SWAN VALLEY - With winter activities converting into summer ones, recreationists and national forest staff reflect on an illegal activity that has seemingly gained more prominence in recent years, snowmobile trespassing.
The Flathead National Forest offers approximately 800,000 acres of recreational land including groomed and ungroomed trail opportunities. According to their website, some areas are closed to snowmobiles including the Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Mission Mountains Wildernesses.
The Flathead National Forest offers free over-snow vehicle use maps. These maps outline forest routes and groomed trails with clearly marked closed areas, something all recreationists are responsible to know and abide by.
According to the 1964 Wilderness Act, “Except as specifically provided for in this Act, and subject to existing private rights, ... there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other form of mechanical transport and no structure or installation within any such area.”
The Mission Mountains were designated Wilderness in 1975. While the Wilderness Act applies to the land on the Flathead National Forest, the “Law for the Mission Mountains Tribal Wilderness” prohibits motorized vehicles off of authorized roadways on the Salish and Kootenai tribal lands. Authorized roadways are defined as routes specifically built for motor vehicle usage by the Tribes.
Kari Gunderson is a retired Wilderness Ranger who served for 35 seasons in the Mission Mountains Wilderness, five of which were spent working along the Swan Front. She said that much of the motorized trespassing takes place from February into late spring so long as there is good snowpack.
Seeley Lake backcountry skier Mike McGrew has 40 years of backcountry skiing experience. He said spring riding conditions offer a harder snow pack. This allows for easier access into areas where the snow is too deep earlier in the year.
Gunderson said many trespassers access wilderness areas through the Mission Valley or Hellroaring Pass. Trespassers will drive their trucks and trailers as far up as they can go until the snow prevents them from going any farther. They will then unload their snow machines and ride the rest of the way up the road to the trailhead.
Tami MacKenzie, public affairs officer for the Flathead National Forest Service, said that when they issue violations it either tends to be the same riders or people who were unaware that they were entering restricted territory.
“We can’t post every boundary all over the place so … that’s where we really promote having maps and using a GPS [to know] where you’re at,” she said.
MacKenzie said law enforcement will conduct random patrols if they hear reports of illegal use or heavy activity in the area. They will also send airplanes out to survey users on the ground although she said that instances of this are infrequent. Occasionally, they will set up cameras to try and capture images of perpetrators in areas that experience frequent violations.
The Flathead Avalanche Center will also monitor the wilderness area when they do their avalanche surveys. The Forest Service has a “winter ranger program.” They send employees to areas of heavy use to engage and educate members of the public when they know the area will be busy.
MacKenzie said she is unable to provide an accurate number of motorized vehicle trespassing reports in recent seasons, however the area size and available staff present a challenge for the Forest Service.
“I think one of the biggest challenges we see is that it’s such a large area that we have to cover,” she said. “It is definitely an ongoing issue. We don’t have a lot of law enforcement officers out there … and that’s where we really rely on public reporting.”
MacKenzie said public reports are one of their biggest sources of information. She said the Flathead Snowmobile Association and the Montana Snowmobile Association are both good allies for them when it comes to reporting illegal usage.
“[Law enforcement officers] do take reports very seriously and follow up,” she said. “So the more information that can be gathered from those individuals, the better.”
McGrew and Gunderson recommend taking photographic evidence, especially trailer license plates, to develop potentially critical evidence that trespassing is taking place. Gunderson also encourages skiers, snowshoers and split borders to carry a GPS, notepad and pencil with them so that they can pinpoint areas where trespass is taking place.
From McGrew’s perspective, snowmobile trespassing has increased in severity with more people snowmobiling in the wilderness now than in the past. He partially attributes this to increased efficiency in technology.
“Snowmobiles have gotten a lot more powerful,” he said. “They’re a lot more agile so they make it easier to access places that were more difficult to access before.”
Gunderson agrees that technological advancements have played a role in the increased frequency but she also believes that general disrespect of the U.S. government is a factor too. She said it is tough to catch perpetrators because snowmobilers travel fast and it can be difficult to see their vehicle’s serial numbers.
Gunderson takes issue with motorized wilderness trespassing because it acts as a disturbance to wildlife. For some animals if a family is disturbed, then the young could be displaced or frightened if their parents are scared away. In addition, snowmobile tracks can act as travel corridors for predators like coyotes and foxes, which make prey more vulnerable.
McGrew is opposed to trespassing because it can be an annoyance to other recreationists.
“One of the reasons you go into wilderness is because it’s pristine, it’s quiet, you can have solitude,” he said. “[Recently], I was high on a ridge in the Mission [Mountains] and I could see snowmobilers that were over a mile away. And the noise from that was incredible. When you go into the mountains to experience that quiet and it’s shattered by motorized vehicles, that really tends to destroy the entire experience.”
MacKenzie said violating the regulation prohibiting motor vehicle usage in the Swan Lake Ranger District could result in a $300 fine for a first offense or up to $5,000 or up to six months of imprisonment for subsequent offenses. She also said equipment could be confiscated depending on the severity of the violation, however, that does not happen frequently. These penalties can apply regardless of the presence or absence of signs.
One reason Gunderson believes that snowmobilers continue to recreate within restricted territory is because the punishments are insufficient.
“These people have invested a tremendous amount of money in their sleds, their snow bikes, their trailers and their trucks,” she said. “And so to get a $50 fine is just a slap on the back of their hand. The consequences need to be more serious. In other states … if [the Forest Service catches] somebody illegally snowmobiling in the wilderness and a judge finds them guilty, the Forest Service confiscates the machine. And if they’re found guilty, they put the machine up for public auction. Now that’s going to hurt.”
McGrew said he also would like to see more aggressive enforcement with harsher consequences.
“When they’re caught and when they’re actually convicted they tend to be let off with a minimal sentence, a light fine,” he said. “But I’d like to see things like confiscation of snowmobiles, which I understand is a potential penalty. It’s pretty egregious.”
Members of the public who come across instances of snowmobile trespassing in the Flathead National Forest are advised to call the Flathead National Forest Service office at (406) 758-5208 and make note of any vehicle descriptions. Witnesses in other national forests should call the forest’s respective service office.
“If there aren’t very many [of a certain vehicle] there, that can be helpful when we’re trying to interview and track people down,” MacKenzie said. “The more information that we can get, the better job we can do.”
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