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Rangers Tickets Snowmobilers Who Didn't Know They Were in the Park or Just Couldn't Resist.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2005

CONTACT: , Chronicle Staff Writer

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Park rangers cited 17 people for driving snowmobiles illegally into Yellowstone National Park last weekend and stopped dozens of others and prevented them from entering the park.

"It's kind of par for the course for that weekend," said David Barland-Liles, a special agent in the park.

The President's Day weekend typically is one of the winter's busiest in West Yellowstone and Island Park, Idaho, and attracts snowmobilers from all over the country.

Snowmobiling is legal in Yellowstone, but is strictly controlled. All riders must stay on groomed routes, use an approved machine and travel with a guide.

Outside the park, people can ride almost anywhere with snow.

Some of the riders maintained they didn't know they were in the park, Barland-Liles said Thursday, but others said they couldn't ignore the temptation of fresh powder, especially when snow outside the park is marked up by heavy traffic.

"They look east, see the terrain that's fun looking," he said. "They see that powder and off they go. They think, 'Who's going to catch me?' and then they get caught."

Violators face fines that typically are at least $500 and a mandatory court appearance in Mammoth Hot Springs, unless they can arrange a plea agreement with the U.S. attorney's office in Cheyenne, Wyo.

One man was cited twice in the same weekend.

The day after the first citation, when he maintained he hadn't seen boundary signs, he returned to the same area about 28 miles south of West Yellowstone and told rangers he "tried to find where he got into the park" the previous day, Barland-Liles said.

The driver followed his tracks and was cited again, he said.

Rangers could see five signs from where they cited him, Barland-Liles said.

The park boundary is well marked with standard boundary signs, which have been outlined with bright yellow to make them more visible, Barland-Liles said.

In addition, large highway-type signs within a quarter mile of the park boundary warn riders they are approaching a no-snowmobiling zone.

Some people blatantly ignore the signs. The Park Service posted photos on its Web site (http://www.nps.gov/yell/press/index.htm) of snowmobile tracks passing within a couple feet of a boundary sign.

The park's west boundary in that area is a long, straight line that hasn't changed since 1872.

"We get incursions on the west boundary every day," Barland-Liles said.

Most people only got a mile or two into the park, but in the past tracks have been found as far as 45 miles into the park interior.

The federal government does not release the names of such violators until they have appeared in court. Only one man, Brian C. Olsen, of Idaho Falls, has appeared so far.

Other violators came from Washington, Idaho, Canada, Minnesota and other places.

Mary Sue Costello, executive director of the West Yellowstone Chamber of Commerce, said she was aware of no educational outreach to tell people about park boundaries and fines, but the off limits areas are clearly marked on trail maps of the region.

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