Yellowstone Treasures Blog

Fifty-eight thousand people were interested enough in how future winter travel in Yellowstone will be managed to write comments on the latest draft plan. Their issues needing further analysis include air and sound quality measurements, cost of avalanche mitigation in Sylvan Pass, and the possibility of access for non commercially guided tours.

As a result, Superintendent Dan Wenk and other park planners have decided to extend the previous regulations for another season: up to 318 snowmobiles and up to 78 snowcoaches may continue to enter the park daily, and snow travel will be allowed through the East Entrance.

This number of snowmobiles is well over the actual numbers that have entered the park in recent years. In my opinion, it is still too many, but better than in the years when rangers at the West Entrance had to go to work in gas masks. A permanent plan certainly needs to be put in place, so that visitors can plan ahead and know exactly what to expect.