Maine Snowmobile Clubs Tread Lightly! for Open Access

Those who love Maine Snowmobile riding and the Maine ATV Trails and resort settings offered along the trail systems, are probably familiar with Tread Lightly!  For those who are not, the Tread Lightly! was program begun in 1985 by the United States Forest Service.  The goal of the program was “to encourage off highway vehicle (OHV) users to conduct themselves on National Forest Land in a way that minimizes trail, and more importantly, off-trail damage.” (Tread Lightly!® In Maine – article by Steve Salisbury)

Currently, Tread Lightly! is operated as a non-profit which encourages training and responsibility with its 5 TREAD pledge (Yes TREAD actually equates to more than walking!)  In this case TREAD means: Travel responsibly, Respect the rights of others, Educate yourself, Avoid sensitive areas and Do your part.

Not bad advice for anyone traveling anywhere, but, in this case, Tread Lightly!’s work is specific to people who enjoy the outdoors in mechanized vehicles, i.e. trucks, powerboats, jet skis, ATVs, snowmobiles, etc.  The organization offers a variety of educational and certification programs to encourage TREAD principles and to help OHVs users preserve and conserve the land so they can have long-term use of it for their activities.  Maine Snowmobile and ATV clubs encourage this type of education and smart usage of the land in order to help maintain Maine’s unique system of open access to trails on private lands.

Tread Lightly! offers periodic training sessions throughout the country for those interested.  A full list of programs information is available at the Tread Lightly! website.