Snowmobilers Lose Their Cool Over Rules Tempers Flare At Meeting To Unveil Proposed Changes In State Riding Laws

Tempers were hot enough Sunday to turn a snowy slope to slush.

They started off fuming and arguing. They waded waist-deep through murky paragraphs of legalese, and they did this for five hours.

But by the end of the meeting, the throng of snowmobilers, sheriff’s officials and U.S. Forest Service representatives finally saw eye to eye. Sort of.

“We may have to agree to disagree,” said Kootenai County sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger. “But I think we’ve gone miles.”

The 30 or so people duking it out at the Coeur d’Alene Inn did it all for snowmobiling. Officials including Kootenai County Sheriff Pierce Clegg and Shoshone County Sheriff Dan Schierman unveiled a proposed rewriting of state laws concerning snowmobiles and “off-highway motor vehicles” such as dirt bikes.

The changes, which likely will be voted on by state legislators in January, actually would allow riders to travel on public roads they can’t ride on now unless they have mirrors, a horn and mud flaps, which aren’t the norm for snowmobiles.

Now, snowmobiles are illegal on public roads, even remote ones, unless they’re outfitted like cars. The only exceptions are places like Wallace, where the local government steps in and allows the vehicles to rumble around downtown. Under current law, snowmobiles also can travel on rural public roads that are closed to normal traffic for the winter.

The new laws would change all that, allowing snowmobiles on some public roads, typically in the woods, approved for their use. The machines wouldn’t need horns and mirrors, but snowmobilers would need liability insurance. Children without a driver’s license could drive, too, as long as an adult is nearby.

The changes were drafted by sheriff’s departments statewide, as well as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation.

State Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d’Alene, said he isn’t sure how legislators from southern Idaho, not as concerned with snowmobiling, will react. “Getting it through in this form would be questionable,” he said.

The avalanche of anger running through the crowd Sunday, though, broke loose at the realization that public roads also used by cars currently are off-limits - even in the woods.

“They’re saying they’ve always been closed,” said Mike White, president of the Panhandle Trail Riders club. “But for all these years, we were led to believe they were open.”

The laws typically aren’t enforced, sheriff’s officials said.

“Technically, these roads are closed to ATV use,” Wolfinger said. “We want to open it up.”

Wolfinger said there are two ways to change bad laws: through legislation or by enforcing them so people become outraged. He encouraged the former.

The snowmobilers, though, said they’re being reined in, oppressed and stereotyped.

“We’re up against the world,” rider Eric McDonald said. “The world is against us.”

McDonald fumed that snowmobilers are pegged as a mob of “beer-swilling” rowdies who tear up mountainsides.

“We don’t deserve the kind of slander used against us by the environmentalists,” he said.

Snowmobilers were angered that even under the new law, roads approved for snowmobiling still could be closed by sheriff’s departments.

A few were worried that a new environmentalist sheriff could shut down all roads to snowmobiles and dirt bikes.

“There is a chance someone could quit Greenpeace, buy some bluejeans and move here and get elected sheriff,” said Kootenai County sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Soumas. “But I doubt it.”

Dave Wright, supervisor of the Panhandle National Forests, defended the need for sheriffs to close roads, saying that sometimes narrow roads need to be clear and open for logging trucks.

“Does this give the green fanatics more ammo?” one rider asked.

That’s when Wright said trails and roads aren’t just for snowmobiling - they are for “wolverines to cross” and for grizzlies, too.

At that, the crowd shuffled, sighed and became generally annoyed.

Riders were split on whether to require insurance. Some were for it - saying rates are as low as $3 per month and make the sport safe for everyone. Others said it could get too costly for those owning several machines.

That pushed Clegg’s buttons. When people are hurt or lose property to uninsured drivers or riders, “they rag on me!” he said sharply.

Wolfinger called a couple of breaks. Everyone went to cool off. By the end of the day, most riders seemed to ease up and trust that they would get a better deal this way.

McDonald called the meeting a “turning point.” He thanked the sheriffs for their time. Other riders nodded and smiled.

Not White. “I’m hoping the changes will be nil,” he said.

He and McDonald had motorbikes outside, waiting.

“We gave up a day of riding for this.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

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