Lake County forest rangers get new vehicles
Lake County forest preserve ranger police will be switching modes of transportation soon and they'll have some new equipment to work with.
When the snow flies, rangers will be patrolling the trails on two new snowmobiles, replacements for 1996 models. A new trailer and four sets of helmets, pants and jackets also were purchased with a $20,900 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
"We use them, when we have adequate snow to patrol the trails and make sure everybody is in compliance," said Sgt. Mike Anderson. "We just try to keep the trails safe."
That includes more than 27 miles of snowmobile trails at various preserves throughout the county and along a section of the Des Plaines River Trail. Specific sites can be viewed at www.lcfpd.org/preserves. Four inches of snow base are required before the trails are opened.
Tickets are issued for various violations but more often warnings are given. There's no designated speed limit for snowmobiles, for example.
"Except they have to be safe -- they can't be going 100 miles per hour on a winding trail," Anderson said. Operating a snowmobile under the influence also can merit a ticket although none have been issued for awhile, he added.
"Most of the tickets that go to court, people don't have the current registration," according to Anderson.
Beside general patrols, snowmobiles are used to assist sheriff's police in case of an accident, removing injured people from certain areas or gaining access to potential crime scenes.
The state's snowmobile grant program is funded entirely by snowmobile registration fees. The cost is $18 for three years and there are more than 40,000 registered snowmobiles in Illinois.
The Lake County grant was part of $252,400 distributed this year. The Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs, all northern Illinois counties, shared $50,000 to help pay for liability insurance required on all public trails maintained by private clubs.
Clubs in the northern counties also shared $25,000 to defray costs associated with operating 22 groomers to cover about 1,000 miles of public trails.