I also liked dave’s comment about a “sled repo man”. Anyone who has ever burried a sled knows how much work it is to get it out and a dead motor or chaincase blowout can be 10 times as much work. As you guys already said, I’m sure alot of this carnage is simply people with no means to recover thier machine at that time.
I have been looking at buying an old Kristi sno machine for my own selfish needs and had thought alot about a sled recovery or towing type side project. even if it was on a volunteer basis, it would be worth the effort if that meant keeping these areas open to all of us.

I’m a “stoney” snowmoboarder(gasp!!). I also own an ATV and every time I go anywhere, no matter what season I’m constantly picking up trash someone left behind. Its not a matter of who’s using the backcountry for what reason, selfish, selfless or shellfishly. lol. Bad apples are bad apples. They lurk in all crowds, oginizations or sports. Pinning the blame on one particular group will solve nothing. Closing off access will solve nothing. The only thing a closed gate will do is keep the people who actually give a crap out. A closed gate isn’t going to stop the type of person who would abandon a sled anyway.

Its the same story in non alpine areas such as Dominguez canyon. Before we know it, the only people allowed in will be park rangers patrolling for trespassers. The global warming band-wagon has us spending tax money closing land with trail systems already in place, only to spend more money developing an adjecent area once untouched and deem it as an “ATV park”. I think lou said it well, putting more people in a smaller “designated” area will only make more crowds. With that comes more trash and trashy types.

The more logical solution in my opinion is keep what we have clean and open while we attempt to edjucate the bad apples as much as we can.