The Jackson Hole Guide from Jackson, Wyoming • 3

Wednesday. March 15.2000 Jackson Hole Guide, A3 Falltar calls for jostle maimslsiiiJiglhiter Man to face sentencing Tuesday in drowning case; victim's father says justice is not happening. Smith will face sentencing Tuesday, March 21, in the 3rd Judicial Court in Kemmerer on his plea to involuntary manslaughter. Lincoln County prosecutor John Bowers will recommend a three- to five-year prison sentence. In what appeared to be a last-minute plea agreement the case was scheduled to go to trial for months Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter Jan.

25, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Bowers agreed to drop an aggravated assault charge. Last year the prosecutor originally charged Smith with second-degree murder. "As far as I am concerned, it is premeditated murder," Mr. Gildea said.

"I don't feel like thereis any justice happening at all. I don't think this has anything to do with manslaughter." Smith was 27 years old when he pushed Gildea and a friend, Robert Desgouttes, off a rock ledge into the Snake River near Lunch Counter Rapid. The boys were not wearing life jackets and Gildea drowned in the river. Desgouttes reached the shore. Bowers could not be reached this week to discuss what specific facts were disclosed during a January public hearing in which Smith pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Patrick Gildea was Desgouttes' best friend, said Yves Desgouttes, Robert's father. Yves Desgouttes, whose family lives in California, said he owns a business in Jackson Hole arid that Robert was visiting the area last July. Robert knew Patrick since 1995. Mr. Desgouttes said Gildea's death has crushed his son.

Mrs. Gildea said her son called his best friend "Bob." "Patrick was hysterical," she said. "He was quite a very funny guy." Witnesses testified Smith pushed the boys into the water as their backs were turned. The teen-agers had thrown a fish at the man's girlfriend while the couple rafted down the river, and Smith swam across the rapids to the area where the boys and others lingered. The Gildeas will visit Judge John D.

Troughton before the sentencing hearing, which is slated to begin at 9:30 a.m. and last most of the day. However, Mr. Gildea said he does not want to sit in the same room with Smith. Mrs.

Gildea does not believe prison will accomplish any good. "I know that the system will produce in this man a worse condition than he already is in," she said. "He will be in with the real nasty boys. He will receive nothing mentally to help his mental condition She said she would rather see Smith completely "regretful" and "absolutely ruined by this." Mrs. Gildea said the death of her son has devastated her family.

She said the crime against her son is "probably the worst assault, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. "We have lost about two years of wages" from the "distress" and "desolation" associated with the loss of their son, Mrs. Gildea said. "We will have to sell our home. We have nothing and we cannot contribute to the community at the moment because this has devastated us." Lincoln County's prosecutor Bowers conceded earlier this year after the plea agreement he does not know if "justice can ever" be served.

"I don't know if I will ever be happy with the outcome of this case," said the prosecutor. By Josh Long Jackson Hole Guide William Gildea is not happy with the plea agreement reached between a state prosecutor and the man responsible for taking his 16-year-old son's life last July. His wife, Kathy Gildea, does not believe that sending Andrew P. Smith to prison will accomplish any good. While the couple is perhaps divided on what price they feel the defendant should pay for pushing their son into the Snake River without a life jacket during the Whitewater season, which resulted in his death, the emotions felt by the mother and father of Patrick Gildea are the same.

"Human beings do not do death," Mrs. Gildea said this week. "We are not programmed for it." Land board to convene -Cr, jf v- By Matt Hansen Jackson Hole Guide The top five elected officials in the state will be on hand Thursday during a public forum at the new Jackson Hole High School in which six land-use proposals for 640 acres of state land near Teton Village will be presented to local residents. The state land board will make a final decision later this year about who will take control of the parcel, which is located about one mile south of Teton Village. Members of the land board include Gov.

