Snowmobiling staff: ‘Knucklehead’ sleds that ride on designated trails ruin things for others

It is a problem every year in the snowmobile season in upstate New York. This year is no different and the mild winter seems to have made things worse.

It is the question of snowmobilers walking on designated trails in lands where they should not be, annoying the owners who gave permission for a trail on their property.

The result? The owner decides to close his section of the trail and prohibits the practice of snowmobiling on his land. When sections of the trail are closed, members of the private snowmobile club, who offer their time to clean and maintain trails and put signs marking routes, are forced to quickly find an alternative route – if they can.

Sometimes they can’t.

The end result can be the closure of a permanent trail for the season or forever, which can eliminate a loop in one or the main artery of a club’s trail system. Conclusion: many obedient and law-abiding sleds suffer from the “idiotic” or “idiotic” actions of some, according to snowmobile club officials interviewed.

A classic example of this problem occurred earlier this season with the Hamburg Snowmobile Club’s trail system in Erie County.

Jason Larson, the club’s president, posted several messages on the club’s Facebook page about snowmobilers walking the trails. The recent one says: “Trails are closed. Stay home before we lose more landowners. “

In late December, the Hamburg Club opened its trails for a few days following 5 to 10 inches of snow. That club’s trail system and others in the area were instantly flooded with riders – a number that left the trail system or traveled to other nearby lands where they were not allowed to ride.

Larson said unknown sledges left the trail system on a property, stopped and climbed into the owner’s deer stall. In another case, some stopped, lit a gas grill of the owner, warmed up and left, leaving cans of beer scattered on the floor.

He said the result was the closure of two sections of around 16 kilometers – sections that allowed access to the club’s new trail preparer and coach barn. Larson said his club has since changed part of the closed track and is still trying to figure out what to do about the other closed section of the track.

Larson added: “It is not difficult enough to put trails on foot and in shape. Now we have to redirect a trail because of idiots. We are a completely voluntary organization. We are not paid. We do this in our own time. To be honest, it is quite demotivating. “

Dave Waples, president of the Federation of Snowmobile Clubs of Erie County, said this is not an exclusive problem for Erie County, which occurs across the state. He said he and other officials at the local snowmobile club in Erie County received many calls from upset landowners in late December about the “bad behavior” of the sleds. Ten snowmobile clubs are members of the county federation.

“Some of the complaints resulted in the closure of trails, others did not,” he said. “This put clubs in the situation of having to go out and make amends. You have idiots out there who feel they can walk wherever they want. “

Jim Rolf, trail coordinator for the New York State Snowmobile Association Trespassing, said snowmobilers who leave marked trails are trepassing, as well as exposing themselves to unknown hazards such as fallen trees, rocks or frozen canals that may not be safe to cross.

Finally, the sleds that leave the trails are at risk of damaging the plantations. “It is a problem, a big problem,” he said.

“In many cases, the marked trail is the only place you have to go,” he said. “If you leave the trail and do not know whose land it is, or if you do not have express permission from the owner to

Waples said the reality is that it is difficult to catch these invading snowmobilers because they walk at any time of the day and that a law enforcement officer needs to be there to catch them. Trail camera photos are generally not proof, he said.

Larson posted several messages warning snowmobilers to stay on the club’s trails. One, he said, was shared about 20,000 times. “I even got a call from a guy in Alaska who said they have the same problem out there,” he said.

Larson compared the actions of these irresponsible snowmobilers to someone walking on a public road with their car and deciding to stop and drive in someone’s yard and “make donuts”.

“This shows a total lack of respect for the property owner,” he said.

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