Local snowmobile clubs and the Grant County Road Department are important partners with the Malheur National Forest to provide facilities that make a snowmobile adventure even more fun.

Grant County Snowballers operate the Huddleston Sno-Park south of Prairie City, from which they groom over 800 miles of snowmobile trails under an agreement with the Forest. Huddleston is an official State of Oregon Sno-Park, plowed by the Grant County Highway Department with funding provided by Sno-Park permits.

Starr Ridge and Idlewild Campground, both off of Highway 395, are also official Sno-Parks from which to take off for a fun day of snowmobiling. Rounding out the snowplay sites is the Starr Ridge day use snow play area with a sledding hill and warming hut.

But you don’t need an official snowpark to enjoy winter fun on your Forest. Acres of white beckon snowshoers, cross-country skiers, stargazers, and others who enjoy the nip in the air and the quiet splendor of the woods in winter.

Whatever your chosen activity, SAFETY should be your top priority. There are many websites and publications with safety tips for winter fun and travel. Most of them boil down to a few common sense precautions.

Be Prepared, Part 1: Dress appropriately, in layers, for the expected weather. Warm, waterproof clothing is your first round of protection against hypothermia. When snowmobiling your helmet will not only protect your head from injury, it also helps retain your body heat.

Be Prepared, Part 2: Keep your vehicle ready for winter, too. Let others know where you plan to go and when you plan to be back. Make sure you have plenty of fuel for your trip as well as in case you get delayed or stuck due to accidents or weather. Pack a small shovel and even some kitty litter to get out of sticky situations. Carry tire chains and know how to use them.

Be Prepared, Part 3: Know your over-snow vehicle. You only use it during the winter and even then not as often as you’d like. Be sure to allow for some refresher time to reacquaint yourself with its operation and ensure it is in working order. Be cautious in popular, busy riding areas and watch out for others. Respect your riding skills and consider your physical condition on each given day of riding. Don’t get caught far out on a trail in a fatigued condition.

Be Prepared, Part 4: Know where you are and where you’re going. Pick up a snowmobile trail map and take the time to be sure you understand how to orient yourself using it. Not only will this help you get around on the trails, it will also help ensure that you snowmobile only in legal areas.

Some areas of the National Forest are off-limits to motorized use part or even all of the year. Winter puts extra stress on wild animals and big snow years like this are even harder on them. Staying out of areas designated for winter range supports the health of these animals that are a big part of why we love to be here.

Wilderness has been set aside by Congress to ensure that “an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States – leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition.”

Wilderness is important to protect habitat for hundreds of plants and animals, watersheds that supply our water, and natural processes of change in the wild environment. Because we protect them they are living classrooms for ourselves and for research.

Recreation is another benefit of wilderness. On the Malheur National Forest, Strawberry Mountain and Monument Rock Wildernesses are part of a system of protected lands that amount to only 2.63 percent of the land in the lower 48 contiguous United States.

Snowmobiling allows you to reach a vantage point to view the stunning scenery and experience the awesome mountainous terrain of these special areas in winter. The best way to protect that opportunity is to respect the law that prohibits snowmobiles from entering wilderness.

Winter is an exciting time to enjoy your National Forest and makes up a large part of the recreation program. It also provides an important boost to the local economy.

In fact, the Forest and the Grant County Chamber of Commerce joined forces in 2000 to develop a marketing plan to increase winter time visitors and help local businesses get through the slow season. This has continued to be a focus locally and the results have been paying off, especially this year with our excellent snow.

A 2003 Oregon Employment Department report noted that the largest economic impact from outdoor recreation “is from the visitors that are attracted to local areas – especially rural areas – and the travel-related expenditures they make that support: retail trade, restaurants, hotels, and transportation.” Active recreation visitors like snowmobilers, according to a report by Dean Runyon Associates, spend more per trip.

So, invite your friends to see what winter has to offer on the Malheur National Forest and on those work days that keep you in town, welcome the visitors who’ve come to check out our snow and invite them back again. We’ll be here.

Jennifer Harris is the public affairs, recreation and heritage staff officer and Bob Pugh is the occupational health and safety manager for the Malheur National Forest.