Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan Meeting To Be Held in West Yellowstone

Yellowstone officials will be holding a public meeting Monday, August 10, concerning the Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan draft.

The meeting will take place at the Visitor Information Center in West Yellowstone, Montana from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The current draft of the Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan mandates that Park resources be monitored and evaluated based on impact. It also outlines how the National Park Service can  engage the public in administrative decisions.

The morning portion of the meeting will cover any and all updates to the draft plan. The afternoon will consist of staff soliciting input in prioritizing the metrics for the monitoring of winter use impacts in Yellowstone National Park.

If you wish to attend the meeting, you should RSVP by sending an email to Christina_Mills@nps.gov by Thursday, August 6.

The Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan draft follows the release of a February 2013 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. After which, the Winter Use Adaptive Management Program went into effect. This program produced the Adaptive Management Plan.

The current Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan draft encompasses three objectives: 1) evaluate how oversnow vehicle use impacts Park infrastructure and how managers can mitigate said impacts, 2) gather data regarding the impact of snowmobiles versus snowcoaches in Yellowstone National Park and 3) gather additional data (concerning social and ecological impacts of winter use) after the implementation of the final plan.

You may read the plan in full at the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website. If you cannot make it to the meeting but wish to submit comments concerning the draft plan, you may mail them to the following address:

Christina Mills
Office of the Superintendent
Adaptive Management Plan
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190

Mail-in comments are due by August 21.

Once all comments, both public and private, have been sent in, they will be factored into the final Winter Use Adaptive Management Plan, which is slated for a 2016 release.

More information on winter use in Yellowstone National Park can be found here.