Ticket to ride: NYS DEC police patrolling upstate snowmobile trails in force

Forest ranger on snowmobile ticketing snowmobile riders

NYDEC police are patrolling Upstate NY snowmobile trails in force.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation police are patrolling Upstate snowmobile trails in force, citing snowmobilers for violations, promoting sled safety, and in some cases, helping injured sledders.

On Feb. 7, DEC police, along with deputies from the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office, inspected more than 100 snowmobiles at a checkpoint in the Town of Sheldon. Several tickets were issued, primarily for modified exhausts.

Last weekend, DEC police assisted the Town of Webb police with an evening enforcement patrol and conducted speed checks in the Town of Florence. Six violations were issued for imprudent speed, and one for failure to stop for a highway crossing. Snowmobiler’s ticketed were speeding 18 to 28 MPH above the 55 MPH speed limit.

Forest ranger holding up a radar gun on snowmobile trail

NYDEC police issuing tickets.

DEC personnel did a lot more than write tickets last week, however.

On Feb. 3, forest rangers rendered first aid to a 38-year-old snowmobiler from Putnam who’d broken his pelvis in an accident near Lapland Pond, in the Town of Dresden. Rangers packaged the man in a rescue toboggan and pulled him by snowmobile to the trailhead, where he was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

On Feb. 5, rangers responded to a snowmobile accident on the Moonshine Pond Trail near Mohegan Lake. A 43-year-old snowmobiler from Ohio had lost control, rolled, and crashed into a tree. Fire and EMS crews packaged the injured sledder in a rescue toboggan. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital and treated for head and wrist injuries.

On Feb. 7 rangers roped down the Lower Falls of Kaaterskill Falls in icy conditions to recover a deceased dog. The unleashed dachshund had bolted from its owner, slipped, and hit a fence. Rangers returned the deceased dog to its owner.

[A previous version of this story mentioned the newly enacted “Sleep Act” (Stop Loud and Excessive Exhaust Pollution), which raised the maximum fine from $250 to $1,000 for loud or modified exhaust systems. The SLEEP Act does not apply to snowmobiles.]

Steve Featherstone covers the outdoors for The Post-Standard, syracuse.com and NYUP.com. Contact him at sfeatherstone@syracuse.com or on Twitter @featheroutdoors. You can also follow along with all of our outdoors content at newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/ or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/upstatenyoutdoors.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.