Residents and visitors disagree over whether a road allowing winter access to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) from Wyoming should be plowed.

Nine miles of the Beartooth Highway, east of Cooke City, Montana, that’s referred to as “the plug” has long been a haven for snowmobilers and backcountry skiers.

According to a recent survey commissioned by tourism officials in Montana and Wyoming, the majority of Cooke City area residents said they want to see this stretch of road plowed to allow access for quicker emergency services. Currently, the only way to drive to Cooke City is entering YNP from Gardiner and then driving through the park. That drive takes about an hour and a half. If the plug were snow plowed during the winter, it would take the same time to get to Cody, Wyoming where there are more emergency services accessible.

“For us at the tourism office, that’s really our goal is just to push this thing in the right direction,” said Ryan Hauck, the executive director of the Park County Travel Council based in Cody. “We are not truly the decision makers. There’s Departments of Transportation, there’s Governors; there’s Forest Service; there’s BLM.”

Hauck added that a multitude of agencies would need to come together if the road were to be plowed.

The survey showed that most of the winter tourism to the area is snowmobiling. Sixty eight percent of visitors were not in favor of plowing the road.

Hauck said adding a trail, parking and increased marketing efforts could help offset a potential dip in visitation that the survey showed would happen if the roads were plowed, and that officials should try to preserve the uniqueness of the area.