The number of Wyoming residential snowmobilers is on the decline, according to a new report, but non-residential riders are on the rise.
A new Wyoming snowmobile recreation report shows about a 10 percent decrease over the last decade in those who live in the state and snowmobile.
“Snowmobiling is kind of a much older recreational sport in Wyoming,” said Forest Kamminga, the program manager for Wyoming State Trails. “And so it's, I would say somewhat plateaued.”
But that is only for residential riders. Those visiting Wyoming to ride have increased by almost 40 percent. According to the report, that is because of a general national interest in snowmobiling, state tourism efforts and increasingly more trails to ride.
Kamminga added that Wyoming has incredible backcountry access.
“Back I want to say 30 years ago, there was a lot of snowmobile recreation that took place around specifically trail riding, and now they're still utilizing the trails, but they're utilizing the trails to access backcountry,” he said.
The report found snowmobiling generates $193.8 million directly to the Wyoming economy, and a total of $255 million including secondary activity, including job creation.
Other notable findings were the average household in Wyoming owns three snowmobiles and the average rider in the state snowmobiles 21 days per year.