Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM STANKARD
Ironwood — To help ensure a successful future for snowmobiling in the area, the Western Upper Peninsula Snow Shakers held a joint meeting Thursday afternoon with the Michigan Snowmobile Association and Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
In front of about 50 area residents at Gogebic Community College, Ron Yesney, DNR trails coordinator, said the DNR is charged with the duty to provide and develop facilities for outdoor recreation and to implement a statewide recreational and snowmobile trail system using the Snowmobile Trail Improvement Fund.
Robert Youngberg, Snow Shakers president, said the snowmobiling club is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the maintenance and improvement of 112 miles of snowmobile trails in the area. Formerly, the Snow Shakers were called the Gogebic Range Trail Authority.
He said the club has fairly new members who have taken over the task of keeping the trails smooth for snowmobilers. But he said the club has only five members taking on grooming. Yesney said more than 400,000 miles of trails were groomed during the 2014-’15 season. He said $7.3 million of the Snowmobile grant line was used to groom, operate and maintain the trails and purchase equipment.
Yesney said the Snow Shakers club was granted $61,119 for brushing, signing and grooming, $83,850 for special maintenance projects, $9,625 for miscellaneous expenses and $1,200 for groomer utility costs.
Youngberg said the club needs new members to bring snowmobile trails back to the standards that will increase snowmobile use through and to local businesses.
One statewide problem, Yesney said, is Michigan’s inter-connected trail system is heavily dependent on private land owners, with 50 percent of recreational and snowmobile trails located on private land. He said 25 percent are on state-owned land, while 25 percent are on federally-owned land.
Kathy Whitburn, mayor of Bessemer, said the issue is some property owners won’t let a recreational trail run through their land, possibly because of noise issues, or because riders sometimes go off the trails and trespass.
In response, Yesney said it is not the Snow Shakers’ responsibility to uphold laws. He said the DNR works closely with local enforcement to help make sure riders abide by the rules.
John Cox, Wakefield Township supervisor, said the Gogebic County Sheriff’s Department does a good job doing that.
Several residents said visitors typically don’t intend to ride on private property, but don’t know which area is private or public. As a solution, residents agreed more resources should be available for visitors, preferably online, so more younger riders can be reached.
Yesney said local riders do a good job self-policing to encourage riders to stay on the trails. He said property owners should also place signs indicating their land is private.
Residents said typically younger riders veer of the trail, causing property owners to pull easements and not permit trails to run through their land.
To solve the problem, many residents agreed there should be more outlets for education in the area for younger riders.