They also may negatively impact aquatic life. Snowmobile exhaust contains ammonium, nitrate and sulfate ions which, when mixed with water, create acids. These acids may stress tree seedlings and can impact seedling germination, growth and survival. Researchers have observed other snowmobile impacts to wildlife. Compacted snowmobile trails give bobcats access through deep snow to remote lynx habitat and allow them to compete with lynx for snowshoe hares, the sole food of the lynx.
Pocket gophers rely on extensive networks of tunnels under the snow.
The tunnels provide not only protection from predators and the elements but also allow them to forage for vegetation. When snowmobiles collapse these tunnels, the gophers become trapped and have to burrow out, exposing them to predators and using crucial winter survival energy. Federal land managers often turn a blind eye to trespass and the negative effects of these obnoxious machines. Some government agencies, state land managers in particular, actually have programs in place to promote motorized use. Trail Grants Program has paid for the widening and blasting of trails in Wilderness Study Areas such as the West Pioneers.