The outcome? "They actually opened more land for snowmobile use," but decided not to allow the route to be groomed for the machines.

"The Forest Service called it a compromise because the snow road isn't groomed," Bouwes said. "It's not equitable the way things have been divided up."

Kelly Leishman, president of the Top of Utah Snowmobile Association, said snowmobilers gained about 4,000 acres but lost a little under 2,000 acres. The only thing snowmobilers feel really bad about, he said, is "they didn't grant a snow trail between the Tony and Franklin parking lot."

Both sides wanted different things and neither got all they wanted, he said.

Bouwes said skiers feel displaced by snowmobiles. Even though they can go into snowmobile terrain, he said, they are intimidated by the thought of a vehicle operated by a 15-year-old hurtling across the landscape at high speed.

"The sound is very disconcerting," he added. Throughout the two areas where snowmobiles are banned, he said, they probably will be audible.

---

E-mail: bau@desnews.com