ALBANY - With 11,000 miles of trails and club rosters boosted to 60,000 by changes in state law, snowmobilers are positioned well for winter in New York. But the joker in the deck is snow, which failed to fall last season until after the holidays.
“It really didn't get started until the end of January, then it lasted into April in some places,” said Jim Jennings, executive director of the New York State Snowmobile Association. “We would like it to start around Christmastime. That would be the optimum starting point.”
In its online magazine this summer, the association pointed to climate change. “As with almost everything else in the world, global warming is affecting our sport. Snows come late and leave earlier.”
The late snow was cited as one reason for the drop in statewide snowmobile registrations from 149,610 in 2005-2006 to 130,502 last season. The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation also reports that only 25,683 sleds were registered by owners who aren't members of clubs and must pay twice as much to register since a change in state law last year meant to boost trail maintenance.
Annual registration still costs $45 for club members, but jumped to $100 for nonmembers. All but $10 of each goes to the state fund for maintaining trails, which is mainly distributed via counties to some 235 snowmobile clubs. The clubs maintain most of the 11,000 trail miles, up about 1,000 miles from two years ago when club membership was about 23,000. The law was backed by the NYSSA.
A 2003 study estimated the sport's annual economic impact at $875 million in the state.
Club membership fees average $25 to $30 and can be applied to registering all the snowmobiles in a household, Jennings said. About 85 percent of the trails are on private land, though some clubs also have permits to groom trails on state land, he said.
The NYSSA also formed a political action committee in 2005. Its funding comes in part from club memberships. Online club registration forms list $5 going to NYSSA membership, with 25 cents of that going to the NYS Snowmobile PAC unless registrants specifically opt out.
The web of arrangements does not sit well with some hikers, skiers and environmentalists, who want motorized sleds, their noise and exhaust kept away from quiet wilderness.
“It was bad enough that the state had considered snowmobiling to be the only wintertime activity in the Adirondacks in terms of economic development for the past 10 years,” said John Sheehan of the Adirondack Council. “But to have the state Legislature actually encourage people to join a private organization is unprecedented and really bad public policy.”
“For this group to then create a PAC to reward people that passed the bill, that should be troubling to every New York resident,” Sheehan said.
Jennings said the statute was modeled after New Hampshire's law, and the increased club membership is good for the sport. “There's a lot of hard work behind the scenes,” he said, clearing brush, making signs and repairing structures in the offseason, trail grooming and machine maintenance in winter. “Now that more people are club members they realize what goes into making the trail system.”
The machines are getting cleaner and quieter, Jennings said, though they are heavy, an incentive to stay on trails. “You get these things stuck nowadays you need a tow truck to get them out,” he said.
Last year's snowmobile statute also set the new maximum state 55 mph speed limit, with an exception for races and rallies. Another law that takes effect this fall clarifies that it is a crime to operate a snowmobile on private land while drunk, though it's a violation instead of the higher-level misdemeanor for a first offense on public land.
In 2003, NYSSA and clubs worked with the state Insurance Department, parks and then Gov. George Pataki's office to establish blanket statewide insurance coverage for all the clubs, trails and landowners. Jennings said state general obligation law already protects landowners from liability for general recreation use, he said.
Last fall, state conservation and parks officials issued a snowmobile plan for the Adirondacks that would connect communities across the 6-million-acre park with long-distance routes to boost the winter tourism economy.
The document is being reviewed by the Spitzer administration and the Adirondack Park Agency.
Meanwhile snowmobile officials are in contact with the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, which recently bought the former Finch, Pruyn forests, in an effort to keep snowmobile trails and expand some on the 161,000 acres.
On the Net
New York State Snowmobile Association:
http://www.nyssnowassoc.org/
State Parks Office: http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us
Adirondack Council: http://www.adirondackcouncil.org
In its online magazine this summer, the association pointed to climate change. “As with almost everything else in the world, global warming is affecting our sport. Snows come late and leave earlier.”
The late snow was cited as one reason for the drop in statewide snowmobile registrations from 149,610 in 2005-2006 to 130,502 last season. The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation also reports that only 25,683 sleds were registered by owners who aren't members of clubs and must pay twice as much to register since a change in state law last year meant to boost trail maintenance.
Annual registration still costs $45 for club members, but jumped to $100 for nonmembers. All but $10 of each goes to the state fund for maintaining trails, which is mainly distributed via counties to some 235 snowmobile clubs. The clubs maintain most of the 11,000 trail miles, up about 1,000 miles from two years ago when club membership was about 23,000. The law was backed by the NYSSA.
A 2003 study estimated the sport's annual economic impact at $875 million in the state.
Club membership fees average $25 to $30 and can be applied to registering all the snowmobiles in a household, Jennings said. About 85 percent of the trails are on private land, though some clubs also have permits to groom trails on state land, he said.
The NYSSA also formed a political action committee in 2005. Its funding comes in part from club memberships. Online club registration forms list $5 going to NYSSA membership, with 25 cents of that going to the NYS Snowmobile PAC unless registrants specifically opt out.
The web of arrangements does not sit well with some hikers, skiers and environmentalists, who want motorized sleds, their noise and exhaust kept away from quiet wilderness.
“It was bad enough that the state had considered snowmobiling to be the only wintertime activity in the Adirondacks in terms of economic development for the past 10 years,” said John Sheehan of the Adirondack Council. “But to have the state Legislature actually encourage people to join a private organization is unprecedented and really bad public policy.”
“For this group to then create a PAC to reward people that passed the bill, that should be troubling to every New York resident,” Sheehan said.
Jennings said the statute was modeled after New Hampshire's law, and the increased club membership is good for the sport. “There's a lot of hard work behind the scenes,” he said, clearing brush, making signs and repairing structures in the offseason, trail grooming and machine maintenance in winter. “Now that more people are club members they realize what goes into making the trail system.”
The machines are getting cleaner and quieter, Jennings said, though they are heavy, an incentive to stay on trails. “You get these things stuck nowadays you need a tow truck to get them out,” he said.
Last year's snowmobile statute also set the new maximum state 55 mph speed limit, with an exception for races and rallies. Another law that takes effect this fall clarifies that it is a crime to operate a snowmobile on private land while drunk, though it's a violation instead of the higher-level misdemeanor for a first offense on public land.
In 2003, NYSSA and clubs worked with the state Insurance Department, parks and then Gov. George Pataki's office to establish blanket statewide insurance coverage for all the clubs, trails and landowners. Jennings said state general obligation law already protects landowners from liability for general recreation use, he said.
Last fall, state conservation and parks officials issued a snowmobile plan for the Adirondacks that would connect communities across the 6-million-acre park with long-distance routes to boost the winter tourism economy.
The document is being reviewed by the Spitzer administration and the Adirondack Park Agency.
Meanwhile snowmobile officials are in contact with the Adirondack Nature Conservancy, which recently bought the former Finch, Pruyn forests, in an effort to keep snowmobile trails and expand some on the 161,000 acres.
On the Net
New York State Snowmobile Association:
http://www.nyssnowassoc.org/
State Parks Office: http://www.nysparks.state.ny.us
Adirondack Council: http://www.adirondackcouncil.org
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