Vandals hit snowmobile trail network
By GORDON FRASER
Staff Writer
gfraser@citizen.com
GILFORD — The steel gates that once protected the snowmobile trails skirting Belknap Mountain have been torn from the ground, cut with blow torches, and in some cases stolen, according to Dave Glazier of the Belknap Snowmobilers' Club.
The tires of four-wheel-drive trucks also scoured the area, creating deep gouges. The land is littered in empty beer cans, garbage, and old car parts.
The problem is not new, Glazier explained. He said that four-wheel-drive trucks have gone up into the heavily wooded area for years, wrecking it for mountain bikers, hikers, hunters, and snowmobilers who also use the land.
Last year, the snowmobile club raised well over $3,000 and enlisted volunteer labor to build six steel gates in order to block the trails against large vehicles. They also invested in a culvert which helped to prevent washouts.
"They've since gone out and cut the gates down," Glazier reported.
At least four of the six gates have been destroyed or otherwise rendered useless. Beyond that, trucks have ruined the decks of wooden snowmobile bridges which were not designed to hold the weight of a full-sized vehicle.
"That's part of the reason we put up gates," Glazier said.
Glazier went out to close one of the gates for the season about two weeks ago. He discovered that the crossbeams which would allow him to block the ingress had been stolen. He placed an order for two new crossbeams but, when he returned to install them, the gate had been torn apart.
Another gate, Glazier said, had been cut with blow torches. Another had been ripped from the ground, presumably with trucks and chains.
A fourth gate was circumvented when someone blazed a road — more than wide enough for a large truck — around it.
"We don't have a problem sharing the land," Glazier said. "(But) some of these people think it's their right to destroy (it)."
The damage to the area can reflect poorly on the snowmobile club, even though it is not the cause of it.
A contributing problem is that the snowmobile trails are large enough to accommodate trucks. When the group originally blazed and groomed the trails, it converted old logging roads and other paths for use, not only by snowmobiles but for a large grader which grooms the trails during the winter.
In order to allow the grader access, the trails must be wide enough to accommodate a large vehicle. Many of the trails are 8-10 feet wide.
Now the use by four-wheel-drive trucks may jeopardize the snowmobile club's access to the area.
"We're not landowners; we have been allowed temporary use of this land during the winter months," Glazier said.
When people lay waste to the area, it not only prevents enjoyment of the natural beauty by others, but it may convince the property owners to bar the use of their land for recreation entirely.
"The sad thing is the landowners are going ... to get fed up," Glazier said, "Everybody's going to lose."
Glazier contacted the Gilford Police Department about the issue, and officers said that they would look into the problem, he said. But, Glazier went on, the police warned that the area is remote and difficult to patrol.
The officer who took the complaint could not be reached for comment.
The snowmobile club has offered a $500 reward for the names of those who have damaged the gates.