Promoting quiet recreation in Wisconsin.
Opposing the coming attempts to sell off Wisconsin's natural heritage.
Fighting denial about climate change. When are we hitting the streets?


Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Phone conversation with Gary Eddy Chief DNR ATV/Snowmobile enforcement officer

I had a phone conversation with Gary Eddie today about ATV/Snowmobile sound enforcement. He was very open about answering questions, but I still have many remaining after the conversation. But here it goes:

Why are ATV noise levels set at 96 and Snowmobiles at 88 or 84 (depending on upcoming legislative decisions)?: There are technical reasons related to placement of mufflers, snow vs. leaves and branches as muffling sound, etc. Does this mean an ATV at 96 will be no louder than a snowmobile at 84? Gary couldn't say for sure.

(Question I didn't ask: Who made those technical decisions? What type of research was done? Where are the results?)

Question: Why are maximum snowmobile regs (84 or 88) set louder than the 78 decible limit that the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association sets for snowmobiles off the factory? Answer: Different groups lobbied for these rules, including snowmobile groups and manufacturers.

By the way, the final regs for snowmobiles are still in discussion in the legislature. Please notify your legislator that you are unhappy with the new higher sound. Remember, the difference in decibels is not incremental, but exponential: a 10 decibel difference is twice as loud. Too late for ATV's.

Question: Do some after market kits make snowmobiles quieter? Answer: Yes.
Why don't people install them? It would be good for the sport as a whole. Answer: Some people think they go faster when their machines make more noise.

Question: How many field-testing machines will be available for use? One per county? Gary couldn't say.

Question: My guess is a lot of snowmobilers modify their machines to be louder. What is his guess? Gary couldn't say, but didn't think it was a lot.



OK, in general, there are a lot of questions I still have, but let me some up what I got from this so far:

1. There will be no new enforcement tool for snowmobiles this year. Maybe next year.
2. We don't know yet how effective the protocol for measuring snowmobile noise will be.
3. ATV's and snowmobiles will be louder, rather than quieter, by law.
4. Snowmobiles don't have to be louder, in fact, after-market kits could instead make them significantly quieter, but the snowmobile lobby opposes reductions in noise levels.
5. ATV's allowable decibel level will be twice that of snowmobiles.

Please let me know I am missing something here. I am feeling depressed...

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