BILLINGS, Mont. - Drivers may have to wait a little longer this year to glimpse the alpine wonders of Beartooth Pass.

The steep and scenic Beartooth Highway over the pass may not open as usual before Memorial Day weekend because of long-running concerns over footing the bill.

Officials at Yellowstone National Park said they may, as a money-saving measure, wait for some of the snow to melt before clearing the road for late spring and summer traffic.

"It takes less time and less work if there's less snow," said Al Nash, a park spokesman.

Opening the pass by the Memorial Day weekend has been a longstanding practice and usually cause for celebration for those communities that rely on summer tourist business.

"Obviously it's going to be a tremendous negative impact to Cooke City and Red Lodge and Cody," said James Klessens, project director for Friends of the Beartooth All-American Road. "Memorial Day kind of sets the tone for the whole season."

The National Park Service has for decades maintained a 43-mile stretch of the road starting at Yellowstone's Northeast Entrance. For years, the costs came out of the park's operating budget. Starting in 1997, much of the work was funded through a settlement agreement with Crown Butte Mines.

That settlement money ran out last year. Park officials say they'll dip into their budget to continue to plow and maintain the stretch of highway this year, but they'd like to find other ways to pay for the work.

It costs $400,000 to $500,000 a year to plow and maintain the road between May and mid-October, park officials said.

Spending that money this year will mean cutting into other road projects inside Yellowstone, Nash said.

Snow has been melting on the pass with mild temperatures this month. If warm weather continues, the pass could open for Memorial Day, Nash said.

If there's more snow, it could be later.

"It's not good," said Art Maxwell, interim director of the Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce. "But I'm cautiously optimistic that it will be open" on time.

The road's peculiar history has left it essentially an orphan.

After it was completed in 1934 under a one-time federal program, no state or federal agency was given ownership.

The highway runs from Yellowstone's Northeast Entrance and nearby Cooke City, through a portion of Wyoming and back into Montana to Red Lodge. It's a crucial route for summer tourists and the towns that depend on their economic boost.

The state of Montana is responsible for plowing the segment from Red Lodge to the Wyoming border.

Since 1945, the National Park Service has maintained the stretch from the Northeast Entrance to the Montana border.

Transportation officials in Wyoming have said they won't consider adding the highway to their maintenance load until it's rebuilt.

So, for the moment, Yellowstone is left to maintain the road that doesn't even pass through the park.

Over the past year or so, representatives of the Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the congressional delegation, surrounding towns and others have been talking about finding a better way to pay for the work. A few solutions have been discussed but nothing has been put in place.

"Since the day that highway opened, it's always been a tough deal," Maxwell said.

Two things aren't likely to change: Everyone wants the highway to be open, and making that happen isn't going to get any cheaper.

"We've got to fix it right this time and it's got to be a permanent fix," Klessens said.

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