Yellowstone opens for winter travel, ends wildlife program

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Yellowstone National Park is opening its roads to oversnow travel after suspending a wildlife monitoring program that found snowmobiles and other such vehicles were having minimal effects on animals. The park’s winter season began Wednesday. Its monitoring program for snowmobiles and multi-passenger snow coaches began after Yellowstone in 2013 imposed caps on the number of winter vehicles allowed. The restrictions followed years of legal disputes fueled by concerns that too many snowmobiles were harming air quality and disrupting bison and other wildlife. While the monitoring program is suspended, rules governing winter vehicle use in the park remain unchanged.