Jim Geringer, Secretary of State Joe Meyer, State Auditor Max Maxfield, State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis and Superintendent of Public Instruction Judy Catchpole. All five members are expected to attend the Jackson meeting, said Jim Whalen, assistant director of the real estate and farms loan division of the Office of State Lands and Investments. David O'Connor Glide MULTIPLE USE: Growing interest in winter recreation such as skiing and snowmobiling has increased winter visits to Yellowstone National Park. Now top Department of Interior officials are considering banning snow: mobiling from the park altogether and making snowcoaches the primary mode of transportation in winter. riles 9Bile bam maey The open forum will be held in Ihe cafeteria at the new Jackson Hole High School.

4 p.m. to 5 p.m.: Residents can view information from each of the proponents and have a chance to talk with land board commissioners. 5 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.: The Office of State Lands and Investments will give a brief introduction and explain its goals for the school section. 5:15 p.m.

6:15 p.m.: Each of the proponents make their presentations. 6:15 p.m. 6:45 p.m.: Question and answer period. 7 p.m. 9 p.m.: Second session; follows same format ban on snowmobiles in the parks.

Allowing only snowcoaches that adhere to strict air quality standards would be the best way to comply with federal environmental laws, park officials said. Assistant Teton Park Superintendent Steve Iobst cited six federal laws and executive orders that require the protection of park resources for future generations. This is the first time the Park Service has endorsed a snowmobile ban publicly since it began writing its winter-use plan. Originally, the Park Service recommended plowing the road from West Yellowstone, to Old Faithful and replacing snowmobiles with shuttle buses. That plan would have allowed snowmobiles to continue using other routes in Yellowstone and Teton parks.

But closing even a single trail in Yellowstone to snowmobiles sparked outcry from neighboring communities that rely on tourism dollars the winter sport generates. The national parks will lose money if snowmobiles are banned, Bess said. In February alone, his company paid Yellowstone more than $10,000 in franchise and entrance fees, he said. Yellowstone Assistant Superintendent Marvin Jensen said the Park Service switched to the snow-coach-only option after taking a closer look at the agency's legal obligations. "It complies best with all the laws, regulations and policies," he said.

Even the more restrictive i see WINTER USE A35 Announcement stuns local officials and business owners. By Rebecca Huntington Jackson Hole Guide When Dan Bess walked into work Tuesday, he faced the fallout from a stunning announcement by federal officials that they favor banning snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Bess owns Jackson Hole Snowmobile Tours, which gets half of its business from taking tourists into Yellowstone. "I have 18 employees. They all looked at me with big eyes going, 'Are we out of business he said Tuesday.

"I don't know how to answer that." Bess said he is disappointed the National Park Service decided to take such a "hard line" before the agency finished its environmental analysis that examines how to manage winter recreation in the two parks. Also, the announcement could dampen a recent surge of interest by manufacturers to create cleaner, quieter machines, he said. The Park Service has been working on a plan to manage winter recreation in Yellowstone and Teton parks since it settled a lawsuit with conservationists in 1997. The Fund for Animals sued the service over the impact of groomed trails on bison. On Monday, two assistant park superintendents told a room full of officials from Idaho, Wyoming and Montana that high-ranking U.S.

Department of Interior officials are leaning toward an all-out The state wants to sell or lease the parcel to realize its full value, which has been appraised by the state at $19.1 million. The parcel has been leased for cattle grazing by Snake River Associates. The grazing lease, which expires this month, generates a little more than $7,000 annually for the state. "We want to make a good solid business decision that capitalizes on the value of the property involved," Whalen said of the state's objective. Two members of a three-member advisory team will also be at the forum, Whalen said.

This advisory team, which has no representation from Jackson Hole, will help the state analyze the financial and developmental implications of each of the various proposals. Five entities have submitted proposals to the state lands office. Cle Elum Resources, a Delaware-based corporation, has offered to purchase the parcel in a public auction for $22.75 million. State officials have recommended that all negotiations for the parcel begin at that amount because its appraisal of $19.1 million, which was completed in November, will see STATE LANDS A30.