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Committee advances $5 snowmobile rental fee to fund trail grooming
Summary
The House Fish and Wildlife Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 165, which would add a $5 trail enhancement fee to each snowmobile rental to support grooming, repairs and related trail maintenance; proponents said rental growth has strained volunteer-run grooming programs.
The Montana House Fish and Wildlife Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 165, which would add a $5 trail enhancement fee to each snowmobile rented from a Montana-licensed vendor and direct the money to the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) snowmobile program for trail and equipment maintenance.
Senator Barry Usher, sponsor of the bill and a Republican representing Senate District 19, told the committee that “the Montana snowmobiling program can no longer keep up with the grooming of trails for safe snowmobiling and high tourist areas” and that snowmobiling “is greater than a hundred million dollar business annually.”
The bill would require rental vendors to remit the $5 fee monthly to the FWP snowmobile program manager. FWP would use the funds “for operations of the trail grooming…
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