Comment on FR Doc # 2013-08893

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
Winter Use Comments
(RIN) 1024-AE15
Date: 4/30/13
From: Don Bachman
3910 Sourdough Road
Bozeman, MT 50715

By Mail to: Yellowstone National Park, Winter Use Proposed Rule, P.O. Box 168 Yellowstone NP, WY 82190
ATTN: Management Assistant Office:
Dear Comment Reviewer:
Please consider these comments on the Winter Use Proposed Rule. These will be specific to that portion of the Proposed Rule which allows for “Sylvan Pass to be open for both motorized and non-motorized oversnow travel from December 22 through March 1 each year…”
As previously stated in my comments re. the WUP SEIS dated August 7, 2012, I “… firmly reject the purpose and need to maintain oversnow vehicle access through the East Entrance over Sylvan Pass to the Fishing Bridge Junction”.
I am concerned that since the continued OSV use of Sylvan Pass is linked to the preferred alternative, the outcome of this controversial element of the WUP has been predetermined instead of recognized as a crucial element of the YNP winter use management policy. My suspicion is confirmed by the 4/16/13 FAQ Document on Pg. 22 as follows:
“During these hard economic times, how can the park justify the cost of keeping Sylvan Pass open?
Our planning process takes into account a number of factors. One of those factors is cost, but other factors include visitor experience, access for gateway communities, and views included in comments received during the NEPA process. We explored action alternatives that would close Sylvan Pass – including Alternative 3 in the plan/SEIS– but ultimately identified a preferred alternative under which Sylvan Pass would remain open.”
Though I am not an authority on NEPA procedures (but did take an agency-sponsored class 22 years ago) I believe that various parts of separate alternatives can be mixed and matched to develop a complete alternative in the final and/or the resultant rule. Application of this principle could have re