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Park needs $4M to keep pass open
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Monday, April 28, 2008
Yellowstone Park officials say they don't have the estimated $4 million it would take to make Sylvan Pass safe for future winter travel.
Members of a working group of government representatives still are optimistic that a compromise can be reached during their final meeting June 3 in Billings that will allow the east gate to remain open next winter and beyond.
If that does not happen, the East Entrance will only be open when the Park Service deems it safe.
In addition, the NPS will no longer artificially trigger avalanches with explosives to remove snow hazards.
That is the method used in the past, either by firing a howitzer, dropping charges from a contracted helicopter, or a combination of both.
The working group - which includes city of Cody and Park County representatives as well as Wyoming legislators and Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis - has been meeting throughout the winter to hammer out a compromise that would supersede one provision of the Park Service's Record of Decision on winter use.
The ROD recommended use of “full forecasting” to determine whether the pass was free of avalanche danger and could be traversed by snowmobiles and snow coaches.
“If there is no compromise, then I guess it is what the ROD says, full forecasting,” and the pass basically is closed, said group member Tim French, chairman of the Park County Commission.
“A great deal rides on the next meeting,” French added.
The working group met in Billings last week, but failed to reach a compromise.
Cody and Park County people are interested in keeping the pass open to retain a winter travel draw that boosts the economy during the off-season.
The Park Service maintains that the pass is unsafe and poses the threat of an avalanche accident waiting to happen.
Some Cody people believe it is not that dangerous since over many years there never has been an avalanche death there, though at least one Park Service employee died in a snowmobile accident while traveling along the pass in a blizzard.
Lewis told the group last week that it would cost about $3.9 million to make the pass safe for over-snow travel.
She said that included $240,000 for an over-snow rescue vehicle, $875,000 for a bunker and warming hut that would protect park employees from falling rocks and ice, and about $1.2 million for eight remote-control devices that could trigger avalanches.
Lewis estimated it would cost another $456,200 per year in operating expenses.
This past winter, French said operating costs were about $299,000.
State Rep. Pat Childers, who also attended the Billings meeting, said he felt the prices were inflated since some of the listed expenses will exist anyway.
State Rep. Colin Simpson agreed.
“I don't believe it's all necessary,” Simpson said Monday. “That's what it would cost to make it as safe as we could make it,” based on recommendations from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and another government study.
He said the Park Service “is still reviewing scenarios where they would try to keep it open beyond full forecasting.”
That means, he said, using explosives to trigger avalanches.
“We will receive additional information from them at the next meeting,” Simpson said. He added that the meeting could be prior to June 3, though that has not been announced.
French feels the danger of the pass is real, based on the federal studies.
“The fact that somebody hasn't gotten hurt doesn't mean they won't get hurt,” French said. “That's a high mountain pass in the middle of winter, with plenty of snow.”
He added that the Park Service and other group members appear to be working in good faith toward a solution, despite inherent problems.
“We were arguing back and forth, but it was a constructive argument,” French said of last week's meeting.
“We're going to come up with a compromise that's something other than full forecasting,” French said. “Under full forecasting, the pass will be closed.”
French found “attitudes a little different” among group members, who appear to be listening more carefully to one another as time for compromise dwindles.
“Everyone is hopeful that we're going to achieve alternatives to full forecasting,” Simpson said. “I'm still optimistic.”
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