Sledders run down animals....Bad press

[Modman]

Sorry rknight, not trying to incite a riot here but based on a recent thread, I feel its important that some folks understand the statement "we are all painted with the same brush."

This statement is hit home in this article from todays WSJ where they make the association that sledders are generally motivated by speed, testosterone and alcohol, which is the perfect example of being "far from the truth" but yet all sledders will be lumped into this category.

This article paints a very bad picture of sledders. Regardless of the area, these individuals have thrown gas on the proverbial fire (as it were) and it is news items like these that provide the ammunition in court for other backcountry users and interest groups to call for closures of areas to protect wildlife from motorized vehicles (both sleds and quads).

In a time where we are seeing more and more closures based on caribou areas in the west, it is vital to the future of our sport that the perception is that sledders are not all out there chasing animals around (regardless of whether or not they are deemed pests) because we will be singled out for our actions.

Snowmobilers' Heaven Is Hell on Wildlife - WSJ.com

I hope it does not come to it but please feel free to lock this thread if you need to.

 

[Mayfly]

Read that in SW and have to agree 100%, we are struggling with keeping areas open and all it takes is some stupid acts or comments. This gives all the anti-snowmobile groups ammunition to paint us all as the same.
Be careful of what you post...

 

[sledderdoc]

There are always mentally unstable individuals in any sport. The fellow described in this article most certainly would fall into that category imho.

You can post stuff like that but you need to remember that 95% of sledders are good people. Its just like hunting, most hunters are good and actually help sustain current populations of animals but always seems like the bad ones stand out.

If your concerned join a club to have your voice heard, write letters, speak out!