Avoiding conflict between skiers and snowmobilers

I think the issue is motors-allowed versus motors-not-allowed. Dogs aren't motors. I don't see any problem mixing skijorers with regular skiers.<br><br>David raises an interesting question: Should the zoning categories be entirely exclusive? For example, should skiers not be allowed in a motorized area? I doubt that would be true. I don't know of any precedent for that, but I imagine it could happen if an area became dominated by really high speed motorized use.<br><br>Regarding road corridors, I think every zone would have to be evaluated separately. Some roads would be multi-use, some would not. The Chiwawa and Chewuch River road corridors would almost certainly be multi-use, since they are so long and lead to so much country. On the other hand, Gold Creek (near Snoqualmie Pass) should be skier-only, since it is short and so heavily used by snowshoers and skiers. I don't know about the North Fork Tieton. It must have a pretty strong skier constituency to have been designated skier-only.<br>

It would be a shame if the major road corridors became the mutually exclusive domain of motorized users. I enjoy the long, snomobile groomed access of the Icicle, Hwy 20 and Chiwawa for skate skiing. In the right conditions these routes and others provide uninterupted stretches of "groomed" trail not found in other commercially groomed cross country areas. Although I have never experienced a problem I imagine a conflict of interest could develop due to the vastly different rates of speed.

Just follow the rules of the ROAD,slow traffic,keep right.You'll show and receive respect.A little common sense and positive attitude will go a long way.You may have more in common than you realize. Keep it deep, X.

I saw that the south face of Lichtenburg Mtn was covered in high-marking tracks today. That's the first time I've even seen that... is that common? Looks like the wilderness boundary runs across the left side of the face - I'm pretty sure the tracks crossed that area, if only a little.

I saw that the south face of Lichtenburg Mtn was covered in high-marking tracks today. That's the first time I've even seen that... is that common? Looks like the wilderness boundary runs across the left side of the face - I'm pretty sure the tracks crossed that area, if only a little.

<br><br>I'm glad you have reported this Phil, <br><br>From NGS Topo! it looks like the wilderness boundary runs south from Point 5737, with Lichtenburg itself being to the west. Also, the boundary wraps around the lower elevations of Smith Brook leaving elevations above ~4600 feet near Mt. McCausland inside the wilderness. Each year for the last 4 years or so when I go there, I see multiple tracks all the way up to and above the saddle that overlooks Lake Valhalla. So snomos now on the south side of Lichtenburg and within the wilderness would not surprise me. <br><br>I think there has been a steady increase in formal wilderness areas subject to snomo trespass, perhaps in part driven by the ever-increasing power and capability of the machines. Last year was an aberration however, and may have lead to a false sense of the degree of the problem.<br><br>I know that some are more concerned with this issue than others, but for those who are disturbed by snomos or evidence of snomos inside wilderness areas there is something that one can do that may make a difference. <br><br>Document what you find with your camera. Take movies if appropriate. Burn the files onto a CD and get them to the appropriate Ranger District. Consider sending the files to the Alpine Lakes Protection Soc. also. I believe that if enough people report and give incontrovertible evidence of what is a plainly illegal activity (to say nothing about the moral aspects of wilderness incursion) then it may have an effect. If you edit a picture, be sure to include the original too, so that time stamp, origin time and date, and other camera data is included and is correct. <br><br>I should add that I know that some take a very different view on this topic; perhaps including a segment of TAYer's. The Blue Ribbon Coalition is a major voice for the opposing point of view; one of their contentions is that there is too much wilderness already. I believe that they would like to see, and are working towards, removal of wilderness status whenever possible. As you might expect, there is a lot of corporate money behind such orgs, and as more machines of various types are sold, there is more pressure by owners for more places to use them. <br><br>Larry<br>

This hasn't been mentioned, so I'll mention it - at the risk of belaboring the obvious. To me, Washington state's "gold standard" of managing motorized vs non-motorized winter travel is the Methow Valley. For those of us interested in actually working on this issue vs complaining about it, I'll bet there's a lot we can learn from them. <br><br>I have this fantasy about something similar happening in the Blewett Pass area someday. It has the potential for being a mini Methow Valley. There is so much wonderful, mellow ski terrain up there.