Education is the key to avoiding problems

When it comes to the dispute between recreational users and private property owners, there is one way to avoid it completely -- education.

Alaska State Trooper Jim Jones, who works in Talkeetna, said most of the time, educating recreational users about where they can be and where they can't be is the best way to avoid the conflict altogether.

"People tend to go where they know, and if they don't know it's private property, they don't know they're not supposed to be there," Jones said. "About 99 percent of the time, when you tell someone they're riding on private property, they'll load up and leave."

For property owners, Jones said that marking the area is the best thing to do.

"You have to properly mark your territory to let people know they aren't supposed to be there," Jones said. "And snowmachiners will respect that.

"Once you educate both groups of people, you have a fixable problem," Jones said.