A federal judge in Washington has given the National Park Service until early- to mid-November at the latest to set the rules for snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled Wednesday that the Bush Administration must have a winter use plan in place for the parks no later than 30 days before trail grooming starts. Typically, grooming starts in early- to mid-December.

The move seems aimed at protecting Yellowstone gateway communities from the kind of last-minute bombshells that put a hole in local economies last winter. A winter use plan released by the Bush Administration on Dec. 11 last year was blocked by Sullivan on Dec. 16, sending the snowmobile community scrambling to adapt to a Clinton-era plan the Bush administration had all but assured them would set the stage for the season. Then in February, that plan too was modified.

But there's a catch. By setting the 30-day-out deadline, and stipulating that the new rules must be in keeping with his Dec. 16, 2003 rule, Sullivan leaves open the possibility that he could again rule that the science behind whatever new plan is presented does not do enough to protect the natural resources of the parks from damage by snowmobilers or other users in the long run.

"We're back in the same situation, which is uncertainty," said Craig Koll, owner of Old Faithful Snowmobile Tours.

Koll purchased 21 new four-stroke snow machines in 2002, in keeping with the spirit of local stewardship for the parks. The controversy, he said, has made it hard to use those machines to recoup his investment.

In the chaos of last winter's rule making, overall winter use in the park dropped 18 percent. A total of 185,796 visitors were reported in 2003-04, compared to 226,194 to 2002-03.

A Bush administration environmental assessment effort is under way, with a first public look at preferred alternatives due Aug. 20. Public comment requirements related to such planning efforts then put the Park Service on a very fast pace if they are to meet Sullivan's new deadline.

Environmental groups in the area hailed the ruling as one that would allow more time for local communities to adjust their operations to meet the new plan rules.

"We're pretty happy that there will be the window of time that the gateway communities will have to react to whatever the decision is from the Park Service this year and there won't be the last-minute decision-making that puts everybody on the spot," said Carl Schneebeck of The Fund for Animals, one of the groups that sued the Park Service in Sullivan's court.

Chris Mehl of the Wilderness Society in Bozeman said he likes the ruling because the timing is better for gateway communities. It offers people from outside of the region - such as the big snowmobiling states of Michigan and Minnesota - time to make plans for visiting the park based on accurate winter use rules, and it means Sullivan, whose ruling was generally cheered by the environmental community, is keeping an eye on the current Bush administration rule-making process.

"It's a big improvement," Mehl said about Sullivan's latest ruling. "Last year was a very awkward situation for everyone."

The future of snowmobiling in the two parks has been in limbo since the end of 2000 when a Clinton Administration rule was published that would have phased out snowmobiles in the parks in favor of snow coaches by the winter of 2003-04. At issue was the noise and pollution generated by the sleds' two-stroke engines.

In the ruling Wednesday, Sullivan also indicated he would not drop his December ruling and allow the future of snowmobiling to rest in the Cheyenne courtroom of District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer. He did, however, say he would free the Park Service of its obligation, under his earlier ruling, to enforce the Clinton-era plan - as long as a new acceptable plan is in place by the new deadline.

The question of eliminating one court's involvement in the rules setting arises because last February, after Sullivan had ruled in December, Brimmer accepted a request to reopen an earlier related case. His ruling established what ultimately became the reality for the remaining snowmobile season in the park: A limited number of snowmobiles were allowed in the park, but with restrictions aimed at curbing pollution.

Brimmer is seen by snowmobilers as a judge more inclined to protect "Western interests," which they hope includes a more free-wheeling notion of public access to public lands.

The Park Service asked for relief from Sullivan's ruling, saying the NPS "is left in the impossible position of having to satisfy two irreconcilable court orders."

Sullivan acknowledged that the Park Service does face conflicting orders, but that, he said, is the fault of the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association and other intervenors that took the Park Service's side in the case and "chose to seek relief from another court in another Circuit" in response to Sullivan's ruling.

In a footnote to the ruling, Sullivan remarked that it was interesting Brimmer had not similarly been asked to clear things up by stepping aside, even though Brimmer entered the fray after Sullivan's ruling.

In a third part of the ruling, Sullivan told the Fund for Animals and Greater Yellowstone Coalition that it is too early for them to ask him to ban trail grooming or snowmobiling in the park. He dismissed their requests along those lines without prejudice, meaning the groups can refile their requests with him if they want only after the new plan is released.

"The Court would be acting prematurely if it enjoined trail grooming or snowmobiling before the NPS has a full opportunity to comply with both today's Order and the December 2003 decision," Sullivan wrote.