Dear editor:

Concerning the story in Sept. 3 Powell Tribune headlined “Plowing Yellowstone's Plug,” I received a copy of the "Survey" in the mail. It was biased towards “Plowing the Plug.” I got an MBA from the University of Wyoming. In one marketing class, we learned how to design surveys that aren't biased because a biased survey in the business world can cause you to make the wrong decision and lose money. The survey that was sent out was biased. Don't believe me?

Ask them to send you a copy of the survey or have them post it online and make up your own mind.

Second, do you really think the NPS will continue to plow the road from Mammoth to Cooke City through Lamar Valley after the Plug is routinely plowed? My money is on the National Park Service deciding to STOP plowing the Mammoth to Cooke City road as soon as the Plug is routinely plowed. The only reason the NPS currently plows the road from Mammoth to Cooke City is because without plowing the park road, Cooke City would be cut off from civilization. Did anyone behind the “Plow the Plug” effort ask the NPS if they would continue to plow the road from Mammoth to Cooke City through Lamar Valley if the Plug was routinely plowed? Will the NPS commit to continuing to plow from Mammoth to Cooke City if the Plug is routinely plowed? To my knowledge, no one has asked the NPS this question and so this story is only being half told — the other half of the story, whether the NPS will continue plowing the road from Mammoth to Cooke City after the Plug is routinely plowed, was conveniently left out.

If you think the NPS will continue to plow the Mammoth to Cooke City road after the Plug is routinely plowed, I would say you are pretty gullible. The NPS will cut costs as soon as they can.

The NPS is not your friend — it is a giant bureaucracy that behaves like a bureaucracy. If it is in the NPS best interest to stop plowing the road from Mammoth to Cooke City to cut costs, they will stop plowing it in a heartbeat.

Personally, I think a lot of people behind “Plow the Plug” want to benefit economically while the taxpayers pay for it. That's the most obvious bias behind this survey. They want more of my taxpayer dollars and I don't have any left to give them.

Jeff Michels

Powell