8576-R1_MSA_December2023_Newsletter

L and Closures Impact a Lot Of People By: Chris Gamache

E very club feels that trail loss due to landowner permis sion changes are something that only impacts them. That is because is it a direct impact to the local trails they deal with. And they all know that it hap pens to neighboring clubs also. But if you look at trails across North America you will see that it’s the major issue everywhere. Earlier this fall trail closure due to a landowner revoking their permission to use their land got some national attention from a trail in Wisconsin. Eagle River, WI is a snowmobile mecca in the Midwest. Eagle River is home to the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame, and it is also the home of the World Championship Derby Complex for snowmobile racing. This town lives for snowmobiling!!! The town just south of them is Three Rivers and they also live for snowmobiling. But this fall a local landowner informed the local club that they have had enough of the riders with the

loud pipes and the few riders that continue to ignore the trail signs and markers. This is not a ‘large’ section of trail, BUT as all clubs know every landown er’s trail section is significant and loss can be catastrophic to the entire system. This is one of those cases. The club has tried to get the trail reopened, but the answer is no, and that is the landowners right. The club has tried to reroute the trail, but the surrounding area is rough and there is a river to contend with also. This is breaking the direct connection between these 2 towns in prime snowmobile country. Other than the club being impacted the local busi nesses will feel it also. I was out in Iowa recently meeting with their State Snow mobile Association (ISSA) and this is an issue for them too. Iowa deals mostly with farmers for land access and a lot of their trails are along the roadside but when they get snow, they get the handful of riders that go off

trail and cause issues too. And, though I didn’t think of this at first, the Wisconsin closure was a direct impact to many of the riders in Iowa. Why? They only get a few weeks of snow there and its pretty flat, so most rid ers in Iowa trailer to MN and WI to ride and many of the riders I spoke with while out there ride this area near Eagle River and those riders are now looking for somewhere else to go because of this closure. We will not be able to stop the few riders that make the con scious (they know and don’t care) decision to mess things up for the rest of us. But we can continue to try to help all clubs by being conscious (there is that word again, it means we are aware) of how we ride this winter. Trail changes, land owner changes and weather are all factors of this sport that are mostly beyond our control, but landowner relations are within our control and its up to all rid ers to be ambassadors.

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