NYT ED: Snowmobile Deceit

Published: August 26, 2005

It's hard to think of another subject in the history of the national park system that has been as thoroughly studied as the use of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park. Since 1996, there have been three major official assessments of snowmobiles' impact on the park in winter. Two of those were done during the Bush administration. Now a fourth major study has been authorized; it is to be completed by 2007, when the current three-year plan for winter use comes to an end. This new study will cost $2 million to $3 million - for a park that is annually underfinanced by nearly $23 million. There is only one conceivable reason for this study. It's part of the tried and true methodology of the Bush administration: if you don't like the results the first time, do it again and change the definitions so you do get the results you like.