Associated Press BILLINGS - A federal appeals court has denied a request by conservation groups to temporarily suspend a ruling that led to more snowmobiles being allowed in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks late this winter. In a written order filed Wednesday, judges from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said that, considering only a few days remain in the winter season, the groups had not made "adequate showing of irreparable harm" to warrant a stay. The groups requested the stay pending appeal of an order issued last month by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming. Brimmer halted enforcement of Clinton-era restrictions on snowmobiles and ordered the National Park Service to devise rules for the rest of this season that "will be fair to all parties." The temporary rules under Brimmer's order increased from 493 to 780 the number of snowmobiles allowed in Yellowstone each day this winter. In Grand Teton and the parkway connecting the parks, 140 snowmobiles were allowed each day. The appeals court said it was denying the stay "without prejudice to renewal should the circumstances change" but added that the justices were expressing "no opinion as to the merits of the preliminary injunction entered by the district court." Abigail Dillen, an attorney with Earthjustice, which represents the conservation groups, said a lot of uncertainty remains. "I think when you push aside all the procedural issues," she said, "the question is: What are the rules for next winter? How do we get some certainty for next winter?" The Clinton adminstration proposed phasing out snowmobiles because of concern that the machines were responsible for air and noise pollution in the parks and that some riders used them to harass wildlife. The snowmobile industry later sued over the Clinton plan and the Bush administration eventually reached a settlement that allowed snowmobile use to continue, but with limits on the numbers and types of machines. In December, in another lawsuit over snowmobile use in the parks, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of Washington, D.C., ordered the Park Service to reinstate the Clinton-era plan. Last month, Sullivan threatened to hold the National Park Service in contempt for violating his order. At a hearing this week, however, Sullivan said there would be no harm in waiting for a final decision from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court. |