CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- An already confusing winter for snowmobilers in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks got even more complicated when a federal judge blocked severe restrictions on the use of the machines enacted just as the season began.
The move was cheered Tuesday by Gov. Dave Freudenthal and the businesses that rely on renting snowmobiles to visitors, but jeered by environmentalists, who fear an increase in pollution, noise and damage.
U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday against the Clinton-era restrictions and ordered the National Park Service to develop temporary rules for the rest of the 2004 season including use of cleaner, quieter snowmobiles.
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In December, just before the snowmobile season in the parks, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C., reinstated the Clinton administration plan to ban snowmobiles in favor of less-polluting mass-transit snow coaches.
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