Snowmobile club seeks community’s help to crack down on rogue riders
The Hillside Family Riders Snowmobile Club held a press conference recently to ask for the community’s help this winter to keep local snowmobile trails open. The club, which is tasked with building and maintaining the snowmobile trails in Lewiston, is concerned about “rogue” riders who damage trails and infringe upon the rights of local property owners.
Such riders use dirt bikes on marked snowmobile trails in violation of state law; use illegal snowmobiles outfitted with loud performance exhausts that disturb the peace of homeowners who live nearby; and leave marked trails to trespass onto private property where permission to ride has not been granted.
To address the problem, the club is working with local law enforcement agencies, who plan to increase enforcement efforts, and is calling upon the local snowmobile community and landowners to note registration numbers and descriptions of violators in order to report them to the local warden service or police.
The club is also calling upon snowmobilers to get involved by joining their local snowmobile club to help build and maintain the local trail system. Last year, there were almost 1000 registered snowmobiles in Lewiston, but only 140 snowmobile club members. Membership dues are only $25 per year, and all funds are used to purchase the equipment and fuel needed to build and maintain local trails.
For more information about this effort or about the Hillside Family Riders Snowmobile Club, call 212-8950 or see www.hillsidefamilyriders.com.