Many towns neighboring national parks have come to depend on snowmobilers for much of their winter economies. In addition, parks in Alaska and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota were established under legislation specifically allowing snowmobiling. It would take an act of Congress to change that. The National Park Service said Thursday it will immediately enforce existing regulations governing recreational snowmobile use in America's major national parks. The action will likely lead to a full ban on snowmobiles in these parks, a park service public affairs specialist said.
Snowmobiles are noisy, antiquated machines that are no longer welcome in our national parks.
The Associated Press reported Thursday that the NPS slapped an immediate ban on snowmobiles in park units where snowmobiling had been allowed. We've just asked the superintendents to immediately begin strictly enforcing regulations. Gaumer allowed that all signs point to an eventual ban by individual park service superintendents. Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota and parts of the Alaska park system are exempt from regulations because recreational snowmobiling was included in the legislation establishing these units. Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks aren't included in the group because both parks are currently revising their winter-use plans.