WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT - March 1, 2006 - Citing the growing popularity of snowcoach tours at Yellowstone National Park and the related benefits for park health and visitor enjoyment, the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR), a respected coalition of nearly 500 former NPS employees, today presented awards to two businesses leading a "profoundly healthy transition" in the country's oldest national park.  The recognition from CNPSR was bestowed on Scott Carsley, owner of Yellowstone Alpen Guides, and Randy Roberson, owner of Yellowstone Vacations.

"These two tour operators have been leaders in a transition that is making Yellowstone National Park a safer, healthier, and more attractive winter destination for a wider variety of visitors," said Bill Wade, chair of the CNPSR executive council and a former superintendent of Shenandoah National Park.

The "George B. Hartzog, Jr. Award," presented to both business owners, honors a former director of the National Park Service.  Carsley was singled out for his snowcoach advocacy over the past 20 years and his role in restoring the Park's historic "Bombardier" snowcoaches, which are now the cleanest winter vehicles operating in Yellowstone.   The group applauded Roberson for his vision of Yellowstone's future, and snowcoach design innovations. Roberson has owned and operated a major snowmobile rental business for more than 20 years, and lately has drawn regional and national attention for his development of state-of-the-art snowcoaches featuring picture windows and improved ski and track systems that others have emulated.

As an increasing percentage of Yellowstone visitors have opted for snowcoach tours during each of the last three winters, fewer visitors have chosen snowmobile trips inside the Park. The shift has reduced traffic and cut the number of direct conflicts on Yellowstone National Park roads between machines and wildlife while also dramatically improving Yellowstone's air quality. A recent National Park Service report concerning vehicle emissions in Yellowstone revealed that new snowcoaches are up to 41 times cleaner per visitor than the newest snowmobiles.

"As our national population grows by a few million citizens each year, it becomes an ever-bigger challenge to ensure that visitors can enjoy their national parks without overwhelming them with traffic, damaging their health, and diminishing their uniqueness," Wade said at an awards ceremony in West Yellowstone. "These two tour operators are demonstrating in Yellowstone's fragile winter environment how this challenge can be met successfully. Today, we salute their efforts, and thank them."

A delegation of more than a dozen former national park leaders toured Yellowstone National Park by snowcoach earlier this week.

"Like millions of Americans, we are reading about Yellowstone's new, healthier direction in winter," said Bill Supernaugh, a member of the organization's executive council who served as Superintendent of Badlands National Park in South Dakota and is now retired in Oklahoma. "We wanted to come see the improvements for ourselves and we were thrilled by the quality of the snowcoach tours, particularly the knowledge of the guides. I encourage anyone to come see Yellowstone by snowcoach and learn from these guides about the Park's wildlife, geology, and history."

The number of businesses operating snowcoach tours at Yellowstone has doubled in the last five years, from eight to 16. This winter has seen the first-ever waiting lists for snowcoach tours from the West Entrance and a tripling in snowcoach visitation last month at the North Entrance. During the past two winters, Yellowstone has seen a park-wide increase in snowcoach visitation of 42 percent.

"Yellowstone's winter recovery still has a significant way to go, but these two businesses are a big reason it has come this far," said Wade. "Our oldest national park is clearly being rediscovered by Americans who want to view its wildlife in winter, take photos, and enjoy the Park in quieter ways. The ongoing reduction in traffic, commotion and pollution is bringing them back. That is a wonderful turnaround in the making."

ABOUT THE COALITION

The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees now consists of 481 individuals, all former employees of the National Park Service, with more joining us almost daily. Together we bring to this hearing over 14,000 years of experience. Many of us were senior leaders and many received awards for stewardship of our country's natural and cultural resources. As rangers, executives, park managers, biologists, historians, interpreters, planners and specialists in other disciplines, we devoted our professional lives to maintaining and protecting the national parks for the benefit of all Americans - those now living and those yet to be born. In our personal lives we come from a broad spectrum of political affiliations and we count among our members, five former directors or deputy directors of the National Park Service, 25 former regional directors, or deputy regional directors, 28 former associate or assistant directors and 120 former park superintendents or assistant superintenden
 ts.

CONTACT:  Bill Wade, Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, 520-444-3973 (cell); Scott Carsley, Yellowstone Alpen Guides, 406-646-9591; and Randy Roberson, Yellowstone Vacations 406-646-9564.