Inappropriate use of personal watercraft is degrading natural resources, and the safety and enjoyment of other activities on our shores and coasts. This boundary will ensure that recreational areas and aquatic habitats close to shore will not be disturbed by personal watercraft use. The National Park Service and other land management agencies were directed by Presidents Nixon and later President Carter in executive orders to restrict snowmobile and other off-road vehicle use to protect natural resources and other visitors, but those orders have been largely ignored. HR1465 would comply with this generation-old mandate. Snowmobile use in the National Parks have had detrimental impacts on wildlife and other visitors.
Snowmobiles frighten, isolate, and sometimes kill wildlife in the parks where they are now used.
Heavily used snowmobile routes can cut off winter migration paths used by park wildlife. A 1996 visitor use study conducted in Yellowstone found many people who reported that encounters with snowmobiles were the least enjoyable part of their park visit because of the noise, pollution, and impact on wildlife viewing. National Park Lines is a publication of the National Parks Conservation Association's Park Action Network.