It’s incredible where simple searches take you. I’m into family history again. I found a Bothwell Baptist Church in Bothwell, Ontario, Canada. I had to laugh, because there is a church that bore that nickname in Pueblo, CO. Couple that with this semi-satirical thought I had in college about helping plant a church in Bothwell, Scotland sometime in the future.

Then I find that a Bothwell was quite the cattle king in Wyoming in the late 1800’s. OK, so my parents and I were not blazing new territory for the family name in our move from Denver in 1992. Turns out, according to the White Pages, there are 25 or more Bothwells in the state, mostly the central and southern parts. Only three in the northwest though. I’m sure Mom would agree with me that there should at least be a fourth, we just don’t know who she is yet.

Just think, all that’s been for free. It has nothing to do with the East Gate, other than provide background information on why I’m posting this. I know, the title sounds cheesy. But here’s the tie-in. Apparently, a path is being unjustly blocked. A simple “Right of Way” path–crossing private property–that has multiple uses: cycling, horseback riding, and walking. The path has been gated in two locations, because someone wants a garden in it’s place. An uproar has begun in Bothwell. No avalanche, safety, or financial issues. It was a landowner that erected the fences. The criteria for a right of way seem to have been met:

In a positive development, the South Lanarkshire Council has agreed with the citizens that the fencing was built without permission, but now the citizens of Bothwell have a limited window for public comment:

South Lanarkshire Council confirmed that the gates and fence across the claimed Right of Way were erected without permission. Planning permission for a CHANGE OF USE FROM FOOTPATH TO GARDEN GROUND has now been requested. We have verbal confirmation that objections will be valid until 12th June although the official time ran out on 10th May. This is an affront to the people of Bothwell and permission should not be granted.

It helps to see all that before you see the info in the pop-up that you see when the page loads:

Please note that planning permission changing this well-used Right of Way into a garden was granted by South Lanarkshire Council despite overwhelming evidence of use by the people of Bothwell since at least 1812.

Sounds like the decision to limit winter-use access and not exactly follow proper procedure in drafting a winter-use plan for America’s first National Park.

People of Bothwell, know that a Bothwell here in Cody, Wyoming, USA knows how you feel and stands with you! Send in you comments to your leaders and don’t give up the fight!

I know, I haven’t had much going on here. Much of my blogging has been focused over on Wyoming Vote Tracker (see RSS Feed in the sidebar), which I am learning is quite a bit to keep up-to-date of all the political goings on of the Cowboy State.

Speaking of Cowboy State politics, I’ve recently been appointed Governor of Wyoming.

No, Freudenthal (free-den-thawl) didn’t resign and the rest of the state elected officials refuse the office, I’ve been appointed Grizzly Groundswell Governor of Wyoming.

I’m still single as a slice of cheese. It is odd, because I came across some stats that show Park County is populated with about 700 more women than men.

The weather is fluctuating downward. Right now, it’s lightly drizzling, but it will likely turn to snow overnight.

In some really great news, I have my Flickr page updated! Thanks to the Cody branch of the Park County Library, I was able to up load upwards to 600 pictures in just over two hours. Just uploading; I stil have some minor edits to do (tags, titles, descriptions). I think I have all the sets defined that I need (at least most of them anyway).

Soooooo, if you want to know what all I’ve seen over the past couple of months, check out these great pictures:

• My trip to Yellowstone National Park with Mom (mid-August )
• My Labor Day trip to Meeteetse with Grandma
• Did you know there is a dinosaur tracksite in Wyoming?
• An historic County Road north of Cody has been reopened
• National Public Lands Day recently allowed for free admission to the National Parks
• Presidential Politicing has come to Wyoming with the recent announcement that the WYGOP will hold it’s county conventions Jan. 5, 2008; at this point, first in the nation.

Mom and I are taking a day trip to Yellowstone tomorrow, urrr, today. BTW, she has been doing exceptionally well. Most of last week she was on many pain meds that caused her to sleep quite well. For the prayer warriors in my audience, thank you for your prayers and continued prayers during her recovery are appreciated.

Anyway, this trip was actually slated for last Monday, but because of Mom’s medically induced desire to sleep (and my desire to meet our new Senator), we held off for today.

