Wyoming Vote Tracker

They had to know an uproar was coming. Conveniently, the news is coming out piece by piece after the Cody Enterprise publishing week has ended (they only publish on Monday and Wednesday; not that they are the sole venue of media reporting, but, it is a little suspicious).

But anyway, here are some comments from Round 1 of the well-deserved firestorm:

After decades of accident-free winter access, Lewis and her cronies are blaming safety and cost for their east gate winter closure recommendation when the real reason is their lazy, self-centered mental attitude. The same brain power it takes to dream up reasons to close the gate could easily be spent dreaming up ways to keep it open. It all comes down to this park leader giving more weight to what is better for her and her staff than what is better for her customers — the visitors to Yellowstone National Park. Solutions to any problem exist if you want to find them, even issues involving safety and cost. But this manager wants to surrender to the perceived problems and just lock the gate. Any uneducated moron can do that. Where’s all the mental horsepower a person of Lewis’s salary and job title should possess? If she can’t even figure out how to keep the doors open, what other unseen performance issues does this manager have? (Mike Johnson, editor EverythingCody.com)

For 10 years we have been fighting against access restrictions. The original lawsuit was about disturbing bears, until we and biologists pointed out that bears hibernate in winter. Then it changed to bison, who are doing so well in the park they are eating the other animals out of existence. The excuses from the Park Service are unproductive. We want solutions, not justification to close the Park. Park Service employees, even though they hope to have zero customers during the winter, want to continue working and getting paid while area residents, who rely on the Park for business, will be stuck with fewer customers. (Sen. Mike Enzi [R-WY])

I joined forces with Cody residents to fight for continued access to Sylvan Pass. It quickly became apparent that the National Park Service made up its mind even before hearing from the public. Gateway communities should have a strong voice in Park Service decisions – especially those that impact our local communities. While there have been deaths in Yellowstone National Park , there have NOT been deaths at Sylvan Pass. Unfortunately, the risk assessment didn’t take into account the safety record of the past three decades. The Park Service also gave conflicting reasoning for closing the Pass. They have flip-flopped their arguments between cost concerns and safety risks. I don’t buy it, and I don’t think the people of Cody do either. It’s unbelievable to me that the Park Service can ignore the delegation, the state, the public, and the gateway community when reaching their decision. (Sen. John Barrasso [R-WY])

I have never seen, in my 13 years as Wyoming’s lone U.S. House Member, a community unite like Cody has over this issue, but this is not just an issue to Cody or Park County. I have heard from folks all across Wyoming, overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the East Entrance open. Its closure would leave the South entrance near Jackson as the only entrance in Wyoming open to oversnow vehicle access. That hurts our state’s tourism, hinders visitor access from our neighbors in the south and west, and takes away from the Wyoming experience in the Park.

The Park Service’s blatant disregard for the recently completed Sylvan Pass risk assessment study leads me to believe this is not a sound policy decision, but an unabashed political decision. In fact, the last time I can remember a management decision this politically fueled being made in the park was when Bruce Babbitt personally reintroduced wolves to the Park despite the unified objection of Wyoming’s citizens and elected officials.

This fight is far from over. I will appeal to the President and Vice-President immediately to urge them to exercise their executive authority to prevent this decision. (Rep. Barbara Cubin [R-WY])

(the following quotes come from the Billings Gazette)

The Park Service has made this decision even though their own studies show that avalanche risks can be safely and affordably mitigated.

I am disappointed but will continue to work with our congressional delegation as it tries to influence the Park Service to modify this decision and keep the pass open year-round.  (Gov. Dave Freudenthal [D-WY])

[Suzanne Lewis] has ignored expert opinions regarding safe and cost-effective ways to keep Sylvan Pass open. She has failed to consider the economic and cultural impacts to Wyoming.

Her conduct throughout this whole process is indicative of an arrogant federal bureaucrat who is accountable to no one. (Tonia Grdina, co-chair Shut Out of Yellowstone)

I’m really disappointed, and this probably won’t be the end of it. They made every effort to meet with us, and we made every effort to meet with them, but I’m not sure how much good it did.

It kind of begs the bigger question that this is just the beginning of denying public access to national parks. There’s a growing sentiment among people that feel that way, and I think a lot of it is budget-driven. (Park County Commissioner Bucky Hall [R], chairman of the Board of County Commissioners)

In an attempt to pander to us little people, Suzanne Lewis’ puppet Al Nash had the following message:

We know that this is an issue that elicits a great deal of interest and passion from a wide spectrum of individuals, and we appreciate their passion and their interest.

So, Chris Turner was right:

YELLOWSTONE SUPERINDENDANT (sic) SUZANNE LEWIS REALLY DOES HAVE ALL OF OUR BEST INTRESTS (sic) AT HEART….. BELIVE (sic) IT OR NOT!!!!

Be watching for more great quotes, and if you’d like to throw your 2¢ in, feel free to do so here.

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