Tis the season to hit the snowmachine and go to the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge as all areas within the Refuge are open to snowmachine use.
Steve Miller, Deputy Refuge Manager for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge told KSRM:
“Here at the Refuge we can open for Snowmachining as early as December 1st. This year we didn’t quite have enough snow come December 1st, but as of December 8th, we have plenty of snow and we’ve opened all of the Refuge to snowmachining that is normally open for snowmachines. We don’t allow snowmachining within the Skilak Recreation Area, except for ice fishing. We don’t allow it around the headquarters area here and any areas above tree line, except for Caribou Hills are off limits for snowmachines, but everywhere else is open for snowmachining.”
Miller speaks on the excitement that comes from snowmachining in the Refuge:
“What really makes the difference is when some of the snowmachine groups, you know the Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers or Snowmads, once they get their grooming equipment going and have really good access points, folks really start using it, but they definitely start using it right away. Folks are waiting to go to recreation and trapping and they’re just looking forward to it opening and this year we open relatively early.”
Miller provides safety tips:
“Definitely one thing is to stay away from wildlife. This is the time of the year that it’s winter and it’s hard on all wildlife. If you see a moose, try to avoid them. Don’t try to disturb them. Anytime they are using energy up getting away from a snowmachine, that’s energy that they won’t be able to expend just trying to survive this winter and we don’t know how much snow we’re going to wind up getting, but the deeper the snow the harder it is for moose and other wildlife to move. The other thing to consider, most years, the weather is usually warm this time of year, but we’ve had some pretty cold spells. We usually warn folks about crossing streams, making sure that everything is frozen over. We’ve got pretty good ice depth, that’s less of a concern, but it’s always a concern around any kind of spring or warmer water area where ice thickness might not be as great.”
The Refuge asks all users to be respectful of their surroundings and to avoid any windblown areas that have insufficient snow accumulation.