The other day I said that it might be nice to go in via the Northeast Gate (locals, please don’t run me through the ringer on that desire). My desire to go with the Northeast is that I’ve not been in through that gate and the journey would be a nice change (nothing against our beloved East Gate, even the opportunities to enjoy the beauty of the mountainside during the 30 minute delays).

Well, now the NPS is forcing us to through Cooke City, MT (called “Cooked City back in ‘88) due to the rapid growth of the Columbine fire south of Sylvan Pass (more info on InciWeb).

Now if I were a good conspiracy theorist, I would say that high-ranking Yellowstone officials are trying to tweak the attendance numbers at the East Gate seeing as the fire started after the increased traffic numbers were released. But that’s just the suspicious side of me. I plan to enjoy all the sights that we take in tomorrow and you can be sure that some of those sights will be seen on my Flickr page in the days to come.

If things slow down a touch here on Political Cowboy, I’m going to preemptively tell you why: there’s a new blog in town called the Wyoming Vote Tracker, founded and established by your’s truly.

This new blog is graciously hosted by Conservablogs.com, a conservative blog community that offers free (yes, I said free) WordPress hosting for bloggers of conservative mindsets. Not only is this a really cool deal, I’m also learning a whole new side of WordPress: Themes, plug-ins, trying to figure out how to edit the CSS so the theme functions right; this isn’t your freebie WordPress.com blog

Never mind that a community is solidly, with little or no descent, unified on an issue such as the Winter Use Plan for Yellowstone National Park. While we may differ on which plan is the best, one thing is certain that we agree the preferred alternative is a bad deal, not just for Cody, but for America as a whole. Much has been reported on the proposal. Doubtless, much more will be written.

Shut Out of Yellowstone, a Cody-based grassroots organization recently delivered over 3,000 form letters to the Director of Yellowstone National Park. The form letter laid out reasons for not closing down the East Gate. At issue are not only local economic impact, but also

• disregard for use of the preferred avalanche mitigation technique (firing of a howitzer)
• regularly decreasing winter traffic allowance to give the appearance that the numbers don’t justify winter maintenance
• a bad precedent for public lands access
• adds more traffic to already designated “traffic problem areas”
• disregard for a newly reconstructed federal highway that provides an escape route for domestic violence victims
• and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for limiting winter recreational activity through the East Gate (certain handicaps don’t allow for cross country skiing, but motorized over-snow travel allows the disabled to enjoy witer use).

Take your pick on the issues, closing the East Gate access to snowmobiles and snow coaches because of “avalanche danger” and allowing skiers access for the first six miles is just ridiculous. Especially when there is a 30 year history of no deaths during the winter use months on Sylvan Pass.

Now the Regional Director for the NPS has endorsed the preferred winter use plan. In a June 15 letter to Shut Out of Yellowstone, Michael D. Snyder expressed his support for Suzanne Lewis and Co’s plan for winter use, citing safety concerns:

…This danger must be effectively addressed. I do not want to lose the life of another employee or those of any visitors, whether to an avalanche or any other danger.

You’ve got to be joking! Has Mr. Snyder not read the reports about all the people that have not, I repeat, HAVE NOT died or been seriously injured on Sylvan Pass when avalanches are properly mitigated? I hesitate to bring up a mudslide that shut the pass down for almost a week in the summer of 2004. In that mudslide, 16 people were trapped in four vehicles. Even then, there were no injuries or deaths.

While we’re talking about safety, lets talk about how many people carelessly or intentionally step of a boardwalk/established trail and break the thin crust of the earth open only to be severely burned? What about the people that pay no attention to the signs and yellow fliers handed out at the entrances warning of the dangers of WILDlife and are seriously injured, even to the point of death? And that takes place during the summer!

Back to the winter use thing before someone gets a grand idea about summer use.

SOY members inquired about the Talus Slope near the Park’s South Gate. A June 5, 2007 Cody Enterprise article states:

Shut Out has been especially critical of Yellowstone’s decision, made several years ago, to completely eliminate avalanche forecasting and mitigation at the Talus Slope area south of Lewis Lake.

The park’s expert on avalanche control said the Talus Slope area has the potential for fatalities.

