judge Brimmer in Wyoming