This is a season of rough sledding for snowmobilers — even though there is plenty of snow.
The trail system is under pressure in the metro area, as housing projects advance into previously undeveloped areas. It’s especially noticeable in Washington County – home of 25,000 snowmobile owners and 200 miles of trails.
Cottage Grove recently closed down a three-mile section of trail, which alarmed snowmobilers.
“This was an unfortunate miss for the city of Cottage Grove,” said John Udstuen, president of the Star Trail Association, which represents six clubs in Washington County.
Suburban growth is threatening the metro area’s 1,529 miles of trails, according to John Waters, consultant for the State Trails and Snowmobile Program of the Department of Natural Resources.
FRICTION IN METRO AREA
Statewide, the trail mileage is roughly holding steady, Waters said. This year, Minnesota snowmobilers have 13 fewer miles of trail to ride on — out of 21,444 miles.
But in the Twin Cities metro, the friction between snowmobilers and homeowners is growing, as local clubs scramble to maintain trails and residents complain about noise and pedestrian safety.
The trail cutbacks in Cottage Grove are the first in 20 years for Washington County, according to Udstuen. The revised city ordinance passed in November bans snowmobiles along 70th Street west of Keats Avenue, and bans or re-reroutes trails in other areas.
The 70th Street trail wasn’t wide enough both for pedestrians — who prefer a plowed path — and snowmobilers, who depend on snow for mobility.
Cottage Grove officials said complaints averaged about five a year from 2011 to 2018. In that time, half of the complaints involved the trail along 70th Street.
‘SELF-SUSTAINED’
That is not a good reason to close the trails, Udstuen said. He compares snowmobiling to biking and notes the publicly-funded trails and bike lanes in the suburbs and the cities, but not snowmobile trails.
“We are self-sustained. We build trails and even bridges,” said Udstuen.
Snowmobiling also generates tourism dollars, because it’s a destination sport. The average rider spends $22 per trip to the host city, he said.
Udstuen said snowmobiling has become more respectable.
“Maybe 30 years ago it was hillbillies running through farm fields,” said Udstuen. “Today, it’s families with a husband, wife and the kids.”
He said the sledders lost out, in part, because the City Council doesn’t appreciate what snowmobiles do for Cottage Grove.
“It is dangerous when six city council members have never been on a snowmobile,” he said.