News
While the U.S. Forest Service hasn't finished its Environmental Impact Statement on a proposal to lift a snowmobile ban at Sonora Pass, it does contend the machines have no effect on the environment.
"Over-snow vehicle use, when done appropriately, does not have a lasting effect on the physical characteristics of the proposed wilderness," said Frank Pemberton, spokesperson for the Carson and Bridgeport ranger districts of the Forest Service.
Scientific studies and conservationists disagree.
"They are in a la-la land," said John Brissenden, owner of Sorensen's Resort in Hope Valley. "They haven't taken their heads out of their office to look ... they have way too many meetings and not enough natural resource protection."
In a well-known snowmobiling area, Yellowstone National Park, studies have shown sleds have had an impact on air and water quality.
"Snowpack samples near heavily traveled snowmobile trails have been correlated with elevated levels of ammonium, sulfate, benzene, and other toxic compounds," one study states on Montana's Department of Environmental Quality Web site (www.deq.state.mt.us/CleanSnowmobile/concerns/air.asp).
The national park once saw thousands of snowmobiles a day enter its gates in winter. Now, riders are limited to 720 a day and must ride on four designated roads. Nearly 3 million people visited Yellowstone last year.
Fisheries biologists there have found that winter recreation affects aquatic organisms. Another study concluded that: "Heavy snowmobile traffic in congested areas also contributes to emissions causing air quality concerns."
Pliny Olivier, president of the Lake Tahoe Snowmobile Association, has been to Yellowstone and was unimpressed.
Thick clouds of smog choke the entrance gates as engines run while people are waiting to pay to get in.
"Tahoe is not Yellowstone," he said, arguing snowmobiles in Yellowstone are no more of a pollutant than summer traffic.
"With even a thousand snowmobiles traveling on that road, how does that compare to the traffic there during the summer? It's not even close," Olivier said.
"Over-snow vehicle use, when done appropriately, does not have a lasting effect on the physical characteristics of the proposed wilderness," said Frank Pemberton, spokesperson for the Carson and Bridgeport ranger districts of the Forest Service.
Scientific studies and conservationists disagree.
"They are in a la-la land," said John Brissenden, owner of Sorensen's Resort in Hope Valley. "They haven't taken their heads out of their office to look ... they have way too many meetings and not enough natural resource protection."
In a well-known snowmobiling area, Yellowstone National Park, studies have shown sleds have had an impact on air and water quality.
"Snowpack samples near heavily traveled snowmobile trails have been correlated with elevated levels of ammonium, sulfate, benzene, and other toxic compounds," one study states on Montana's Department of Environmental Quality Web site (www.deq.state.mt.us/CleanSnowmobile/concerns/air.asp).
The national park once saw thousands of snowmobiles a day enter its gates in winter. Now, riders are limited to 720 a day and must ride on four designated roads. Nearly 3 million people visited Yellowstone last year.
Fisheries biologists there have found that winter recreation affects aquatic organisms. Another study concluded that: "Heavy snowmobile traffic in congested areas also contributes to emissions causing air quality concerns."
Pliny Olivier, president of the Lake Tahoe Snowmobile Association, has been to Yellowstone and was unimpressed.
Thick clouds of smog choke the entrance gates as engines run while people are waiting to pay to get in.
"Tahoe is not Yellowstone," he said, arguing snowmobiles in Yellowstone are no more of a pollutant than summer traffic.
"With even a thousand snowmobiles traveling on that road, how does that compare to the traffic there during the summer? It's not even close," Olivier said.