“We are deeply puzzled and concerned by the park’s inconsistent policies, because we believe all avalanche areas in Yellowstone are manageable,” Armstrong said. “We ask Superintendent Lewis to restore responsible avalanche control programs that will properly protect employees and the public while allowing us to enjoy Yellowstone in the winter.”

Going back to the Gazette’s article cited earlier:

“The kind of avalanche forecasting they are supposed to be doing at Talus Slope is taking temperature readings, digging snow pits and analyzing snow,” said Tonia Grdina, co-chair of the Shut Out group.

The revised draft Environmental Impact Statement on Yellowstone winter use notes that “routine forecasting and control occurs only on the East Entrance road” to maintain Sylvan Pass.

In his letter, Snyder said that an “extensive review” of Talus Slope determined that “the avalanche risk there would be best managed through careful observation of snow and weather conditions” and other measures, including temporary road closures.”

Talk about double-talk! And it gets only better. Mr. Snyder went on to cite the example of the 1980’s closure of Dunraven Pass. The reasons listed were lack of use giving little financial reason to maintain the pass. The revised DEIS also cites the avalanche potential as well as traffic volume, but no maintenance costs were included.

This has caused many to wonder if safety really is first on the Winter Use Proposal. Tonia Grdina notes that profit on a cost-per-visitor basis is not the job of NPS, and that some National Parks operate year-round on more expense than is involved in Yellowstone’s winter use season.

The Yellowstone Spokesman, Al Nash had to get his bit in as well:

I think we’ve been really clear that our focus and concern is on safety, but I don’t think we’ve ever ignored the fact that it’s expensive to conduct avalanche operations.

We acknowledge that the expense exists, and that it’s a part of this, but it’s not a situation of, ‘Is there a dollar figure that we can put on this that eliminates the risk?’

Yes, Mr. Nash, we all know, hazard prevention does cost money. Park County, WY has offered financial help. The State of Wyoming has offered financial help. We know, there are times the road just has to be shut down temporarily until conditions get better. We’re fine with that. I’m sure if you asked real nice, the Governor would be beyond more than happy to assign some National Guard troops to proper avalanche mitigation on Sylvan Pass. That would certainly take the pressure off of YNP employees to fire the howitzer right, and I’m sure you’d be fine with that. Cody is a very pro-military town, so there’s no question, we’d be fine with that.

What we’re not fine with is the inconsistent story of why someone wants to close the East Gate right after millions tax-payer dollars have been spent on rebuilding Sylvan Pass. One day it’s safety and the next it’s traffic counts don’t justify the costs. Sometimes it’s all the above in the same speech. Meanwhile, a dangerous avalanche zone that has even trapped snowplows gets to remain open with no mitigation program. Ironically, this is located near Jackson Hole, WY.

If you don’t like Cody, WY, would you please just write a letter to the editor of the Cody Enterprise that way we’d all know the real reason behind the winter use plan?

Today is the big day for the selection of the three.

Mr. French’s daughter spotted a picture I took at the Cody forum. She  didn’t spot it on my Flickr page, she spotted it after I edited it into my summary post! After her reply to my reply, I decided I should check my blog stats.  Here’s what she had to say. She has some other interesting thoughts on her blog too. Welcome to the blogroll, April!

In other news, Tieki Rae is in Casper for this phase of the nomination process.

After having missed a couple weeks of going to Monday night College/Career Bible study, I was able to make it tonight. A friend was in town two weeks ago and last week I was in Billings with Mom.

So I get to the food line, and Pastor Thomas was there and he asks how it was I got to be number one on Google. His wife was searching for info about when Yellowstone was opening the East Gate and when the results came up, the first one link was here! He said she said, “Hey, don’t we know the Political Cowboy?”

Ironically enough, yesterday or the day before (maybe even last week some time) I checked my stats (yes, I look over them from time to time) and saw a search result for something along the lines of yellowstone east gate opening. On top of that, my globetrackr was showing that I had a visitor from Powell, WY.
I figured that it must have been the Yellowstone East Gate tag that triggered the result, but if you search for yellowstone east gate, I come in at third. However, if you throw in the word  opening you’ll find the link at the top.

