Snowmobiling in Wolfeboro

[witchboat]

I have heard that Wolfeboro has make a change, for a one year trial to allow sleds to drive up into the downtown parking area. My source told me the board of selectman have agreed to shut off the bubblers and allow sleds to park downtown and visit local shops. I think it could be a good thing. Has anyone else heard this. I was also wondering if they would allow sleds to then connect to the RR tracks by the chamber of commerce.

[tis]

It is true apparently. It was in the local paper.

[VTskier]

I need a snowmobile so bad

[camp guy]

I don't think it is quite as true as posted. The Selectmen agreed to a one year trial allowing sleds to access Cate Park in the corner by the dock most to the right looking from the water.

To mitigate the bubblers, some sort of fence/diversion gate (or something like this) will be placed to allow that corner of the waterfront to freeze. The sleds are only allowed in Cate Park, not the municipal parking lot adjacent to Cate Park, and there is no direct access to the Bridge Falls path from Cate Park.

The idea is to attract snowmobilers to the downtown section of town to shop and eat.

(Let's hope this experiment doesn't totally tear up the underlying Cate Park.)

[secondcurve]

(Let's hope this experiment doesn't totally tear up the underlying Cate Park.)[/QUOTE]

I don't think there will be much risk of that this year the way things are going.

[WINNOCTURN]

[QUOTE=camp guy;
(Let's hope this experiment doesn't totally tear up the underlying Cate Park.)[/QUOTE]


I would hope that responsible riders would know what the snow conditions were and act accordingly.

From: AMERICAN COUNCIL OF SNOWMOBILE ASSOCIATIONS
http://www.snowmobilers.org/facts_sound.html

Compaction and Vegetation

Everything we do has some effect on the environment. When a hiker steps on a flower, he affects the environment. When land is paved over for a bicycle path, it affects the environment. Many of the foot paths man has used for centuries still exist and are clearly visible throughout the world.

However, it' a fact that a snowmobile and rider exert dramatically less pressure on the earth's surface than other recreational activities (i.e., just one-tenth the pressure of a hiker and one-sixteenth the pressure of a horseback rider). Average pounds of pressure per square inch exerted on earth's surface:
Object ----------- Pounds Of Pressure
Four-Wheel Drive Vehicle----- 30lbs
Horse ---- 8lbs
Man------- 5lbs
All-Terrain Vehicle-- 1.5lbs
Snowmobile---------- 0.5lbs
(All vehicle weights considered include 210 pounds estimated weight of one person and gear).

Moreover, the snowmobile's ½ pound of pressure is further reduced by an intervening blanket of snow.

In many jurisdictions, snowmobiles are not classified as off-road vehicles. By both definition and management policies, these jurisdictions have completely separated snowmobiles from off-road vehicles. As the U.S. Department of the Interior concluded in an environmental statement: "A major distinction is warranted between snowmobiles and other types of off-road vehicles. Snowmobiles operated on an adequate snow cover have little effect on soils - and hence cause less severe indirect impacts on air and water quality, and on soil-dependent biotic communities, than other ORV's do".

Given adequate snowfall and responsible operation, all evidence of snowmobile operation disappears when the season changes and the snow melts.

In its environmental statement regarding off-road vehicle use of public lands, the U.S. Department of Interior stated: "Where snowmobiles are used exclusively over snow on roads and trails, the impact on vegetation is indeed virtually nil".

A University of Wisconsin study of J. W. Pendleton entitled Effect of Snowmobile Traffic on Non-Forest Vegetation discovered that snowmobile traffic had no effect on grain yield of winter wheat, alfalfa, red clover plots or grass legume. Species of turf grass showed slightly reduced yields at first harvest, but were not negatively affected in subsequent harvests.

Research undertaken by Dr. James C. Wittaker and Dennis S. Wentworth of the University of Maine concluded that "compaction by snowmobiling does not alter the grain weight yields of alfalfa in Maine".

A Utah Water Resource laboratory study found that snow compaction, caused by snowmobile tracks, does not damage wheat crops. Instead, the compaction increases the yield and eliminates snow mold. Erosion is also reduced.

There is no evidence that snow compaction caused by snowmobiling, ski-touring or snowshoeing has a significant impact on the population of small burrowing animals. Since these recreations take place over a minuscule portion of the total land area, the ecosystem of burrowing animals tends to be overwhelmingly affected by natural forces-such as wind-induced compaction, early and late snowfalls, temperature fluctuations resulting in thaws and freezes, etc.

[witchboat]

Originally Posted by camp guy

I don't think it is quite as true as posted. The Selectmen agreed to a one year trial allowing sleds to access Cate Park in the corner by the dock most to the right looking from the water.

To mitigate the bubblers, some sort of fence/diversion gate (or something like this) will be placed to allow that corner of the waterfront to freeze. The sleds are only allowed in Cate Park, not the municipal parking lot adjacent to Cate Park, and there is no direct access to the Bridge Falls path from Cate Park.

The idea is to attract snowmobilers to the downtown section of town to shop and eat.

(Let's hope this experiment doesn't totally tear up the underlying Cate Park.)

Does anyone Know if this will be expaned to this winter. Last year was not much of a test