Snowmobile Use

One of the most significant market failures in Denali National Park is the negative consumption externality that arises from snowmobile use. Snowmobile use clearly creates a negative externality as it causes many unintended consequences on the park environment which are not felt by either the producer or the consumer, nor reflected in the market price of snowmobiles. Snowmobile use in and around the park up until the 1980’s was sporadic and limited in nature by the remote geographic setting of the park and limitations in snowmobile technology. Since that time, increased popularity of the activity for recreational purposes, combined with improved terrain handling capability of the equipment, has led to a large proliferation of snowmobile excursions into the park. The impacts of this growth on Denali National Park’s ecology and environment will be decidedly negative.

The negative impacts from snowmobiles in Denali National Park are primarily reflected by air and water pollution, along with animal and plant disruption/displacement. Snowmobile use in Denali results in short-term high concentrations of carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons. Such emissions diminish air quality and accumulate in the snow only to be eventually washed into streams and lakes in the spring, thus damaging water quality as well (Dept. of the Interior). Snowmobiles cause considerable breakage and abrasion to exposed vegetation, while also disturbing exposed soils. Lastly, snowmobiles can cause both direct and indirect impacts on wildlife. These include the injuring, harassment, or killing of wildlife, as well as "stress from disturbance, changes in distribution, and elimination of preferred habitat" (Dept. of the Interior 33).

Clearly these impacts represent negative externalities as they are felt by an unintended third party (the environment and wildlife) and are not accounted for by prices. The failure here is severe and results in private markets allocating too much snowmobile use in Denali National Park. Snowmobile use in the park ignores societal marginal cost because it does not take into account the injury it causes via air and water pollution and animal and vegetation damage.