National Park Service Director Jarvis has written U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, to state the agency's opposition to legislation that would open up dozens of streams and rivers in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks to packrafts/Yellowstone River Delta by Jim Peaco, NPS

Legislation aimed at opening streams and rivers in Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks to packrafters would undermine the authority of the National Park Service to manage these parks and "set a very poor precedent," says National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis.

The director laid out the agency's opposition to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton Paddling Act in a letter (attached) to U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee that last month supported the legislation drafted by U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming. Her measure specifically directs the Park Service to allow packrafters access to 50 streams in the two parks.

Among those 50 segments are 4.3 miles along Spread Creek from Grand Teton's eastern boundary to the Snake River, 6.8 miles of Pilgrim Creek from Grand Teton's northeast boundary to Jackson Lake, 26.7 miles of Yellowstone River from Yellowstone's southeast boundary to Yellowstone Lake, and 5.7 miles of the Mountain Ash Creek in southwestern Yellowstone to the creek's confluence with the Falls River.

Director Jarvis said the legislation would subvert the Park Service's authority under the National Park Service Organic Act to manage the resources in the two parks.

"The bill would diminish the ability of park managers to meet their responsibilities under the NPS Organic Act and other laws to provide for pub!ic enjoyment, ensure visitor safety, and address adverse effects to resources at those units and also would set а poor precedent for the NPS," he wrote in the letter sent Nov. 13. "There may be no other scenic resource like this in the United States, and possiЬ!y the world, where visitors can experience large intact river systems and their environments in а wild, ecologically pristine state."

Rep. Lummis in 2014 introduced legislation to open waters in the two parks to packrafters after discussing the matter with members of the American Packrafting Association. That initial effort was short on specifics, but gave the Interior Department and the Park Service three years to assess the paddling potential of nearly 7,000 stream miles in Yellowstone, and dozens more miles in nearby Grand Teton.

While the measure was not taken up last year by Congress, Rep. Lummis reintroduced a similar measure early this year. That legislation, if enacted, would give the Park Service three years to study the potential streams that could be opened to paddle sports such as packrafting, kayaking, and canoeing and assess what impacts could be created; prevent additional commercial paddling operations beyond what currently are in place, and; somewhat restrict where paddlers could go in Grand Teton. But during last month's committee meeting she amended it with language that opponents maintain would force the Park Service to open up more than 400 miles of streams to paddlers. 

The Park Service fears the congresswoman's legislation, if enacted, could lead to significant resource damage in the parks.

"These rivers are sensitive nesting and breeding grounds for wildlife, home to endemic and endangered species, spawniпg grounds for native cutthroat trout, апd some of the last streams in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for Arctic grayling. Opening these waterways will increase the risk of the traпsmission of aquatic invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels, Eurasian watermilfoil, whirling disease and others," wrote Director Jarvis.

He also pointed out that paddlers already have access to 163 of the 168 lakes in Yellowstone, and to 26 miles of the Snake River in Grand Teton, as well as to numerous lakes in that park.

Between holidays, scheduled recesses for both Senate and House, and major issues such as the nation's debt limit and budget yet to be resolved, whether this legislation will gain further attention this session is questionable.