For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, September 17, 2008             

Contact:  Tim Fox
406-465-7336

 
Attorney General Candidate Fox:  Federal Court Ruling on Yellowstone Park Snowmobiles Made Without Montana Representation

(HELENA, MT)  Republican Attorney General Candidate Tim Fox today criticized Montana's current Attorney General for allowing a Federal Judge in Washington D.C. to throw out a comprehensive winter-use plan for Yellowstone National Park without any representation of Montana's interests in the lawsuit.  The Park Service winter-use plan was issued in November of 2007 after years of study and over 100,000 public comments.  Judge Emmett Sullivan of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Park Service acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it issued a winter-use plan allowing limited snowmobile access to Yellowstone National Park. 

"Once again Montanans have been shut out of the process because our Attorney General didn't lift a finger to represent Montana's interests or views,"
said Fox.  "Wyoming has a seat at the table in a companion lawsuit and we don't.  That's just plain unacceptable."  Fox noted that Montana's Attorney General previously intervened in a 2004 Federal lawsuit over snowmobile access to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, but only after the Governor demanded that Montana's interests be represented in the lawsuit.  "Access to Montana's public lands, particularly Yellowstone National Park, is an issue of the utmost importance to all Montanans regardless of whether they own a snowmobile," said Fox, "and Montana's Attorney General has an obligation to protect Montana's interests in these types of lawsuits."

In February of this year, Fox publicly called for the Montana Attorney General's office to get involved in a lawsuit brought by the Wyoming Attorney General against the National Park Service over the same Yellowstone Park winter-use plan that was invalidated this week by the east-coast Federal judge.  Montana did not intervene in the lawsuit.  "When Montana's chief lawyer takes a pass on standing up for Montana, the results are never good," said Fox.  "Montana deserved representation in 2004, and Montana deserves representation today in the fight for a voice in how to use and enjoy Yellowstone National Park in an environmentally friendly manner."  Fox pledged that he would intervene in Federal cases affecting Montanans and Montana's interests if he is elected Attorney General.

Fox said that the Federal Court decision will have some devastating impacts to the Park-area economy.  "This decision affects people's livelihoods and Montanans' ability to access and enjoy Yellowstone Park.  The small business owners around the Park who run the hotels, dealerships, restaurants, and other businesses are negatively impacted, and many winter recreationists may be turned back at the gates," Fox said.  "The Attorney General's office left them all out in the cold."

Tim Fox resides in Montana City with his wife, Karen, and is a partner in Helena's oldest law firm, Gough, Shanahan, Johnson & Waterman.  He has practiced law in Montana for 21 years, and has championed the causes of protecting Montana's families, giving law enforcement the tools they need to prosecute crime, protecting Montanans' constitutional rights, and using the Attorney General's position on the State Land Board to responsibly promote environmentally safe natural resource development on school trust lands. 

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