Natural Trails & Waters Coaliton Press Release
June 27, 2002

News from
Representative Rush Holt
12th District, New Jersey
http://www.house.gov/rholt

Contact:

Jim Kapsis 202-225-5801 or 202-413-5277 (cell)

PRESS RELEASE

REP. RUSH HOLT AND REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS INTRODUCE YELLOWSTONE PROTECTION ACT TO BAN SNOWMOBILES FROM YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

-Two days after the National Park Service decided to expand snowmobile use in Yellowstone, bipartisan coalition acts to protect the world's oldest national park-

Washington, DC - Two days after the National Park Service outlined its plan to expand snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park, Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ-12) and Christopher Shays (R-CT-4) introduced the Yellowstone Protection Act, a bipartisan bill that would overrule the National Park Service's recent decision and ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The bill has over 100 bipartisan co-sponsors.

"By allowing snowmobiles in our most beloved Park, we believe that the Park Service is making a giant mistake, a mistake that would sacrifice our historic commitment to preserving Yellowstone for future generations of Americans to enjoy," said Rep. Rush Holt. The Administration's recent decision ignores science, law and public opinion, and we are here today to fight it."

The Holt-Shays bill would codify the National Park Service's own rule to phase-out snowmobile use that it implemented in January of 2001. The Bush administration suspended the rule soon after coming into office and announced on Tuesday that it would replace the rule altogether.

"Congress created the National Park Service in 1916 to protect Yellowstone on behalf of the American people. It is now up to Congress to save Yellowstone," said Rep. Holt. "We are here today not as Republicans and Democrats, but as Americans who believe that we have a moral obligation to safeguard the world's oldest national park."

A decade ago the National Park Service began to study the impacts of snowmobile use on park wildlife, air quality, human health, and visitor experience. The science revealed that snowmobile use was damaging all of them. After conducting 375 separate scientific studies and holding 22 public hearings across the nation, the Park Service implemented a rule at the beginning of 2001 to phase out snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. The EPA has also called the phase out of snowmobile use "the best available protection" for Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and human health.

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