Congress to Consider Allowing Watercraft in National Parks

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A congressional committee will consider legislation to allow canoes, rafts and other "hand-propelled" vessels to be used on hundreds of miles of rivers and streams in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

The House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a Thursday hearing on the bill from U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

A prior effort by the Wyoming Republican to lift longstanding restrictions on watercraft in the two parks was approved by the House but not the Senate.

The National Park Service and some conservation groups previously opposed any changes, saying the existing restrictions preserve the solitude and wildness of the parks' waterways.

In response to some of those concerns, Lummis is offering an amendment that would exclude the use of inner-tubes and other unconventional watercraft.