Michigan DNR Officers to Enhance Snowmobile Noise Enforcement This Winter

By Vanessa Torres

Michigan -(Ammoland.com)- Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers will be enhancing statewide efforts to enforce snowmobile decibel level rules this winter.

Noncompliance of the rules could damage Michigan’s nationally recognized trail system because 50 percent of trails pass through private land.

Enhanced efforts will focus on the DNR-managed trail systems, high-use areas and areas where complaints are received. While on routine patrol, conservation officers also will conduct decibel-level testing of snowmobiles.

The penalty for violating the sound levels for snowmobiles is a civil infraction, with fines up to $250.

“Conservation officers are stepping up decibel-level enforcement to ensure snowmobilers are in compliance with state law and acceptable noise levels,” said Cpl. John Morey, who oversees the snowmobile safety and education program within the DNR Law Enforcement Division. “In addition to the operator’s legal ramifications of operating a loud snowmobile, this excessive noise has consequences that can affect other snowmobilers, including the loss of popular snowmobile trails.”

Morey noted that Michigan’s vast snowmobile trail system is the result of partnerships with private landowners who, through annual permits between the landowners and snowmobile clubs, …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand