Fewer Yellowstone snowmobiles sought

BILLINGS, Mont. - The number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone National Park would be cut by more than half under an Obama administration proposal revealed yesterday that marked yet another policy swing on an issue that has been unresolved for more than a decade.

The proposal would allow 318 snowmobiles and 78 multi-passenger snowcoaches daily for the next two winters. That is down from 720 snowmobiles per day allowed last winter.

The question of how many snowmobiles are appropriate for the nation’s first national park has sparked political and legal skirmishing since the Clinton administration, when an outright ban was proposed.