Posted by MoparNorm on Friday, October 22, 2004 at 11:40AM :
In Reply to: Re: Another off-road victory in Yellowstone Park posted by Tex on Friday, October 22, 2004 at 8:53AM :
...Cross-country sking, the last thing I want to see or breath is the noise and exhaust of a snow mobile. However these are public lands and as such they should not be exclusively set aside for use by a few wilderness skiers. Either they are open for all or closed for all. In the West we have many, many millions of acres of Wilderness Areas, set aside forever, where no motorized travel of any type, including military flyovers, is allowed. There are begining to be a few off-road areas set aside, but very few and not in porportion to the population that has vehicles, compared to the population that hikes. The backpacking groups, which by the way have been on the decline since the late 70's, do not exclusively own these public lands. Areas that have exisiting roads and trails in both National, State and County Parks and Forest should remain open, areas that are true wilderness areas should be left as such. The areas in Yellowstone that are open for snowmobiles are the areas which are open to vehicle traffic in the Summer. The snowmobiles are the only way, besides cross-country sking and snow shoes, to see this beautiful country in the winter. There are many citizens who because of physical limitations or disabilities have no other way to experience this wonder of winter. They should not be penalized simply because they are not members of the Sierra Club or Friends of the Earth.
MN