Wyo. Leaders Pressure NPS on East Gate
Sep 12th 2007ScottPolitics & Wyoming & Yellowstone East Gate & multiple use
Sens. Enzi and Barrasso, and Rep. Cubin, all Wyoming Republicans, don’t care. Safety and finances can be dealt with and the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park can and must stay open for winter use.
During all of our discussions, you have continually assured both us and the citizens of Park County that the potential decision to close the East Entrance of YNP would be based solely on the issue of employee safety. Time and time again, we were told the decision to close the East Entrance would not be based on funding. Therefore, we are troubled by the apparent back peddling of the NPS officials who recently suggested that funding will now play a key role in the determination of this issue. We are concerned that, by mentioning funding, the NPS is simply looking for another excuse to close the East Entrance. Instead of looking for reasons to limit access to YNP, we encourage you to look for ways to keep access open.
A complete copy of the letter is available on Sen. Enzi’s website. And now for something more difficult, giving praise to a Democrat. But if Mitch McConnell can do it, I suppose I can too. Yes, our Governor. He has not been soft on the gate issue and in a recent press release to the public and letter to Regional Director Mike Snyder, he was absolutely supportive of keeping the gate open, and in fact, brilliantly turned the logic being employed by the NPS against themselves:
If the issue is cost-per-visitor, then those figures for Sylvan Pass should be indexed to cost-per-visitor numbers at other national parks. Given that half of Park Service acreage is in Alaska, many of them remote and infrequently visited, I doubt the cost-per-visitor for keeping Sylvan Pass open would even fall in the lower end of the high range.
Area residents await the decision for a winter use plan, expected later this month, that has been hotly debated. Hopefully the NPS will give weight to the concerns of Yellowstone’s neighbors.
Technorati Tags: Yellowstone National Park, winter use plan, Mike Snyder, Sen. Mike Enzi, Sen. John Barrasso, Rep. Barbara Cubin, Gov. Dave Freudenthal
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