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REPORT SNOW RENEGADES
An
Editorial
The Bulletin, Bend, Oregon
March 3, 2004
Snowmobilers are very conspicuous users of public land. Their machines are
large, loud, fast and, for the most part, smelly. For these reasons, many forest
users who prefer to enjoy snow in silence hate snowmobiles, and they'd continue
to do so even if every snowmobiler were a law-abiding model of civility. That's
why responsible snowmobilers - and we believe the vast majority of snowmobilers
are responsible - owe it to themselves to police their less responsible peers.
On Saturday, a renegade snowmobiler entered the Three Sisters Wilderness, zipped
around some ridges and caused an avalanche. Snowmobiles are not permitted in
wilderness areas, as this person must have known. He or she passed two
wilderness, boundary signs without turning back. Breaking the law, though, was
nothing compared to the snowmobiler's unconscionable disregard for the safety of
other people. Somebody could have been buried in the avalanche and killed.
Saturday's incident was hardly unprecedented. According to officials with the
Deschutes National Forest, snowmobilers cross illegally into wilderness areas on
most weekends. Snowmobilers aren't worse people than skiers or snowshoers, to be
sure. They just have more horsepower. They also operate under a tighter array of
restrictions.
It
would be pretty tough for a skier, with the wilderness open to his use, to make
enough of a nuisance of himself to be called a "renegade." Likewise, we have a
hard time imagining a reckless snowshoer menacing anything bigger than
squirrels.
Because snowmobiles are so conspicuous, people notice when their operators
ignore the law and the safety of others. And as snowmobilers surely know, there
are plenty of people just aching to push them off of public land. Responsible
snowmobilers should be especially zealous, then, to curtail the types of
activity (their opponents can use against them.
And What better way to curtail illegal and dangerous behavior than reporting the
people who misbehave? Anyone who witnessed Saturday's illegal excursion, and
anyone who witnesses similar behavior in the future, should give the police a
call.
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SNOWMOBILES
Snowmobiles and parking at Dutchman Flat
Set snowmobile
speed limits at Dutchman Flat
Snowmobile use
on Mt. St. Helens being reviewed
Snowmobile speed
limits on Dutchman Flat in Oregon
Snowmobiles
offer thrills
Snowmobiles
in Yellowstone
Snowmobiles as a tool for traditional
mountaineering
OHVs
OpEd -
OHV access should be restricted in The Badlands
OHV use curtailed
by new USFS policy decisions
OpEd -
Badlands part of BLM's recreation management area
OpEd - We need the Badlands
Wilderness
OpEd - Off-roaders have no reason to
fear Badlands Wilderness designation
FEE DEMO TAX
Fee Demo Forest Pass dropped at 20 sites on the Deschutes National Forest!
Senator Regula's Fee Demo support
and The Wilderness Center, Inc.
Senator
Craig calls Fee Demo a failed program
Outdoor recreation in Oregon far from free
Oregon Field Guide: “Pay to Play on Public Land”
National Park Service plans climbing fees increase!