OK folks, get ready ’cause this is just going to drive you insane. Back in March, YNP Supt. Suzanne Lewis tried to tame the lions den at Cody Auditorium by announcing that the East Gate was going to open early compared to years past. Crews have had great success at getting roads cleaned and May 4 was slated for the opening of the East Gate (and presumably, the same for Sylvan Pass). Mind you, this was painted as a dangerous project due to all the ice-pack (several inches thick) that forms on the roads due to grooming for the (evil) snowcoaches and snowmobiles.

Later on, it is reported that this is the last year for construction of the multi-million dollar upgrade of Sylvan Pass (and all of Cody–including the non-religious–shouted AMEN!!!!).  The project did suffer a couple of setbacks with a forest fire that closed operations one summer and then the following summer a mudslide forced rebuilding the roadbed and thus delayed progress. Anyway, this is the last year for construction on Sylvan Pass. The first 20 days will see the typical construction schedule of 8 AM-8 PM with 30 minute delays. On May 25, the gate goes 24/7 with 30 minute delays. That is pretty cool for a community that depends on three months of lots of people coming through to see Yellowstone. Cody has had to be it’s own PR machine explaining the gate closures since YNP’s PR group didn’t tackle the task too well. We look forward to the day of being able to say “The gate is open,” excluding that early summer snow storm of course.

It gets better though. There were representatives from the Shut Out of Yellowstone group on Speak Your Piece today. The big topic was write those letters!!! There are a number of topics that you can cover (including the Americans with Disabilities Act and how the preferred plan discriminates against certain handicap individuals). By the way, Shut out of Yellowstone is endorsing Winter Use Plan Option 4, the best plan for all gateway communities.

Then a call came in. One of the local merchants relayed a discussion she had with two NPS officials that came into her store. She found out they came from Yellowstone. She remarked that the drive must have been rather long having to go up through Mammoth, over to the Northeast Gate, through Cooke City and over and finally on down to Cody. Long drive? Nope. They took Sylvan Pass and out the East Gate. Not much snowpack on the road. The Pass was pretty clear, maybe a difficult spot or two, but easy to navigate. Sorta the opposite picture provided by Supt. Lewis just a couple weeks ago. Put their employer aside, why is it that they came over a closed pass?

More discussion ensues and another caller calls in. This one went to Pahaska to observe the famous griz that dwells in the vicinity. She was on the side of the road watching and didn’t see anything. A car with Colorado plates comes from the direction of the Park. Driver pulls over and asks what the lady had seen. Until this guy, nothing. Something that you have to  know is that their is a construction-type of barrier that closes off the highway at the historic lodge built by Buffalo Bill. Then there is a short distance of highway before reaching the gate. She inquired if he had driven up to the gate and just turned around. No, he had just exited the park through the East Gate via Sylvan Pass.

Don’t know how or why this is being allowed to happen (Sylvan and East Gate don’t open until May 4 and it’s still April!)  but something just doesn’t add up.

Tack on to this a recent report from the Cody Enterprise. Turns ot that Sylvan is not the only place of concern when it comes to avalanches. Not only that, for some time, the “other place” (ahem, the South Gate) has not had avalanche mitigation in spite of snowcoaches and even snow plows  getting trapped in avalanches. What’s the Park Management doing about it? Absolutely nothing. Not only that, The affected route is not under any threat to be closed. Yet, Sylvan Pass has a 30 year history of successful avalanche mitigation and it’s the one being targeted for closure.

One caller expressed an opinion I’ve had of this situation for some time and that is what is it that Yellowstone does not like about Cody? Cody has done nothing but promote Yellowstone and talk about how you need to make more than just a day trip out of seeing the park. What happens? We get stabbed in the back. At least that’s the perception at the bottom of Sylvan Pass. Maybe it’s time for Yellowstone to hire some PR folks from Cody.

There’s a bunch of news stuff to cover for the Yellowstone area, so I thought I’d throw together a singular post with summaries of things going on in the region or things that are pertinent to the region.

