Thank you. I live in the East, but it is great to be back to my home in the West, surrounded by Westerners.

It is great to be back at Yellowstone too. Sometimes I think that I am the envy of the Cabinet. After all, not many other Secretaries can take a business trip to Yellowstone!

I just finished a snowmobile tour of the park, and was again struck by its beauty. Yellowstone is an amazing place in winter - a wild kingdom and a wonderland.

That magic, that majesty, must be preserved for future generations. But the park can only be enjoyed if people continue to visit. President Bush and I recognize that recreation and preservation are both essential to the purpose of Yellowstone.

However, it is not always easy to find the balance between preservation and recreation. Difficult choices must sometimes be made.

We have had to make a few hard choices at Yellowstone. Last year, we proposed a Temporary Winter Use Plan to guide snowmobile and snowcoach use in the park.

The plan protects the environment but also allows responsible winter access. Environmental impacts are been reduced through the use of the best available technology, including cleaner operating 4-cycle machines. Access is preserved though the permitting of 720 snowmobiles to enter the park - 400 through the West Entrance.

I hope - and believe - that tourism will pick up as people adjust to those changes. I understand that West Yellowstone's economy rests largely on tourism, and that fewer park visitors has meant fewer funds for the town.

The uncertain legal climate of the past few years has not helped tourism either. Those legal processes will continue. But as they do, we will continue to do our best to provide access, certainty and stability to winter visitors to Yellowstone.

I am optimistic that winter visits will increase as the certainty of access increases.

The budget the President submitted last week shows his commitment to taking care of our national parks. It maintains the funding for visitor services at historically high levels, and fulfills his commitment to providing $4.9 billion to address the maintenance backlog.

This year, $1.1 billion will go toward the park maintenance initiative. Another $1.7 billion is being set aside for the operation of the National Park System. That funding is a net increase of $50.5 million over the FY 2005 enacted level, in which each and every park received a net increase.

The investments already made have been transformed into tangible on-the-ground improvements. More than 4,000 infrastructure and facility improvement projects have been carried out in the National Park System. Visitors are experiencing improvements in trails, campgrounds, visitor centers, historic structures, and environmental conditions.

At Yellowstone, funds are slated for several maintenance projects, including replacing the wastewater facilities at Madison and replacing the visitor center at Old Faithful. Overall, Yellowstone will receive almost $1 million more in funding next year than this year, if Congress grants the President's budget request.

But it takes more than money to make a park. You, who live on the park's borders, are our partners in its care. There is a dedicated, hard working, staff at Yellowstone. I've been fortunate to meet many of them on my tour. But they simply cannot do it alone.

They - I - continue to need your help in caring for Yellowstone; in finding the proper balance between preservation and recreation.

I hope you will continue to join us in stewardship of this national treasure. The park is as essential to the nation as it was when it was established more than 130 years ago.

It still awes. It still thrills.

I hope that, as we continue to work together, many more people will come to Yellowstone, to appreciate its winter majesty and magic.

Thank you.