An idea was launched in August 2004 on the World Wide Web. This idea was not unique in a general sense. The goal was to motivate a group of people to unite and fight for what they believe in. What made this idea unique was the target audience – snowmobilers.

Snowmobilers have endured compounding losses of riding areas for years, and we will continue to do so if we do not come together in force to protect our right to ride. This is not news. A series of articles called “Environment, Incorporated” were published in the Sacramento Bee starting April 22, 2001, with numerous follow-ups, detailing the inner workings of environmental organizations. We are up against a number of huge, highly organized and well funded groups. Environmental organizations utilize the internet to reach thousands of households, informing members of situations that need their attention, regardless of where their members or the situation might be located. This method has proven to work very well for these organizations.

Since that method had been working so well in the fight against us we figured that we could use the same concept to inform snowmobilers of potential closures. It was our vision that our members would receive information about their local riding areas as well as areas outside of their state of residence (we know how many of you travel each winter in search of powder) rivaling the effectiveness of those that wish to close down our chosen form of recreation. In answer, the Snowmobile Alliance of Western States (SAWS) was formed.

Our SAWS goal is simple – we want to keep snowmobilers riding areas open, period. We communicate to our members through our web site and by email only, passing along information that will allow our members to easily let those in charge of OUR public lands - our riding areas - know how you feel and what you think they should or should not do regarding management of OUR public lands. We wanted to maximize our numbers and effectiveness so we chose not to charge a membership fee. Our hope was that without any cost associated with membership, snowmobilers would not hesitate to join.

As of the fall of 2007, we have over 2200 members from across the United States and several Canadian provinces. The majority of our current members are from the states of Idaho, Montana and Washington. We also have state snowmobile associations from Alaska, California/Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, and numerous snowmobile clubs from many western states that have also joined SAWS to help in our goal. The individual members of these organizations increase our effectiveness substantially. This tremendous response validates the need for an organization such as SAWS. We need to continue to grow in order to be able to make a major difference and have a voice in the outcome of all potential closures. We want to be able to squash the tirade of the extreme green organizations that have hundreds of thousands of members, and millions of dollars, that want to see snowmobiling erased from this planet.

With your help, SAWS can make a difference...and most importantly, NO MORE WILDERNESS!!!

For more information about SAWS, please read our Mission, Vision and Principles statements...