When it comes to winter fun, everyone knows the Green Mountain state is a skier's paradise that produces bushels of recreation and tourism dollars - some $750 million annually in direct expenditures, according state ski industry figures.

But there's another winter sport that just may be the biggest economic engine you've never heard of. It's snowmobiling, the motorized sport of riding those small, whining "sleds," as they're colloquially called. Touring on 4,500 miles of "white highways" that go over hill and dale, north to south and into every corner of Vermont, snowmobilers here spend some $255 million a year, generating $15 million in direct tax revenues for the state.

That's triple what they spent in 1994, indicating dramatic growth in the activity, according to an economic impact study done by Johnson State College last year for the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), the non-profit association that oversees snowmobiling. The survey found snowmobilers spent $41 million annually for rooms and meals and $29 million buying snowmobiles, which can range from $4,000-$8,000 new, depending on the model.

For property owners, real estate agents and anyone with rental property, the study offers some intriguing figures: the survey found snowmobilers generated $57 million in real estate purchases, rentals and taxes, not bad for what essentially boils down to a 4-month riding season (if snowmobilers are lucky, given New England's erratic winters).

"Anything near a VAST trail" is hot property, says broker Howard Birchard, who works for the Taylor Moore real estate agency in Derby, on the Canadian border. "There's a market there and there's a lot of people interested, " he says, adding the one problem is, "the inventory is low."

His comments are echoed across the state by realty and rental agencies, which have discovered a thriving niche marketing properties to downcountry snowmobilers. Birchard notes that home prices here are relatively low compared to Massachusetts and Connecticut, where many riders come from, and that owning a second home can be cheaper than "paying for a motel and going out to eat every night."

At the Peter Watson agency in East Burke, which specializes in resort properties around the Burke Ski area, broker realtor Annette Dailey says the area has become "really hot for snowmobilers." Many decide to look in the area, seeking lakefront homes they can also visit in summer, or homes that they can rent for income or consider a long-term investment. "There's also a rental market for snowmobilers," she adds.

Snowmobiling has come a long way from its noisy infancy back in the late 1960's. Today the sport has grown into a recreational and economic mainstay, with an estimated 2.7 million registered snowmobiles across the U.S., according to the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Assn. trade group (ISMA).

Snowmobiling is critical to maintaining the economic vitality of many rural towns and villages across the 27 snowbelt states. ISMA estimates the dollar impact of the sport at $7 billion and employment at 75,000 people, which includes "sled" manufacturers Polaris and Arctic Cat in the U.S., Ski-Doo in Quebec and the Japanese company Yamaha, as well as sales and services and those providing travel and lodging to riders.

That impact is particularly strong in some regions of Vermont such as the Northeast Kingdom, where towns including Island Pond, Jay, Newport, East Burke and St. Johnsbury reap considerable traffic and snowmobile dollars.

The same is true in the southern tier of the Green Mountains around Woodford and Mt. Snow/Haystack ski resort area, where the trails draw massive traffic from southern New England riders. Guided tour operations have also sprung up around resort areas like Okemo, Killington, Mt. Snow, and Stowe. The 1- to 3-hour tours provide all the necessary gear like snowmobile parkas and helmets for $40 to $120 or so, depending on the tour length.

All of this activity is boosting the local economy and keeping viable rural motels, convenience stops and eateries. Still, the sport has its vehement critics who charge it is environmentally unfriendly because of the snowmobile's 2-cycle engines, which mix gas and oil like chainsaws or weed whackers. They also claim snowmobiles are noisy and harmful to wildlife.

Yellowstone Park out west has become a key target of those who want to ban snowmobiling, but efforts to prohibit or curtail the sport have sprouted across the U.S., including Vermont, where some citizens last year tried to close key trails in the picturesque town of Peacham.

The industry and the 27 state snowmobile associations in the U.S. adamantly refute such criticisms. They note they are working to meet new EPA emissions regulations, and also argue that emissions occur in extremely rural areas where there is little impact on air quality. Such complaints, they say, are being made moot by the advent of new 2-cycle and 4-cycle engines.

