E. Yellowstone group notes inconsistencies to shut entrance
RUFFIN PREVOST Billings Gazette | Posted: Saturday, June 23, 2007 12:00 am
CODY - Saying that "the Sylvan Pass avalanche danger is real and substantial," National Park Service Regional Director Michael D. Snyder told a grass-roots group in Cody that he supports park planners in addressing the risk.
"I stand behind Superintendent (Suzanne) Lewis and her insistence that this danger must be effectively addressed," Snyder said. "I do not want to lose the life of another employee or those of any visitors, whether to an avalanche or any other danger."
Snyder's comments came in a recent letter responding to questions from the leaders of Shut Out of Yellowstone, a group working to keep Sylvan Pass open to snowmobiles and snow coaches.
Group leaders asked Snyder to explain what they said were inconsistencies in how Yellowstone planners addressed avalanche risks at Sylvan Pass and at Talus Slope, near the park's South Entrance.
Snyder, who will make the final decision on Sylvan Pass and the overall winter use plan for Yellowstone, repeated several points made by park managers in their discussions of the issues.
Sylvan Pass has a "much greater" avalanche risk than Talus Slope, and the consequences of a slide to snowmobilers would be much more severe on Sylvan Pass, he said.
Shut Out leaders objected that federal worker safety standards and the park's own planning documents require the same level of detailed avalanche forecasting at Talus Slope as is performed at Sylvan Pass.
"The kind of avalanche forecasting they are supposed to be doing at Talus Slope is taking temperature readings, digging snow pits and analyzing snow," said Tonia Grdina, co-chair of the Shut Out group.
The revised draft Environmental Impact Statement on Yellowstone winter use notes that "routine forecasting and control occurs only on the East Entrance road" to maintain Sylvan Pass.
Snyder said that an "extensive review" of Talus Slope determined that "the avalanche risk there would be best managed through careful observation of snow and weather conditions" and other measures, including temporary road closures.
He said safety concerns and maintenance costs on Sylvan Pass were "precisely the same reasons" the Park Service in the 1980s closed Dunraven Pass, including "a volume of travel which did not justify the cost" of keeping the road open.
The revised draft EIS notes that Dunraven Pass was closed "due to growing concern about avalanche danger and because it was lightly used by oversnow vehicles," but does not mention maintenance costs.
Grdina said Snyder's citing of high costs and low traffic contradicted assurances from Yellowstone managers that safety was their overwhelming concern.
"It's not the job of a national park to be profitable on a cost-per-visitor basis," Grdina said, adding that some parks cost much more per visitor to operate year-round than Yellowstone in the winter.
"I think we've been really clear that our focus and concern is on safety," said Al Nash, a Yellowstone spokesman. "But I don't think we've ever ignored the fact that it's expensive to conduct avalanche operations.
"We acknowledge that the expense exists, and that it's a part of this, but it's not a situation of, 'Is there a dollar figure that we can put on this that eliminates the risk?' " he said.
Snyder was out of the office Thursday and unavailable for comment.
Karen Breslin, a Park Service spokeswoman who works with Snyder in the Denver regional office, said discussions there about Sylvan Pass had been primarily about safety issues.
"In the briefing materials I have read, there has been a discussion about the use of the road in comparison to the cost of keeping it open," she said.
Grdina said that if the Park Service decides to close Sylvan Pass, her group will "pursue a formal investigation about Talus Slope practices and also ask for a congressional management review of winter policies at Yellowstone."
A final winter-use plan is expected this fall, before the start of the park's winter season.
Snyder may get a chance to hear directly from area residents who are upset about the proposed Sylvan Pass closure.
He is scheduled to attend two public events today: the dedication of Heart Mountain as a National Historic Landmark and the New Day at Bighorn Lake celebration near Lovell.