How much gas and oil dumped by snomos?

As I recall, having ridden two-stroke motorcycles since 1970 and two-stroke snomos since '79, two-stroke motorcycles were banned from US Highways in 1976 because of the pollution. Yet in 2011, with the snowmobile free-for-all in our pristine offroad and roadless Wenatchee Mountains, large engines of two-stroke snowmobiles dump fuel/ oil mix through the exhaust.

It is one thing for this to occur on roads where we all drive vehicles. It is entirely another problem to dump this oil/ gas mix on fragile soils, rare plants, and otherwise healthy and pristine forest watershed. Streams become avenues of snowmobile access to the high country in the winter, just go view some of the posted snomo videos to see this. What about the effects to these pristine streams and wetlands?

The two-stroke motors now used nearly exclusively offroad exhaust around 30% of the gas-oil mix onto the ground. Some folks that we know count snomos in the Teanaway, and have done rough estimates of the amount of gas and oil dumped on the pristine unroaded areas. The lowball figure is 1000 gallons per season of gas-oil mix dumped in these pristine watersheds by snowmobiles.

We ask that winter non-motorized forest users describe how and where they recreate, and also share their thoughts about this issue and this need with the Forest Supervisor and the Forest Plan Revision Team. Contact Forest Supervisor Rebecca Heath and the Forest Plan Revision Team: Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Headquarters, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA 98801   r6_ewzplanrevision@fs.fed.us

come on. 30% of snowmo fuel/oil is not dumped on the ground. 2 strokes are certainly less efficient than 4 strokes. Most of the "unburnt" fuel is in vapor form and drifts away. If 30% of it were spilt on the ground, there would be a visible fuel/oil puddle under each sled and you could throw a match on the slick and take care of the problem right away . Please cite specific studies showing 30% of the fuels ends up in the creek, I would like to see them.

"74.2% of all statistics are made up on the spot".

yes, that figure seems rather high.  Of course,  the 'dumping' does not manifest as a puddle under the sled, but rather is dispersed as vapor and particulates settle upon the landscape.

As WMC's claim seems a bit shocking, a quick search finds a fair amount of reports on the subject, including one where Yellowstone NP 'found' 25% of fuel/oil is released into the environment - still a shocking amount, in my view -  if I do eventually add a sled as an approach tool I will definitely go 4 stroke (or electric ?), still with a footprint, of course.

While I would agree that many statistics are manufactured, and studies can be skewed according to ones' agenda, we do need to try to look at this honestly.  Here is one link to a page citing some of the effects (and their report sources) of sleds in the wild.

www.norbecksociety.com/gpage10.html

Took a quick look at that Norbeck Society thing- They sounded Totally unbiased  :

yes, I agree that the Norbeck group carries the environmentalist agenda, but I only posted it since they cited their sources.  now, it is up to interested individuals to follow it through...  

Had some time to kill before the Football Fantasy draft so I took a stab. The only Schubert and Associates Google could come up with was a company that does meeting planning and a small injection molding shop.

Which one of these statements (pasted here from that report with one small change) are NEVER true?

Erosion and Compaction of Soil
· The US Geological Survey found that virtually all types of soils are vulnerable to  lugged hiking boots  damage after examining more than 500 soils at more than 200 sites (Schubert and Associates, 1999).

· Some soils damaged by lugged hiking boots require decades or centuries to recover (Belnap, 2003).

· Because of their weight,  obese hikers in lugged hiking boots  compress and compact soil, altering its ability to absorb and retain water and nutrients (e.g., Dregne, 1983).

· lugged hiking boots  decrease soil fertility by harming the microscopic organisms that otherwise would break down the soil and produce nutrients (e.g., Wilshire et al., 1977).


Damage to Native Vegetation
·  lugged hiking boots  crush vegetation and root systems, killing seedlings and changing the composition of the forest (e.g., Cole and Bayfield, 1993).

The trouble with those of any strong belief is when they they  cite small snipets of "studies" to support their case. Most people are pretty dumb because if you realize how dumb the average person is, half are dumber than that.

Even I believed 1 of these 3.

"Read my lips- no new taxes - G.W. Bush
"I did not have sex with that woman" - Bill Clinton
"I am not a crook" R.M. Nixon