Judge Reinstates Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban -- "Stand Up for Yellowstone" Rally scheduled for February 14th.

By Phil Knight

Good News
In a major victory for our national parks, a federal judge struck down the Bush administration's plan to continue allowing snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. On December 16, 2003, Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled that the National Park Service's most recent winter use plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton violated federal laws and regulations designed to protect the parks' natural resources, visitors and employees.

Native Forest Network's (NFN's) Phil Knight was one of four individual plaintiffs on the lawsuit challenging the Park Service on behalf of hundreds of thousands of Americans who argued that continuing snowmobile use in Yellowstone deprived them of the park's unrivaled natural sights and sounds.

In re-instating the Clinton plan, Judge Sullivan said the Park Service's first responsibility must be to protect park resources and visitor values and that the three-year-old Clinton plan for Yellowstone was illegally discarded by the Bush administration for political reasons. The re-instated plan cuts the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone in half this year, and ends private and commercial snowmobiling altogether next winter.

The fate of the ban remains in doubt however, as legal challenges to Sullivan's decision grind through the court system. But, at least in this round, Yellowstone's wildlife, quiet solitude, and clean air have won for now.

Join Us February 14th for this Winter's "Stand Up for Yellowstone" Rally
NFN will once again join Winter Wildlands Alliance and others (100's of folks are expected to turn out!) for a rally at the West Entrance to Yellowstone in support of the ban on snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. As in 2003, this year we'll Stand Up for clean air and water, peace and quiet, wildlife, and human-powered recreation. Join us on President's weekend, February 14th!

For further info go to, http://www.winterwildlands.org/action/YellowstoneRally.html or contact Steve Miller at Winter Wildlands Alliance, smiller@winterwildlands.org.