I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1465

To restrict the use of snowmobiles in units of the National Park System.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. UDALL of

New Mexico, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs.

MINK of Hawaii, Mr. NADLER, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. HOEFFEL,

Ms. MCKINNEY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. MOORE, Mr. FARR of California,

Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Resources

A BILL

To restrict the use of snowmobiles in units of the National

Park System.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Park Snow5 mobile Restrictions Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) President Nixon in 1972 issued Executive

2 Order 11644 establishing standards on snowmobile

3 use on public lands, including the requirements that

4 snowmobile use in a national park be permitted only

5 when the National Park Service determines that

6 such use will not adversely affect the park’s natural,

7 aesthetic, or scenic values, and that the National

8 Park Service monitor the impacts of any such use in

9 a national park to assure compliance with those

10 standards.

11 (2) President Carter in 1977 issued Executive

12 Order 11989 establishing additional standards on

13 snowmobile use on public lands, including the re14 quirements that the National Park Service, when15 ever it determines that any such use is causing con16 siderable adverse effects on the natural resources of

17 a national park, immediately halt the use or other18 wise take steps to prevent those effects.

19 (3) In compliance with these Executive Orders,

20 the National Park Service in 1983 issued regulations

21 (section 2.18 of title 36, Code of Federal Regula22 tions) providing in part the following: ‘‘Snowmobiles

23 are prohibited except where designated and only

24 when their use is consistent with the park’s natural,

25 cultural, scenic and aesthetic values, safety consider-
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1 ations, park management objectives, and will not

2 disturb wildlife or damage park resources.’’.

3 (4) Pursuant to these general regulations, the

4 National Park Service has issued special regulations

5 designating routes on which snowmobiles may travel

6 in 41 units of the National Park System.

7 (5) A survey the National Park Service con8 ducted in 1999–2000 on snowmobile use in units of

9 the National Park System revealed that—

10 (A) with respect to most of the units in

11 which snowmobile use occurs, the Service had

12 never made a determination that such use

13 would be consistent with the requirements of

14 Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and its own

15 general snowmobile regulations;

16 (B) snowmobile use was occurring in two

17 units for which no routes had been designated

18 for such use by special regulations, and, in

19 other units, snowmobile use was occurring on

20 routes which had not been designated for that

21 use by special regulations;

22 (C) in most units in which snowmobile use

23 occurs, the Service had not conducted and was

24 not conducting the monitoring required by Ex-
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1 ecutive Order 11644 of the impacts of that

2 snowmobile use; and

3 (D) snowmobile use in many units was

4 causing impacts inconsistent with the standards

5 of Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and the

6 general snowmobile regulations.

7 (6) In April 2000, to come into compliance with

8 the requirements of Executive Orders 11644 and

9 11989 and the general snowmobile regulations, the

10 National Park Service announced that it—

11 (A) had determined that, in most in12 stances, recreational use of snowmobiles is not

13 an appropriate use in units of the National

14 Park System; and

15 (B) was initiating a process to adopt new

16 requirements to limit snowmobile use in units of

17 the National Park System (other than units in

18 the State of Alaska and Voyageurs National

19 Park) to short routes providing access to adja20 cent public lands open to recreational snow21 mobile use and to routes providing necessary

22 access to private property within or adjacent to

23 such units.

24 (7) In November 2000, based on a final envi25 ronmental impact statement on a winter use plan for
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1 Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National

2 Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial

3 Parkway and on other studies and information, the

4 National Park Service adopted a record of decision

5 determining that the snowmobile use occurring in

6 those parks is causing impacts that are inconsistent

7 with—

8 (A) Executive Orders 11644 and 11989

9 and the general snowmobile regulations;

10 (B) the requirements of the Clean Air Act

11 (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); and

12 (C) the requirement of the first section of

13 the Act of August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1; com14 monly known as the National Park Service Or15 ganic Act) that the Service manage units of the

16 National Park System ‘‘in such manner and by

17 such means as will leave them unimpaired for

18 the enjoyment of future generations’’.

19 (8) In January 2001, to implement the record

20 of decision referred to in paragraph (7), the Na21 tional Park Service adopted final regulations amend22 ing part 7 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations,

23 to phase out by the winter of 2003–2004 all snow24 mobile use in Yellowstone National Park and the

25 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway and
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1 most snowmobile use in Grand Teton National Park,

2 as published in the Federal Register on January 22,

3 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260).

4 (9) The new regulations referred to in para5 graph (8) or other regulations under consideration

6 by the National Park Service to restrict snowmobile

7 use in units of the National Park System do not

8 apply to other Federal lands, where the over9 whelming majority of the snowmobile use occurring

10 on Federal lands takes place and will be able to con11 tinue to take place.

12 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON SNOWMOBILE USE IN THE NA13 TIONAL PARK SYSTEM.

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

15 (1) NATIONAL PARK.—The term ‘‘national

16 park’’ means a unit of the National Park System.

17 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Na19 tional Park Service.

20 (b) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—The use of snowmo21 biles in a national park is prohibited except on a des22 ignated route described in subsection (c) and only when

23 the Secretary determines that the use of snowmobiles is

24 consistent with the park’s natural, cultural, scenic, and

25 aesthetic values, safety considerations, and park manage-
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1 ment objectives, and will not disturb wildlife or damage

2 park resources.

3 (c) DESIGNATED ROUTES.—A designated route re4 ferred to in subsection (b) is any snowmobile route des5 ignated by regulation issued by the Secretary after Janu6 ary 1, 2001 (including those routes designated with re7 spect to Grand Teton National Park by paragraphs (10)

8 and (12) of section 7.22(g) of title 36, Code of Federal

9 Regulations, as published in the Federal Register on Jan10 uary 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260), subject to any subse11 quent amendment of such designations), but only if the

12 designated route—

13 (1) is authorized for use by motor vehicles or

14 motorboats during other seasons; and

15 (2) provides reasonable and direct public access

16 by snowmobile—

17 (A) to public lands that are adjacent to or

18 in the immediate vicinity of the national park

19 and are open to public snowmobile use; or

20 (B) to private property within, adjacent to,

21 or in the immediate vicinity of the national

22 park by the owners of the private property and

23 their representatives and invitees, when that

24 snowmobile access is the only practical means

25 of winter access to the private property.
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1 (d) MONITORING.—Whenever snowmobile use is per2 mitted in a national park, the Secretary shall ensure that

3 the impacts of that use are monitored to assure that it

4 is consistent with the standards specified in subsection (b).

5 If the Secretary determines that the use is not consistent

6 with those standards, the Secretary shall immediately cur7 tail or halt the use or take other steps as necessary to

8 ensure consistency with those standards.

9 (e) EXCEPTIONS.—

10 (1) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN PARKS.—Sub11 sections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to any na12 tional park in Alaska and to Voyageurs National

13 Park.

14 (2) EXCEPTION TO CERTAIN USES.—Sub15 sections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to—

16 (A) the use of snowmobiles by the National

17 Park Service and its contractors and agents, if

18 the Secretary determines that such use is essen19 tial for the management of a national park; and

20 (B) the use of snowmobiles in emergency

21 situations, as determined by the superintendent

22 of the national park.

23 (f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This Act takes effect begin24 ning with the winter of 2003–2004 with respect to Yellow25 stone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the
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1 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, and begin2 ning with the winter of 2002–2003 with respect to other

3 national parks.

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