Two Mountain West states could raise fees for snowmobilers. This comes as the cost of grooming forest trails skyrockets.
In Wyoming, it’s currently $35 to register a snowmobile for the winter season. But if lawmakers pass a new policy, that price could go up to $50 for residents and $70 for nonresidents.
Out-of-staters already bring in about $70 million a year, according to a 2020-21 report, but government officials say that isn’t enough to cover the cost of grooming trails. Some prominent snowmobilers agree.
“Fuel costs are up. Maintenance costs are up. You know, everything has gone up significantly,” said Scott Jones, who leads the snowmobile association in Colorado.
While the biggest group of Wyoming’s out-of-state riders come from Minnesota, nearly 10% hail from Colorado, and many come from Idaho (6%) and Utah (4%).
Jones doesn’t think the price increase will impact those numbers much, since he said riders want to help keep trails open.
“I don't see it being a major barrier,” Jones said. “I think it's probably where a lot of the states are gonna end up.”
Colorado is also currently considering raising its fees to $50 across the board. Jones said the state hasn’t increased that number since 2007, and this move brings it up to speed with other states.
In addition to grooming costs, revenue from fees goes toward educational efforts for new riders and avalanche safety. Jones said the state isn’t considering differentiating between residents and nonresidents since the latter group already doesn’t bring in that much money.
This all comes after Idaho lawmakers raised fees back in 2021. Scott Chapman with Idaho’s snowmobile association said there was some pushback from legislators who saw it as a “tax.”
“ It's not a tax increase,” Jones said. “We use those funds to support our program … We need to make sure that the groomers can run til March and they can run five days a week instead of two.”
Like Wyoming, Idaho also chose to make prices slightly higher for nonresidents. Chapman said the increased fees haven’t deterred riders.
“The industry has always had no problem paying their way,” he said.
Colorado’s park and wildlife commission is set to start discussing the issue Thursday afternoon. Wyoming lawmakers will consider it as the legislative session kicks off in the weeks ahead.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
