SETTLEMENT REACHED IN LAWSUIT OVER NATIONAL
PARKS
PARKS WILL STUDY SNOWMOBILE TRAILS AND OTHER WINTER
ACTIVITIES THAT HARM WILDLIFE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, September 23, 1997
CONTACT:
D.J. Schubert, (202) 588-5206
Jasper Carlton, (303) 442-3037
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, in an agreement filed in U.S. District Court, The Fund for
Animals, the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, the Ecology Center, Predator Project, and several
other co-plaintiffs settled their lawsuit against the National Park Service regarding winter use
activities in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. One such activity discussed in the
settlement agreement, the grooming of snowmobile trails in Yellowstone, was according to the
plaintiffs a major factor leading to the gruesome slaughter of more than 1,000 bison last
winter.
As agreed to in the settlement, the National Park Service will:
- Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate thoroughly and
comprehensively the impact of winter use activities on Yellowstone and Grand Teton National
Parks.
- Consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the impacts of winter use activities,
including snowmobiling and trail grooming, on threatened and endangered species, including
the gray wolf and grizzly bear.
- Prepare an Environmental Assessment evaluating the impact of closing at least one road
segment to winter use this year and in subsequent winters, until the EIS is completed, to study
the impact of snowmobile trail grooming on bison. This is the first time ever that one or more
trail segments are likely to be closed in Yellowstone National Park.
"This will not end the indiscriminate and unnecessary slaughter of bison outside of
Yellowstone, but it establishes an important precedent for trail closures to study the impact of
grooming on bison," says D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist with The Fund for Animals.
"Ultimately we believe that to protect America's bison, trail grooming and snowmobile use in
Yellowstone must cease and Yellowstone's thirty year experiment as a National Playground
must end."
Adds Jasper Carlton, director of the Biodiversity Legal Foundation, "We commend the Park
Service for agreeing to conduct this analysis, but it is long overdue. This will be the first
meaningful analysis of the impacts of winter use on the environment and should result in
fundamental changes to winter management."
The Fund for Animals is a national animal protection organization headquartered in New
York City, and has been leading the fight to protect Yellowstone bison since 1985. A copy of
the seven-page settlement is available upon
request.
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