The May 2 editorial “No compromise on snowmobiles” is full of misconceptions. As an avid snowmobiler, I have vacationed during the winter in the town of West Yellowstone and ridden my snowmobile in the National Park and surrounding area. The animals that I saw while riding there were mostly elk and bison. These animals paid virtually no attention to the snowmobilers even though many of them were only 50 feet off the trail.
The newer machines are as quiet as most high-performance automobiles currently manufactured. I believe that the National Park Service wishes to minimize the need for any difficult and expensive winter operations by its personnel as the motivating force behind this onerous idea of limiting or eliminating snowmobiling in National Parks. Since snowmobilers represent by far the largest number of winter visitors, eliminate them and the park service solves its budget problem.
Consider that snowmobilers literally support a winter tourist industry, spending on restaurants, motels, fuel, etc., and cover great distances on their machines to spread the dollars over a wide area. You cannot use webs or ski any significant distance in deep snow without snowmobile tracks to break a trail. Outside the parks, all the established trails that attract the snowmobilers and skiers are supported by private trail groomers operated by the tourist industry that depends on the huge influx of snowmobiler dollars.
Upset this symbiotic relationship, and in an affected local, an entire winter tourist industry will vanish and along with it, the winter experience for everyone wishing to visit that locale.