• The Grizzly Bear: This is an “old” story, but I know you want my 2¢ on the issue. After 30 years of Federal protection, the Yellowstone region Grizzly has finally, in the opinion of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, recovered  well enough to warrant delisting from the endangered species list. Of course, those of us that live next door to the griz have known this for several years. One problem in the delisting that is to take effect at the end of this month: the Feds didn’t take into account global warming. What’s global warming got to do with the griz? Is it going to cause the cave it hibernates in to be uncomfortably warm that it cannot get in a good winter’s sleep?
• Coyote Visits Quizno’s: Awwww! Isn’t he cute, all  cuddled up there by the drinks? Enter Animal Control and suddenly the coyote is not peaceful, but viciously feisty. And it was the animal control officials’ fault, right? Ha! Maybe this will give you an insight as to why we in Wyoming don’t like the reintroduced wolves. Coyotes have critters above them in the food chain. As far as has been observed, the wolf brought in from Canada has nothing above it (they even chase off grizzlies)! If the coyote can put up this kind of temper, just think of what a top-of-the-food-chain-wolf could do.
• Speaking of Wolves…: There will be a wolf forum in here in Cody later this month. The meeting/forum is regarding the planned delisting of the reintroduced gray wolf and will be hosted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. On April 19 from 3 PM- 5 PM, there will be an open house session at the Cody Auditorium for looking at exhibits and asking questions to USFWS officials. Starting at 6 PM, there will be a comment period. Originally, there was only one forum in Wyoming, held earlier in Cheyenne. Tieki Rae will be interested to know that the Cody forum was pushed by Wyoming’s lone US House Representative, Barbara Cubin (R). Kind of neat that Park County ensured Rep. Cubin’s win in the 2006 election . Rep. Cubin plans to attend the Cody meeting.
• Geothermal Hazzards in Yellowstone?: You’ll want to be sitting for this, because you won’t believe it. There are geothermal hazards in Yellowstone. I thought the only danger was avalanches on Sylvan Pass?
• Just for fun: The National Park Service used to think highly of the East Gate.

OK folks! It’s finally out. The DEIS (Draft–not decision–Environmental Impact Statement). From the NPS Park Planning/Public Comment portal:

The National Park Service is preparing a long-term plan for managing winter recreational use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. The purpose of the Winter Use Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be to ensure that park visitors have a range of appropriate winter recreational opportunities, while ensuring that these recreational activities are in an appropriate setting and do not impair or irreparably harm park resources or values.

The EIS will include alternatives with various limits on the number of snowmobiles that may enter the parks. It will also consider alternatives with varying guiding requirements, including allowing for some unguided or non-commercially snowmobile guided use. In addition, an alternative allowing only mass-transit snowcoaches will be considered. Scoping may inform us of the need to consider additional alternatives.

Supt. Suzanne Lewis already knows that her neighbors to the east feel strongly about this issue. We, the people of Northwest Wyoming call on the greater population of We the People of the United States of America to join us in opposing the preferred alternative to this draft. It is listed as the current plan,” when in reality, the current plan allows for some snowmobiles and coaches to enter the East Gate. This preferred plan allows for no over-snow travel through the East Gate (unless you want to go on foot):

Allows for nearly historic levels of snowmobile use but requires commercial
guides. This Alternative mimics the temporary winter use plan currently in place, with three primary changes: 1) snowcoaches must meet Best Available Technology (BAT) standards; 2) daily limit on snowcoaches; and 3)
Sylvan Pass would be closed to through travel.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the best alternative in this proposal is Alt. 4:

Allows for increased snowmobile use, relative to historic numbers. Commercial guides would be required for most snowmobilers; some could also visit the park after completing a non-commercial or unguided guide training course.

This plan would allow for 1,025 snowmobiles daily (600 West, 250 South, 25 North, 100 East, 50 Old Faithful) and 115 snowcoaches daily (46 West, 15 South, 5 North, 4 East, 35 Old Faithful, 10 Private).

The public comment period is open right now and expires May 31 2007, 11:59 PM MDT. You can submit your comment online or you can submit your comment via snail mail, postmarked by the expiration time*, to

Winter Use Plan
PO Box 168
Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190

It’s a public comment period for a reason. We, the public, get to comment. Comment how you feel on this issue. Even if you disagree with me. However, I would strongly encourage you to study the issue before submitting your comment. Talk to people in the area; find out why we feel so strongly on this. Believe me, we’ll be glad to tell you.

*According to the YNP Winter Use website, comments will be accepted until June 4, 2007