Study says snowmobiles don’t faze park’s wildlife

BILLINGS – Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans are unfazed by the presence of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the park and Montana State University observed more than 2,100 interactions between snowmobiles and wildlife last winter.

In 81 percent of the interactions, the animals either had no apparent response, or they looked and then resumed what they were doing, the study said.

The study, commissioned by the National Park Service and conducted between December 2004 and March 2005, is one of several that park officials say they will take into account as they develop a long-range plan for winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

The study suggests wildlife can become habituated to the machines over time.

“We suggest the debate regarding the effect of motorized recreation on wildlife is largely a social issue as opposed to a wildlife-management issue,” the study said.

Overall, the populations of elk and bison in the park appear to be stable, the study said, and any “adverse effects” in the winter “have apparently been compensated for at the population level.”

The authors did, however, make some recommendations for reducing the effects of snowmobile traffic on wildlife. They suggested trying to keep the machines more than 100 yards away from groups of wildlife, reducing the number of riders in groups that stop to watch wildlife and reducing both the number of wildlife stops and the length of human interactions with animals.

The Park Service is in the midst of its third in-depth study of the snowmobile issue in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. A draft is scheduled to be completed early next year.

In the meantime, Yellowstone is operating under temporary winter use rules, which allow up to 720 guided snowmobiles into that park each day.

Wildlife is among the key issues in the ongoing winter use debate, along with noise, pollution and the economic impact on nearby communities.