Snowmobile trail. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Officials with the Oneida County Snowmobile Council are calling on riders to be cautious and follow all trail regulations.
President Jim Wendt says conditions in the area have been ideal for snowmobiling, which he thinks is leading riders to overdrive the conditions and take more risks. “[The trails] are so good that they aren’t worried about moguls. They’re going much too fast.”
Additionally, he says the group is receiving more complaints about riders going off-trail, something that is not only dangerous but could result in landowners removing their land from the trail program altogether. “The landowner says ‘you can have your trail, but you have to stay on it.’ When [the riders] don’t, that landowner calls back and says ‘OK boys, I told you to stay on the trail but you ran over my septic, my newly planted trees, I’m sorry but the trail is closed.'”
Wendt says that will then force groups to go back to the drawing board to re-route an entire segment of the trail system which could also take away the appeal of the sport- allowing riders to go off-road and into nature.
“It’ll be nothing more than riding a car because all the trails on private property will be disappearing,” added Wendt.
He says if snowmobiling goes away, so does a large chunk of the economy for the region. “Snowmobiling makes us a four-season destination. If one of the seasons were to disappear, everyone’s property values would be slashed by 30%-40%. What would somebody want to do in the wintertime up here?
“You can drive around and go places, but you can’t see the beauty of what the Northwoods really is,” he added.
The state of Wisconsin has seen at least seven snowmobile-related fatalities in the last few days. That includes one driver who was killed when their sled was struck by a vehicle while crossing a road and others who lost control while trying to negotiate a curve.
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