Park backs bill to ban air tours of Yellowstone and Grand Teton

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Yellowstone National Park officials support a proposal expected to be introduced in Congress in January to ban air tours of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

''We don't have a lot of scenic overflights. ... But we would rather get it stopped before it really gets going,'' said Yellowstone spokeswoman Marsha Karle.

She said the lack of flights now probably reflects the great distance between Yellowstone and major airports, making tours expensive.

Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., introduced legislation this fall to ban the flights and intends to renew it in the Congress convening in January, a spokesman said. The bill would override legislation enacted earlier this year that gives the National Park Service authority to work with the Federal Aviation Administration to manage scenic air tours.

The issue drew attention earlier this year when the Jackson Hole Airport Board decided to ban scenic tours from the airport, which sits entirely within the borders of Grand Teton National Park.

The decision has since been withdrawn. But Vortex Aviation Services, a helicopter tour business, has complained to the FAA that the board discriminated against companies offering scenic tours by banning their takeoff at the airport.

Environmentalists support Thomas' proposal, but Vortex owner Gary Kauffman said the air charter industry was blindsided by the proposal.

Kauffman said the passage of the Air Tour Management Act this year was intended to give the parks and interested citizens a way to create plans for managing scenic overflights. He called the Thomas bill a ''piecemeal approach'' that short-circuits the new law.