Today, in addition to the traditional 2-cycle snowmobiles, the assembly lines at all four major snowmobile manufacturers are producing 4-cycle snowmobiles whose noise levels and clean tailpipes beat that of cars. And they cite a host of university wildlife studies that find no impact from snowmobiling, which is a transitory sport that occurs during hibernating season for many animals.

Since its formation 35 years ago, VAST has been recognized as a national model for its unique, volunteer-based trails association. Vermont's system of maintaining and grooming snowmobile trails is completely grassroots, relying on 144 colorfully named local town clubs, such as the Hill Hawks, Thunder Chickens and Gully Jumpers.

One director from each county and a slate of elected officers comprise the board that oversees the organization, whose daily operations require a six-person full-time staff located at an office in Berlin in Central Vermont.

By state law, anyone who wants to ride on trails in Vermont must buy a Trail Maintenance Assessment (TMA), essentially a trail pass and membership in VAST, and also buy a club membership. Beside maintaining and improving trails, clubs by law must obtain the landowner's permission for trails.

With over 80% of trails on private land, this has become an increasingly onerous task as Vermont towns become suburbanized and turn into bedroom communities, forcing frequent relocation of trails and rising complaints of noise and night riding. Other than riding on VAST trails, it is illegal to ride on private property without permission.

From its early days, when "dues" for VAST were a dollar and people rode wherever they wanted, snowmobiling in Vermont has evolved to become a complex business facing myriad legal and regulatory, law enforcement and environmental headaches. VAST's budget this winter, much of which goes for grooming by large Sno-Cats and Pisten Bullys, is $3.2 million.

The non-profit association is primarily funded by money from sale of TMA's, which are $55 a year for residents and $85 a year for non-residents, and by the return to VAST of state snowmobile registration fees ($15 per year for residents, $22 per year for non-residents). In the banner winter of 2000-2001, VAST sold 42,000 TMA's. That number is nearly double just a decade ago.

A unique aspect of VAST's club-based system is that the snowmobile trails in Vermont are viewed as a local community resource and in many places are shared by skiers and snowshoers, which is virtually unheard of in other states. That has helped VAST avoid some of the divisive environmental battles and complaints about the sport on public lands out west.

Vermont also has a longstanding tradition of allowing recreational use of private land, and a strong liability law protecting landowners who allow recreational uses. And VAST clubs are very active in charity work and goodwill, raising tens of thousands of dollars for causes from local rescue squads and fire departments to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They hold landowner banquets and ride-ins, volunteer to assist at ski races, and groom trails for local schools.

The major complaints about the sport today are noise and rambunctious riders who speed, litter, drink or are abusive. While the absolute numbers may be small, the problems occur on private trails that are liable to closure by upset landowners.

Acutely aware of landowner relations, VAST contributes $130,000 of its own funds each year to police problem areas and run patrols and safety checks by the State Police, local sheriffs and Fish and Wildlife personnel.

In the last two years it has also won passage of legislative bills upping fines, strengthening snowmobiling while intoxicated provisions and enforcement against reckless riders, and adding new safety regulations.

VAST's other headache stems from its organizational structure as a grassroots, club-based system. In the past five years, there have been several cases where overzealous trail volunteers on the 144 clubs have cut or upgraded trails without landowners permission, or by using outdated or faulty landowner maps, have put trails in the wrong place.

Stung by some law suits and expensive claims, VAST last year began a two-year project to map its 4,500 miles of trails by the Global Positioning System to learn exactly on whose property they are located. It has also instituted strict new policies on club trail work and held clinics on state and municipal environmental and land use regulations.

As new sophisticated high-tech snowmobiles come on the scene and more and more baby boomers decide they'd like to ride a sled instead of a ski lift - 40% of snowmobilers are over 50 - the sport seems certain to grow, as will its growing pains.

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