OUR MISSION

Backcountry Sled Patriots' mission is to unite and offer strategic assistance to snowmobile clubs, associations, and individuals in order to retain our historic riding areas.

OUR VALUES & PURPOSE

We are dedicated to the preservation and responsible stewardship of backcountry riding areas historically accessed by Montana snowmobilers.

OUR GOALS

  • To increase back country snowmobilers awareness to become engaged in the Forest Service planning process. We will provide timely information to enable members (and all snowmobilers) to become active participants in the process.

  • To raise funding to defend and preserve our riding areas.
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  • To raise awareness of alternative Congressionally sanctioned designations such as National Protection Areas that keep primitive areas primitive yet allow snowmobiling.

OUR STRUCTURE

The officers are Stan Spencer, President, Pat Haffner, Vice-Pres and Secretary. In addition, each club joining BSP will be able to appoint a director from its membership. All directors and officers are non-paid volunteers. There are currently 8 directors. Each director has a vote on distribution of funds. A snowmobile club or association can join BSP with a agreed upon donation.Individual membership is free.

Backcountry Sled Patriots will support any member club or association fighting to keep backcountry areas open. BSP also feels that litigation is a last course resort. Comprehensive and factual evidentiary support is extremely important. BSP can provide guidance with this work.

"The will to win is important. The will to prepare is critical."
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Funding comes from donations, events, and sale of BSP merchandise.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

  • Backcountry Sled Patriots was formed to become an entity to focus solely on preserving back country riding areas. This segment of snowmobiling is small compared to the National demographic and did not have the resources to protect these riding areas. While small, back country riding is a fast growing segment, yet the historic riding areas are being closed at an alarming rate. We need more, not less.

  • It seems that there are a never-ending line of groups that want to close snowmobile areas in order to retain the areas for their private recreational areas or simply close them to winter-motorized use, so no one uses the areas. This trend needs to be reversed.

  • It is easy to point the finger at wilderness advocate groups and the Forest Service and charge them with being responsible for the actions closing many of our riding areas. In all fairness it is our responsibility to recognize that in the past back country snowmobilers have not been very proactive in engaging with the Forest Service at the font end of Forest and Travel planning to present factual and accurate information regarding the non-impacts of back country snowmobiling. Riding areas have been closed based on assumptions and inaccurate information fed to the Forest Service by non motorized interests.

  • Becoming engaged in the Forest and Travel planning process is our primary goal. Almost immediately after BSP was founded a significant number of new members stepped up with extensive knowledge of public lands and experience in the Forest Service planning process. This has become the nucleus of BSP and has contributed to extensive participation in several Forest plans in Montana and Idaho. This is all done by non paid volunteers.
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