Yellowstone is preparing for their winter opening on the morning of the 19th. 

The Final Rule implementing a long term winter use plan for the Park was published in the Federal Register yesterday the 13th, basically specifying that the Park would operate this season as it has for the past three winters, with changes upcoming for the 2008-2009 season and beyond. 

The Park has already been doing some avalanche mitigation on Sylvan Pass with their 101 mm howitzer, and plans to add a helicopter based program when needed to address avalanche concerns on the pass as the winter deepens.  

The controversy over winter access in the Park will no doubt rage on for years most likely - all the sniping back and forth tends at times to overshadow what a magical place the Park and surrounding areas are in the winter season.   It’s our humble opinion that as the tone of the argument becomes more acrimonious, which it seemingly has this year in particular, it tends to dampen the enthusiasm and understanding of the populace at large for the Park.   The Park deserves better. 

We’re just happy the Park’s opening back up for the winter season, and that there’s some snow down already (ranging it appears from 4 inches in Hayden Valley to 23 inches at Grant Village). 

Here’s a link to the Park’s news release page which details more information about the opener and the Final Winter Use Rule posting in the Federal Register - both news releases were posted on 13 December 2007. 

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