Nordic skiers have reigned over the treasured Beebe Spur Rail Trail during winter for decades. This past season, however, they were joined by snowmobilers, generating a big controversy in the far reaches of the Northeast Kingdom.
The trail runs for 3.8 miles along the eastern shore of Lake Memphremagog, following a rail corridor from an intersection near North Country Hospital in Newport right up to the Canadian border in Derby. The bulk of the Beebe Spur, named for the historic community of Beebe Plain, which straddles the border, passes between a myriad of homes and their docks, providing sweeping views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
In the warmer months, the residential trail is used by bikers, runners, walkers and their pets, just like Vermont’s three other state-owned rail trails. In the winter, however, things on the Beebe Spur have traditionally been different — at least in practice.
The majority of the state’s rail trails are groomed in winter by local snowmobile clubs for use by those on foot, skis or snowmobile. The Beebe Spur, however, is unique: it is groomed specifically for Nordic skiing by the local nonprofit Memphremagog Trails, as well as other human-powered uses. Until this past season, it had never officially been used by snowmobiles.
Last fall, however, local snowmobilers approached the state about using the rail corridor, since changing winter temperatures have made lake ice conditions increasingly unsafe. They were given its blessing. Many skiers, rail trail residents and other pedestrian users were outraged by the change to their cherished winter resource, one of very few free or low-cost winter recreation sites in a poor area of the state.
More than 500 local residents signed a petition against snowmobiles using the Beebe Spur, and local governments passed resolutions to that end, though none were legally binding.
Some residents described the ensuing winter season as “like the Wild West,” reporting that disrespectful snowmobile use abounded, including multiple incursions onto private property near the trail. Bob Primeau, the president of and a groomer for Memphremagog Trails, said that the ski track was obliterated about a third of the time, which “worsened skiing but did not make it unskiable.” The state, for its part, reported that snowmachine impact seemed fairly minimal.
The dust seems to be settling from the outcry this winter. Now the state is pledging to communicate more clearly and carefully weigh the exact needs of all groups and possible workarounds. The controversy surrounding the Beebe Spur highlights increased competition for trail use among different types of recreation as climate change compromises the safety of traditional winter use of Vermont’s lakes and rivers.
“A perfect storm”
Jackie Cassino, the state’s rail trails program manager for the Agency of Transportation, describes what happened with the Beebe Spur as “a perfect storm” of irregular management and unclear policies combined with climate change producing thinner and less consistent ice.
Before her position was created in 2022, the state’s four rail trails were managed inconsistently by various entities, she said in an interview last week. Cassino has been working to standardize trail policies and procedures as well as to get each trail under consistent management and maintenance. The Beebe Spur’s management plan is just now being finalized, and its supporting rail trail council is in its nascent stages.
Each rail trail, Cassino explained, was developed with federal transportation funding whose rules state that snowmobiles are allowed on the trail when conditions permit. If the agency wanted to restrict a specific user type, it would have had to go through a public process to justify the users’ exclusion when the trail was created.
That information, however, seems never to have been widely publicized since snowmobiles were comfortable using Lake Memphremagog to access their homes along the trail. When snowmobilers were officially given the state’s blessing to use the Beebe Spur last fall, the news came as a shock to Primeau, as well as longtime rail trail abutters.
Michael Koehler, president of Derby’s snowmobile club, placed signs at each end of the Beebe Spur stating “local snowmobile use only; no through traffic” at the beginning of the season, despite the fact the trail is legally open to all. The trail was also not placed on the statewide snowmobile trail map in an additional effort to limit usage to locals.
Primeau said in a November email that snowmobile access “flies in the face of very clear promises, both verbally and in writing, by [Agency of Transportation] officials 25 years ago,” when the path was proposed. He also said in a letter published in the Barton Chronicle that while his nonprofit has successfully cooperated with snowmobile clubs, their presence on the “heavily used” Beebe Spur was unsafe for pedestrians and that machine tracks are “incompatible” with the classic and skate ski surfaces for which he grooms.
In addition to the petition and town resolutions, local legislators also took action. State representatives introduced a bill in February that would prohibit the use of snowmobiles on the Beebe Spur Rail Trail. However, the March testimony of Cassino and a retired Agency of Transportation legal expert made clear that while the state can legally regulate snowmobile usage, it would get into an issue of equity, and exceptional circumstances would be required to ban the machines from the trail.
Path forward?
For the state’s part, Cassino is working to increase communication and coordination with users and landowners abutting the state’s rail trails. She also hopes to have a public meeting this summer regarding the Beebe Spur, so that all parties can have their voices heard, as well as to continue promulgating the trail’s now-standardized policies.
“I think the lesson learned for us is that we’re just going to get out ahead of it next time,” Cassino said, acknowledging the wealth of inaccurate or unclear information that grew to fill the void left by the state.
Memphremagog Trails and snowmobile groups have also discussed the outreach they plan to conduct. In addition, the groups are continuing to seek alternative routes that would minimize the length of the Beebe Spur utilized by snowmobiles.
“The rail trails are so special; I feel really fortunate in the state of Vermont that we have them and are investing in them,” said Cassino. “My hope is that, whether it’s through a public meeting or the rail trail council, we can give the opportunity for folks to be able to talk to one another and alleviate some of the fears and concerns that folks have.”
