Snowmobiles in Yellowstone...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051219/ap_on_re_us/yellowstone_snowmobiles

BILLINGS, Mont. - For the past two winters, West Yellowstone business owner David McCray hasn't felt optimistic, but he and others in this tiny gateway to Yellowstone National Park are full of hope this year.

There's snow on the ground. Early bookings look promising. And, when Yellowstone opens for its winter season Wednesday, it will be the first time in three years that snowmobile tourists aren't playing by a new set of rules in the park.

(snip)

However, that continuity may be short-lived, as the National Park Service is working on a new long-range plan for winter use that is likely to again ignite the debate about whether the machines should even be allowed in the park.

This has about as much chance of passing as I do of getting laid before the end of the year. As if the NRA hasn't decieved the outdoorspeople of this country enough. Those RW bastards will se to it that the snowmobiles will just go and keep ripping up virgin wilderness.

of running noisy machinery through beautiful wilderness. You're going too fast to see scenery, and being to loud to see wildlife. Couldn't they just set up some big indoor track and go around in circles? At least then it would be warmer.

The landscape is filled with lotsa natural jumps and challenges for the dirtbiker,
and its not about the "wilderness", rather the wilderness is seen as a giant
bike-park. Then all of the west is a giant 4wd monster truck park, or maybe we
should have personal dirgibles that we can float around over the land with
lound stero's and televisions blasting.

It seems, truly, the only way to have a wilderness, is to ration the people's access.

But there is a lot of BLM land that people can dirt bike on. I don't think they should do it in Saguaro National Monument. If its not about the wilderness, then they don't have to snowmobile in Yellowstone - they can snowmobile somewhere else!

and yes, keep people out of wilderness. Including me. I'm ok with that.

Motor Head is a distinct form of consciousness, often found at mass, noisy gatherings such as NASCAR events.

Anthopologists long ago identified it as a form of derangement.

You could be missing the gene.

If that's the case, you may want to sign up for my seminar: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Motor Head 101.

Wanna go for a ride in my new red truck?

Toot, toot.

First, it's those freaking jet skis that ruined the lake life. Rrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggggg-ning-ning-ning

as their two-stroke motors reached decibel levels prohibited by OSHA and polluted the lakes with their oil and gas mix when drunks couldn't refuel "without mah beer." Four-strokes helped only a little.

Then they take that Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha market to the mountains and stink up the clean, thin air with the foul odors, tearing up perfectly good snowshoeing terrain, and scaring the hell out of the animals.

Some people. :spank:

However, that said, has anyone in this thread ever ridden a snowmobile? Because judging from your comments, you have not. I grew up in a rural area and worked several years in a snowmobile shop. I learned to ride at a young age.

The majority of people who ride do not go tearing at ridiculous speeds through the forest. For me, the joy of riding was in getting out in the woods and enjoying nature. I and all the (many) people I rode with rode at an easy pace, stuck to established trails (usually trails that were used in summer for hiking, horseback riding or mountain biking) and respected wildlife and the environment. We were always careful to carry out whatever we brought in and I doubt our riding caused more pollution than we would have caused driving to the nearest ski area.

There are people who abuse any kind of activity but painting all with a broad brush does nothing to bring people to a cause or to promote any kind of rational debate on a subject. As I said, I oppose allowing snowmobiling in national parks and in fact most of the people I rode with opposed it as well. Not every person who rides a snowmobile is an arrogant, repuke asshole who doesn't care about the environment or nature and it's ridiculous to assume that they are.

They're still not noise free, but companies are working on everything from jacketed engines to hybrids to bring the noise levels down. The number of old-style unmuffled two-strokers being sold is dropping quickly, so this problem will largely resolve itself soon enough.

This is the kind of thing that the Repukes use to get the outdorrspeople on their side. If it's not the NRA scaring hunters into thinking that the Democrats are out to take their Remington A-Bolt hunting rifle away, or Repukes bitching about shorline protection laws "Interfering with the property rights of recreational cabin owners", it's repukes using scaring snowmobile, ATV, Off-road, and dirtbike enthusiasts by saying that Liberals and environmentalists are out to take their toys away.

If we could get outdoor enthusiats to see what the real damage the repukes have been doing by screwing with clean air and water regulations, and convince them that we're not out to take away theoir toys, we could make some significant gains in many red states.