Final snowmobiling plan? Hah!

The time has come for a decider, a decision-maker, someone with guts, to put an end to the drawn-out tug-of-war over snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park.

This week, the National Park Service announced the release of a "final" environmental impact statement for Yellowstone's winter management plan. Somehow, we doubt there will be anything final about it, judging from the protracted history of this dispute.

Indeed, as you might expect, neither proponents or opponents of snowmobiling in the park are satisfied with the EIS, which proposes lowering the daily limit of snowmobiles allowed in the park from the current level of 720 to 540.

Environmentalists were hoping for a much sharper reduction, while the snowmobiling advocates support the current ceiling on snowmobile use.

This is the general see-sawing nature of a dispute that has been carrying on since the early 1990s, when the park projected a significant increase in snowmobiling use over the next decade. The fight was formalized with a lawsuit filed by environmental groups in 1997, ultimately resulting in the park proposing a complete ban on snowmobiling in 2000. That, of course, was also met with resistance.

We shudder to think about how much time and money has been spent on litigation and bureaucracy in this matter over the last decade. And still, the players involved are not happy.

If those players or some judge or appeals court doesn't put an end to this, we may be in for another decade of bickering over snowmobiling in Yellowstone.

On a happier note, virtually everyone is on the same side in the war against meth use, and that has made a huge difference in putting an end to the scourge.

Partly thanks to the education efforts of the Montana Meth Project, meth use in Montana has dropped by a remarkable 45 percent since 2005. And local officials say that decline has been reflected in Northwest Montana as well.

It's a testament to the hard work of many people - including law enforcement, former drug users, parents and educators - that such progress has been made in stopping a drug which is so addictive and destructive.

But there is bad news, too. As many as 13 percent of Montana teens told a recent survey that they have been offered meth. That means it is still way too available, and even where its use has declined, police say that cocaine has returned to fill the gap.

Let's remember - there is no rest in fighting to keep dangerous drugs away from our youngest, most vulnerable citizens. The Meth Project has made a good start, but all of us must continue to be vigilant and vocal in our opposition to the tyranny of substance abuse.