Yellowstone National Park is no place for a downhill ski area, say critics unhappy with a $70,000 upgrade of an area near Mammoth Hot Springs used mainly by park employees.
The area, near Undine Falls, has had a rope tow for years, where park employees and their families could ski on weekend afternoons.The tow was declared unsafe last year, however. Mammoth grade-school officials said they had the money to upgrade it, and park officials decided to put in a poma lift. To use a poma lift, skiers put a disc between their legs and are pulled to the top of a hill by a cable.
But some Gardiner-Mammoth residents are angry about the fact that 20 trees had to be cut to make room for ski towers residents don't feel belong in Yellowstone. They also object to the cost of the project, which may rise to $70,000 depending on how much volunteer labor is used.
"I think it's a terrible hypocrisy," said Deb Bahr, whose husband is employed by the park. "A very large number of people (who work for the park) are against it, but people are afraid to speak out because of their jobs."
She said Yellowstone should have closed down the facility and told local residents - including schoolchildren learning to ski - to go to Bridger Bowl or Big Sky.
Michael Scott of Bozeman, director of The Wilderness Society's northwest office, agreed, saying `the right thing for the Park Service to do now is . . . to admit they made a mistake and to stop and assess the situation before they spend more taxpayer money."
Bahr vigorously objects to changes made at the ski hill to put in the lift. A park crew cut down several old-growth Douglas fir trees, and workers now are putting in eight 17- to 23-feet-tall towers to anchor the lift.
Topsoil was removed and the ground was disturbed when track hoes - back hoes on tracks - were used to carry cement and other supplies to the area, she said.
Yellowstone spokeswoman Marsha Karle confirmed that a crew cut down some old Douglas firs and some dead trees so operators at the top and bottom of the lift could see each other and stop the lift if something went wrong. An estimated 20 trees were felled, she said.
No changes should have been made in the lift area without holding public meetings first, Bahr said. She also said that the towers are visible from the park road from Mammoth to Tower Junction. The towers are being painted brown so they'll look like trees, said spokeswoman Karle.
Yellowstone Assistant Superintendent Joe Alston said there was no need to go to the public because the park was merely replacing an existing facility, and federal rules don't require public comment on that.
"The distance (of the lift) and the vertical operation hasn't changed," Alston said. The Undine ski run is about 250 vertical feet, compared to Bridger Bowl's 2,000 vertical feet runs.