For What Good It Will Do

Since I have not posted for quite a while, I have many ideas in my head but not enough time to get them all on here so I am going to start with the following:


As much as this topic is severely over written about when it comes to thoughts on conservation or preservation of not only our National Parks, but also our national forests, monuments, etc, I feel the need to bring it up again. That is the issue of snow mobiles in Yellowstone National Park.

The average person, which the majority of you are, who come perusing through the blogs will probably bypass this article out of sheer boredom, but for those of you who care, I thank you.

Yellowstone, when left to its own ways is a dangerous place. Hot springs and pools that can deal out debilitating scalds, burns, or even death if someone happens to fall in or break through the thin crust that covers a good portion of the park.

Bison, who are a magnificent spectacle to behold on a first visit, and even many visits thereafter, can easily become hostile, or even the occasional bear going after trash or after the smell of food can lash out without notice if they or their young are threatened.

So why then do we need to add snowmobiles to the equation? Not only to they bring pollution into the atmosphere but they also ruin the tranquility that makes Yellowstone and many other parks a place to step away from reality.

Apart from that, their tracks are quite unsightly. The park's winters can land several feet of snow creating some of the most beautiful winter scenes present day North America has to offer. Tracks from a snowmobile simply ruin it. Imagine if a great artist such as Monet or Picasso, in one of their masterpieces, decided to add in gallows with nooses hanging at the ready. A beautiful painting of a beautiful place simply ruined by the human dark side.

In essence that is what we are doing but letting two or 300 snowmobiles plow through the park every day. Something needs to be done, and it is going to take more than a letter here, and an organization there to get it done.

Wake up America. This is your home and the National Parks are part of what separates us in a good way from the rest of the world. Why squander these places of beauty just for a momentary thrill of a snowmobile ride? The truth is my friends, snowmobiles will be here as long as they continue to produce them. The National Parks however, will only be here as long as we choose to keep them.

I ask you on behalf of the parks, and for the good for future generations to take action immediately. Individually our efforts may go unnoticed by the rich men and women in Washington, but together, we can and will be heard.