March 15 2006; UINTA MOUNTAINS, Utah (AP); 'A welcome change for
me' By BRETT PRETTYMAN Salt Lake Tribune;
-- For seven months of the year, Utah State Parks ranger Joe Donnell
deals with crowded boat ramps, rowdy campers and many emergencies, some
fatal. As the boating and camping season at Rockport State Park in
Summit County winds down, Donnell looks forward to the "quiet"
side of his job grooming remote snowmobile trails in the
middle of the night. Even if he has to risk a spooky encounter. "I
guess it's not for everybody, but it's a welcome change for me,"
Donnell says on a recent Wednesday evening, guiding his Bombardier
BR275 snowcat past the frozen Mill Hollow Reservoir. Donnell and about
40 other state park employees spend six nights a week throughout the
winter grooming Utah's more than 1,200 miles of snowmobile trails.
Groomers on the nine snowmobile complexes make it a little
easier for the state's 28,000 registered snowmobiles to access
Utah's famous backcountry powder. The grooming also gives those
who prefer to stay on trail a smoother ride. During his 12 seasons as
a groomer on the Mirror Lake-Mill Hollow Complex -- one of the state's
top snowmobiling destinations -- Donnell has been caught in an
avalanche, had to spend a night or two in his broken-down snowcat
in a blizzard and helped countless stranded snowmobilers. Read
the news source for this snowmobile article here...
***
feb 14 2006 snowmobile trail report; casperstartribune.net;
WYOMING SNOWMOBILE REPORT; From wyotrails.state.wy.us
and local reports. Through Tuesday, North;
Bear Lodge Mountains -- Grooming, 18" base,
5" new, Beartooth Mountains -- Grooming, 62-85"
base, 6-12" new; black Hills -- Grooming, 24"
base, up to 18" new; North Bighorns -- Grooming,
24-36" base, 3-14" new; South Bighorns
-- Limited grooming, 28-40" base, up to 3-10" new snow; Southeast,
Casper Mountain -- Grooming, 40-50" base, 7-18"
new snow, Sierra Madres -- Grooming, 49-101"
base, 14-20" new snow, Snowy Range -- Grooming,
40-110" base, 10-36" new snow ; complete
snowmobile trail report here...
***
Yellowstone official sorry
for joke about 'snowmobile hunt' ; Associated Press; Feb. 17, 2006; YELLOWSTONE
NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - A Yellowstone National Park official has apologized
to three snowmobile industry executives for forwarding a joke by e-mail
that suggested a hunting season on snowmobiles in the park. At least one
snowmobile advocate doesn't think the apology is enough, and has said
the Park Service should remove John Sacklin from his current duties. "I
would say it's pretty poor taste to be circulating something like that
from a government official," said Kim Raap, former manager of the
Wyoming State Trails Program and now a consultant in Sioux Falls, S.D.
"I believe that John should not be involved in this process, absolutely.
This is a misbehavior that taints the process."
read the whole story here...
Snowmobilers seek eased restrictions in Yellowstone, Grand Teton; JACKSON, Wyo. Snowmobile groups are asking supporters to encourage looser restrictions on snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. Currently, all snowmobile trips into the parks must be led by a guide. The Blue Ribbon Coalition wants that cut to 70 percent.