– I think many have started to give fans. It’s not allowed to drive anywhere anyway, so you’d rather drive everywhere, says Dag-Johnny Hildonen. The 30-year-old from Vadsø emphasizes that he himself takes into account people who want peace and quiet, but he thinks it’s boring to drive scooters in Norway. Dag-Johnny Hildonen will vote for the party that has the best policy in relation to motor traffic. Photo: Private In this country, you must follow a legal trail and if you are camping or fishing, you cannot stray further from the track than 300 metres. This has taken him and his mates across the border to Sweden as many as four times this winter. Now all that remains is the final trip at the end of May. Long after the season has ended in Norway. – There are some really fun weekends over there, where you can drive in your own free areas without thinking about whether you are doing something illegal or getting fined, he says. – Less driving on cabin stairs Speeding out into nature with a snowmobile under your bum is not just something Finnmarkings appreciate. In 2015, the Motor Traffic Act was amended, so that the municipalities were given the opportunity to create recreational trails. This led to a considerable increase in the number of trails. From 2015 to 2020, 24 new municipalities chose to establish recreational trails. This is shown by a survey carried out by the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA) and Menon economics. Figures from Statistics Norway show that the number of snowmobiles has also increased. In 2014, there were 77,528 scooters nationwide, while the figure in 2022 was 95,934. An increase of almost 25 per cent. 33,165 of the scooters can be found in Troms and Finnmark, while Trøndelag comes in second place, with 15,670 registered donations. Many young people spend between NOK 150,000 and 200,000 to fulfill their dream of owning their own scooter. Then they get a machine that can get through the deepest snow and up the steepest slopes. – It is these scooters that are the most in Finnmark, says Hildonen. He believes that it becomes almost worthless to have a beastly scooter, if you can only drive along a flat track. Free skiing in loose snow has become very popular in recent years. Photo: Privat He thinks own free areas in Norway would be positive. – I think it would lead to less driving up the cabin stairs for people and on the ski slopes, he says. news has spoken to several young skiers in Finnmark recently. The common denominator is that everyone thinks the rules for snowmobiling in Norway are too strict. The review melody is: “it should be like in Sweden”. – Glansbilde av Sweden So how is it in Sweden? – A brilliant image of what it is like in Sweden has probably formed, says Mathias Larsson. Mathias Larsson works in the Swedish Nature Inspectorate. He says that everything is not just idyllic, even though Sweden has its own free areas for snowmobiling. Photo: Privat Larsson works in the Nature Conservancy in Norrbotten in Sweden. A body equivalent to the Norwegian State Nature Inspectorate. He says that in Sweden there are three different outdoor areas. 1. Areas with legally prepared snowmobile trails. 2. Open areas where you can drive wherever you want. 3. Areas where all motorized traffic is prohibited. Larsson says that despite the fact that there are several large areas for free driving in northern Sweden, driving is still illegal. – There is driving both in the areas where there is a ban, but there are also challenges in the free driving areas. Especially in relation to reindeer husbandry, says Larsson. He says that it seems that many people think that because it is a free zone, everything is legal. – Yes, but it’s not like that. You must still take into account both nature and wildlife, and especially reindeer husbandry, says Larsson. Easier said than done? FRP is the party in Norway that has been the clearest that they want their own free driving areas. – Instead of following in the youth’s footsteps, we believe it is better to give them areas where they can develop themselves, says the parliamentary representative for the FRP from Finnmark, Bengt Rune Strifeldt. Bengt Rune Strifeldt from the Frp is an ardent champion of a more liberal road traffic law. Photo: Jonas Løken / news He has no clear idea of exactly how large the areas are, or where they should be. He points out that the FRP, in collaboration with the Conservative Party, has set up a motor traffic committee, which will present its recommendations in December. – When we get an opening in the legislation for this, we will be able to find out how to solve it in practice, he says. In Sweden, there are several free areas for snowmobiles. This attracts young people from Norway. Photo: Privat Høyre’s mayoral candidate in Porsanger municipality, Jo Inge Hesjevik, is not so sure that this will be so easy. His local party has actually removed proposals for free driving areas from the party programme. Not because they don’t think it’s a good idea. – We have tried to find suitable areas, but it has proved very difficult, says the Right-wing politician. The Conservative Party’s mayoral candidate in Porsanger, Jo Inge Hesjevik, does not promise more than he can keep and has taken free areas from the party programme. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news He wonders who would want such an area near their cottage fields? And what about security? – In addition, we have consideration for reindeer husbandry, which makes this very difficult to achieve in Finnmark, he believes. Fear of contagion further south Scooter riding has spread after recreational trails were also opened further south in 2015. Siri Meland, Head of Community Relations at Norwegian Outdoor Activities, is skeptical about separate free-riding areas for snowmobiles. – We believe that it is not compatible with either the nature crisis, the climate crisis or the traditional outdoor culture in Norway, says the specialist. Siri Meland in Norwegian Outdoor Activities is afraid that open areas in Finnmark will open up open areas elsewhere. Photo: Norsk Friluftsliv Even if it were only to come to Finnmark, she is still against it. – We are afraid of the contagion effect it could have down south, she says. Meland reminds us that many people seek out nature, precisely to experience silence and untouched areas. – Both the smell, the sound, but also the visual of seeing snowmobile tracks, does something to the expectation you have when you go out to experience silence and peace. It will be destroyed, she says. Valg / Val / Válggat 2023
ttn-69
Many people think the legislation is to hell because the scooter rules in Norway are too strict – news Troms and Finnmark
