BLUERIBBON COALITION LANDUSE UPDATE!
Yellowstone National Park – Winter EIS Scoping Announced!
Dear Interested Snowmobilers,
I am sure many of you have followed the twists and turns of Winter Use Planning processes for the last twelve plus years. There have been many. In addition, the continuing legal battles in the Washington D.C. and Wyoming courts have yet to come to a conclusion that both sides will accept.
The good news is that the next Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process started on January 29, 2010 and could provide for a much-needed reasonable, science-based long-range Winter Use Plan for Yellowstone National Park. The Winter Use plan for Grand Teton Park has been completed.
The first step in the new EIS process is scoping, which the Service defines as:
“The procedure by which an agency identifies important issues and determines the extent of analysis necessary for an informed decision on a proposed action. Scoping, an integral part of environmental analysis, includes early involvement of interested and affected public, as well as internal and external agency contacts. Although formal scoping occurs for a specific time period, we welcome your comments on projects while we are in the process of preparing plans.”
It is important that snowmobilers comment during the scoping process. The process started with the Federal Register Notice on January 29, 2010. The Process will allow 60 days for comments from the public and will formally end on March 30, 2010.
The Park service will be holding scoping meetings on Feb. 16th in Idaho Falls, Idaho at the Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay Blvd; Feb. 18th in Billings, Montana at the Hilton Garden Inn, 2465 Grand Road; Mar. 8th in Cheyenne, Wyoming at Little America Inn and Resort, 200 West Lincoln Way and a final meeting in Washington D.C. on Mar. 10 at the Old Post Office 12th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW. All the meetings will be from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm.
BRC is developing important areas to comment on and will have that information available in the near future. Please visit our dedicated website at www.saveyellowstonepark.com for updates.
Thanks in advance for your help in commenting during the scoping period on the new Winter Use EIS.