A closed-door meeting in Montana later this month could determine the future of winter access to Yellowstone National Park from its east entrance near Cody.

Officials from Yellowstone, the Wyoming Legislature and governor's office, Park County, the city of Cody and observers from the Wyoming, Montana and Idaho congressional delegations will meet Jan. 28-30 in a Billings airport conference room.

The purpose of the meeting is to negotiate a consensus agreement on access to the park and avalanche hazard mitigation of Sylvan Pass for the 2008-09 winter. The group must come up with a viable plan by June 1, or the National Park Service will close Yellowstone's east entrance during the winter, citing avalanche hazards.

Some of those expected to attend include Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis and management assistant John Sacklin; Cody Mayor Roger Sedam; Park County Commission Chairman Tim French; state Rep. Colin Simpson, R-Cody, and state Sen. Pat Childers, R-Cody; and Ryan Lance and Mark Toft from Gov. Dave Freudenthal's office.

Facilitator Carl Moore has been hired by the Park Service to conduct the meetings.

While the press and public are barred from attending the negotiations, they can attend "informational" segments of the meetings. At the close of each meeting, participants will decide what information can be shared with the public, which will be conveyed via a press release written by Moore.

Al Nash, spokesman for the park, said the privacy of the meeting was to encourage "frank discussions."

Dan Neal, director of the Equality State Policy Center, countered that "candor is often used to justify secrecy." He noted that the Sylvan Pass meeting isn't about security or personnel or property, the most common reasons for holding government meetings behind closed doors.

"What is it that they don't want the public to know?" he asked. Neal said his group's position is that government decision-making should be as open as possible.

Cara Eastwood, press secretary to the governor, said the closed meeting was requested by the Park Service, and that the governor is "willing to have it be open to the public."

Simpson said he hopes to persuade the Park Service to keep the pass open, which would help revive winter tourism that has declined during the Yellowstone snowmobile controversy. The Sleeping Giant ski area is going to reopen, he said, and an open Sylvan Pass is key to reviving the winter economy.

As for holding the meeting behind closed doors, "I'm an open meeting type, but if confidential discussions will help resolve the issue, I'll live with it," he said.

Tim Stevens, Yellowstone program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, said having a closed meeting is "totally wrong" and runs counter to the public having trust and understanding of how public officials reach decisions.

Stevens said Yellowstone is exploiting an exemption in the Federal Advisory Committee Act, enacted in 1972, to avoid an open process.

Stevens said his group believes the Park Service has demonstrated in three studies that the risk of keeping the pass open is unacceptable and cannot be justified with just a handful of winter recreationists seeking to go through the pass each day.