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 Colo-
rado) 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Park Snow-
mobile Restrictions Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) President Nixon in 1972 issued Executive
Order 11644 establishing standards on snowmobile
use on public lands, including the requirements that
snowmobile use in a national park be permitted only
when the National Park Service determines that
such use will not adversely affect the park’s natural,
aesthetic, or scenic values, and that the National
Park Service monitor the impacts of any such use in
a national park to assure compliance with those
standards.
(2) President Carter in 1977 issued Executive
Order 11989 establishing additional standards on
snowmobile use on public lands, including the re-
quirements that the National Park Service, when-
ever it determines that any such use is causing con-
siderable adverse effects on the natural resources of
a national park, immediately halt the use or other-
wise take steps to prevent those effects.
(3) In compliance with these Executive Orders,
the National Park Service in 1983 issued regulations
(section 2.18 of title 36, Code of Federal Regula-
tions) providing in part the following: ‘‘Snowmobiles
are prohibited except where designated and only
when their use is consistent with the park’s natural,
cultural, scenic and aesthetic values, safety consider-
ations, park management objectives, and will not
disturb wildlife or damage park resources.’’.
(4) Pursuant to these general regulations, the
National Park Service has issued special regulations
designating routes on which snowmobiles may travel
in 41 units of the National Park System.
(5) A survey the National Park Service con-
ducted in 1999–2000 on snowmobile use in units of
the National Park System revealed that—
(A) with respect to most of the units in
which snowmobile use occurs, the Service had
never made a determination that such use
would be consistent with the requirements of
Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and its own
general snowmobile regulations;
(B) snowmobile use was occurring in two
units for which no routes had been designated
for such use by special regulations, and, in
other units, snowmobile use was occurring on
routes which had not been designated for that
use by special regulations;
(C) in most units in which snowmobile use
occurs, the Service had not conducted and was
not conducting the monitoring required by Ex-
ecutive Order 11644 of the impacts of that
snowmobile use; and
(D) snowmobile use in many units was
causing impacts inconsistent with the standards
of Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 and the
general snowmobile regulations.
(6) In April 2000, to come into compliance with
the requirements of Executive Orders 11644 and
11989 and the general snowmobile regulations, the
National Park Service announced that it—
(A) had determined that, in most in-
stances, recreational use of snowmobiles is not
an appropriate use in units of the National
Park System; and
(B) was initiating a process to adopt new
requirements to limit snowmobile use in units of
the National Park System (other than units in
the State of Alaska and Voyageurs National
Park) to short routes providing access to adja-
cent public lands open to recreational snow-
mobile use and to routes providing necessary
access to private property within or adjacent to
such units.
(7) In November 2000, based on a final envi-
ronmental impact statement on a winter use plan for
Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National
Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial
Parkway and on other studies and information, the
National Park Service adopted a record of decision
determining that the snowmobile use occurring in
those parks is causing impacts that are inconsistent
with—
(A) Executive Orders 11644 and 11989
and the general snowmobile regulations;
(B) the requirements of the Clean Air Act
(42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.); and
(C) the requirement of the first section of
the Act of August 25, 1916 (16 U.S.C. 1; com-
monly known as the National Park Service Or-
ganic Act) that the Service manage units of the
National Park System ‘‘in such manner and by
such means as will leave them unimpaired for
the enjoyment of future generations’’.
(8) In January 2001, to implement the record
of decision referred to in paragraph (7), the Na-
tional Park Service adopted final regulations amend-
ing part 7 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations,
to phase out by the winter of 2003–2004 all snow-
mobile use in Yellowstone National Park and the
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway and
most snowmobile use in Grand Teton National Park,
as published in the Federal Register on January 22,
2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260).
(9) The new regulations referred to in para-
graph (8) or other regulations under consideration
by the National Park Service to restrict snowmobile
use in units of the National Park System do not
apply to other Federal lands, where the over-
whelming majority of the snowmobile use occurring
on Federal lands takes place and will be able to con-
tinue to take place.
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON SNOWMOBILE USE IN THE NA-
TIONAL PARK SYSTEM.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) NATIONAL
PARK.—The term ‘‘national
park’’ means a unit of the National Park System.
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Na-
tional Park Service.
(b) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—The use of snowmo-
biles in a national park is prohibited except on a des-
ignated route described in subsection (c) and only when
the Secretary determines that the use of snowmobiles is
consistent with the park’s natural, cultural, scenic, and
aesthetic values, safety considerations, and park manage-
ment objectives, and will not disturb wildlife or damage
park resources.
(c) DESIGNATED ROUTES.—A designated route re-
ferred to in subsection (b) is any snowmobile route des-
ignated by regulation issued by the Secretary after Janu-
ary 1, 2001 (including those routes designated with re-
spect to Grand Teton National Park by paragraphs (10)
and (12) of section 7.22(g) of title 36, Code of Federal
Regulations, as published in the Federal Register on Jan-
uary 22, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg. 7260), subject to any subse-
quent amendment of such designations), but only if the
designated route—
(1) is authorized for use by motor vehicles or
motorboats during other seasons; and
(2) provides reasonable and direct public access
by snowmobile—
(A) to public lands that are adjacent to or
in the immediate vicinity of the national park
and are open to public snowmobile use; or
(B) to private property within, adjacent to,
or in the immediate vicinity of the national
park by the owners of the private property and
their representatives and invitees, when that
snowmobile access is the only practical means
of winter access to the private property.
(d) MONITORING.—Whenever snowmobile use is per-
mitted in a national park, the Secretary shall ensure that
the impacts of that use are monitored to assure that it
is consistent with the standards specified in subsection (b).
If the Secretary determines that the use is not consistent
with those standards, the Secretary shall immediately cur-
tail or halt the use or take other steps as necessary to
ensure consistency with those standards.
(e) EXCEPTIONS.—
(1) EXCEPTION
FOR
CERTAIN
PARKS.—Sub-
sections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to any na-
tional park in Alaska and to Voyageurs National
Park.
(2) EXCEPTION
TO
CERTAIN
USES.—Sub-
sections (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to—
(A) the use of snowmobiles by the National
Park Service and its contractors and agents, if
the Secretary determines that such use is essen-
tial for the management of a national park; and
(B) the use of snowmobiles in emergency
situations, as determined by the superintendent
of the national park.
(f) EFFECTIVE DATES.—This Act takes effect begin-
ning with the winter of 2003–2004 with respect to Yellow-
stone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, and begin-
ning with the winter of 2002–2003 with respect to other
national parks.
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