Howdy Friends,

Three citizens from West Yellowstone, a small gateway community outside the
western edge of Yellowstone National Park, are in Washington D.C. as you
read this. They are meeting with members of Congress, urging them to restore
to Yellowstone the clean air and quiet that once defined our first national
park. These three business owners are testifying that their community's
economic well-being depends on Yellowstone's environmental health.
Specifically, they are encouraging a phaseout of snowmobiles in the park and
a shift to cleaner, quieter snowcoaches. The National Park Service is
considering this transition as a way to reduce chronic air and noise
pollution and to comply with popular laws like the Clean Air Act. These
citizens say a less-damaging form of access into the national park is also
the best way to assure that tourists will continue to visit and support
their businesses.

There could hardly be better messengers than these three individuals from
West Yellowstone who have traveled across the country to the nation's
capitol. They are making the strong statement that Yellowstone's health is
vital to their future -- that environmental health goes hand in hand with
economic health. The snowmobile lobby and a handful of powerful business
chains that control West Yellowstone have tried for months to ignore this
perspective and to instead cast West Yellowstone's economic fortunes as
dependent on snowmobiling in the park. Standing up in this climate and
carrying a more accurate picture to Washington D.C. takes courage.

We can support the work of these three citizens by sending our own emails to
key senators who have great influence over Yellowstone's health and future.
We can reinforce the message these citizens are delivering in   Washington
D.C. by emphasizing the link between environmental protection and economic
prosperity. Please consider sending an email that affirms your interest in
visiting Yellowstone (and spending money in its gateway communities) the
moment the park's health and character are restored to what you expect in
your national parks.

Emails arriving as these three citizens finish their work in D.C. will help
ensure that their message is taken seriously. Your email can help persuade
the following senators of two crucial points: First, that people across the
country want snowmobiles phased out of Yellowstone and replaced with
snowcoaches in order to restore clean air and quiet in America's first
national park. And second, that what is best for Yellowstone's health also
happens to be the best way to assure that tourist-dependent towns near the
park can thrive in the future.

Sen. Max Baucus (MT)
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: (202) 224-2651

Sen. Conrad Burns (MT)
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: (202) 224-2644

Sen. Craig Thomas (WY)
email: [log in to unmask]
phone: (202) 224-6441

Please consider forwarding this email to five of your friends or colleagues
who care about Yellowstone's future.

THANK YOU!

For more information about this message, please contact:

Jon Catton at the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Bozeman, Montana,
[log in to unmask]
or Betsy Buffington at The Wilderness Society, also in Bozeman,
[log in to unmask]

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Rex L. Bavousett
Photographer
University of Iowa
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Our new name:  University Communications & Outreach - Publications
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http://www.uiowa.edu/~urpubs/
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