POLICY OPTIONS AND POLITICAL DIFFICULTIES

SNOWMOBILING

The National Park Service (NPS) has enacted several different policies in an attempt to mitigate the negative externalities associated with snowmobiling in Denali National Park and Preserve. Primarily, the NPS has tried direct regulation of the physical range snowmobilers are allowed to cover within the park. They have also proposed a transferable permit system to further limit the damage snowmobiles might cause within the new, smaller section of the park where use is permitted. Both policies have faced considerable opposition from snowmobiling groups in Alaska. The benefits and detriments of each policy are discussed below.

In the early 1980s, the National Park Service implemented a direct regulation on snowmobile use inside Denali National Park and Preserve which coincided with federal legislation substantially increasing the size of the park. The Department of the Interior added 3.7 million acres to the former Mt. McKinley National Park, thus creating Denali National Park and Preserve. The NPS prohibited snowmobile use in the original Mt. McKinley section of the park (the "old" area), but allowed snowmobilers to use the "new" section of the park. This regulation was enacted under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) which provided for the protection of wilderness areas and the preservation of "traditional uses" of the natural surroundings. Although this law was intended for native Alaskans or Inuit, it did not specifically prohibit non-Inuit Alaskans from snowmobiling in conservation units, (i.e., national and state parks).

Recreational snowmobiling has increased substantially and within the past few years the Alaskan State Snowmobiling Club (ASSC) filed a lawsuit against the NPS contending that their policy actually violates the ambiguous ANILCA (the same law under which the NPS regulation was enacted). The ASSC maintains that ANILCA designates snowmobiling as a "traditional use," native to Alaskan culture and therefore permissible on all public lands. The NPS refutes this claim on the grounds that when this federal law was passed in 1980, snowmobiling was used only for limited amounts of hunting and trapping – not for recreational use. Park officials have explained; "The Department of Interior has acknowledged that the opening of the pre-ANILCA areas, including the Denali wilderness areas, was an inadvertent result of the legislation rather than an intentional action by Congress, and that this should be corrected" (Dept. of the Interior 1999). Thus, it appears unlikely that the ASSC will be successful in their attempts to regain access to the original (old) section of the park.

Furthermore, the National Park Service has economic justifications for limiting snowmobiles. Snowmobiles have demonstrated negative externalities on the environment and placing a direct regulation on them will certainly reduce these externalities. The NPS needs to weigh these costs against foregone benefits, including lost revenue from reduced visitors as well as subsequent impacts on the surrounding community, which relies heavily on tourist income. If it can be conclusively determined that snowmobilers constitute a small enough minority of total park visitors, then a direct regulation of some sort may be cost effective. More information is needed on exactly how many snowmobilers are likely to visit the smaller area to conclusively decide the validity of the direct regulation.

Another possible solution to the snowmobile problem in Denali would be a transferable permit system. A snowmobiler would be able to purchase a permit allowing him/her to snowmobile in certain designated areas of the park for a predetermined amount of time. This would benefit the park in two ways. First, permit sales would bring additional revenue to the park. Secondly, there would be a regulation on the number of snowmobilers allowed into the park. However, along with these benefits, there is a question of equity. The snowmobilers are bearing all the costs associated with snowmobile use. As discussed above, the snowmobilers may not see this as fair because they feel they are entitled to snowmobile in the park for free just as the Alaskan Inuit are.

A final policy option includes taxing all snowmobilers as they enter the park. This tax will be added to the initial entrance fee of each visitor who intends to snowmobile. Again, there will be added revenue from the tax and the NPS will be monetarily compensated for the damage done to the park by snowmobilers. However, the debate regarding the right for the snowmobilers to freely use the park continues.