ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION – NO HARD COPY TO FOLLOW
September 4, 2024
The Honorable Charles F. Sams, III
Director
National Park Service
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Subject: Grand Teton National Park, Moose-Wilson Road-NEPA Reversal of Bicycle Use
Dear Director Sams:
I write on behalf of more than 2,800 members of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (Coalition), who collectively represent more than 50,000 years of national park management experience. The Coalition studies, educates, speaks, and acts for the preservation of America’s National Park System. Among our members are former National Park Service (NPS) directors, regional directors, superintendents, resource specialists, park rangers, maintenance and administrative staff, and a full array of other former employees, volunteers, and supporters.
For nearly a decade, we have felt proud of the work and conclusion that the NPS came to through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process in regard to the Grand Teton National Park Moose-Wilson Corridor. The NPS carefully considered the thousands of public comments that weighed in on this important park issue and ultimately succeeded in reiterating that the natural and cultural resources of the park are the priority.
By completing an extensive Final Environmental Impact Statement in 2016, Grant Teton National Park determined what was best for the park’s cultural resources and the bears, elk, deer, moose, wolves, lions, and myriad of other wildlife that rely on the Grand Teton National Park Moose-Wilson Corridor to move, migrate, forage, and hunt.
We are very disappointed that political pressure and lobbying has reversed this lawful decision and now puts both natural and cultural resources at risk.
We understand that Shannon A. Estenoz, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, made a commitment to Senator Barrasso during her confirmation hearing to listen to all parties involved in opening the two-track to bicycle traffic, including the Friends of the Pathway. However, the reversal of the NEPA to undergo a two-year pilot project dismisses the scientific evidence analyzed during the NEPA process and now puts wildlife at risk from disturbance, fragmentation, and displacement. It could compromise an archeological site, and it also could potentially put visitors at risk from wildlife that are feeding or defending their territory and young.
As this pilot has already begun, we understand and encourage the park to continue to collect not only wildlife data, but also visitor-use data and quantify both. This action is critical should the park be directed to conduct additional NEPA and look at new alternatives. In addition, we believe the park should receive additional funding to conduct these activities in order to not redirect funds from other critical resource areas and issues in the park.
Multiple-use groups with multiple voices on varying sides of an issue are common in parks. This is why parks must use NEPA to present and analyze all of the facts and make the best decisions based upon the NPS mission and the Organic Act. The NPS is obligated to preserve cultural and natural resources first and foremost, in order to have the integrity the American people expect when they visit a national park.
While there was no official comment period or announcement, we feel it is necessary to express our concerns and opposition to this bicycle pilot project. While we realize it is too late to halt at least the first year of this pilot, we urge you to consider abandoning this project prior to year two and adhere to the pathway recommended by the NEPA analysis.
Sincerely,
Philip A. Francis, Jr.
Chair of the Executive Council
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
2 Massachusetts Ave NE, Unit 77436, Washington, DC 20013
(202) 819-8622
cc:
The Honorable John Barrasso, United States Senate
The Honorable Cynthia Lummis, United States Senate
The Honorable Harriet Hageman, United States House of Representatives
Shannon Estenoz, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
Frank Lands, Deputy Director for Operations, National Park Service
Chip Jenkins, Superintendent, Grand Teton National Park and John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway
Katherine Hammond, Regional Director, Intermountain Region 6, 7, and 8
Franz Camenzind, Executive Director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, retired
Katherine Dowson, Executive Director, Friends of the Pathway