Mandate for This Winter Only Citing the limited number of training opportunities, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has eased its mandate on groomer certification this winter. Conservation officers will still be checking operators for their cards, but warnings will likely override any tickets for non-compliance. “We are obviously going to be a little lax this season because we are just starting this,” said David Downing, snowmobile program coordinator for the IDNR. “We are going to accommodate people the best we can. I am not going to pop a volunteer on a machine this year, but we are going to stop you and make sure you are doing things right.” To date, only two groomer certification schools have been held in Iowa since Downing announced the requirement in 2003. A year ago in December, 75 operators successfully completed the workshop at Rudd, and at the ISSA Annual Convention at Okoboji in November, an estimated 200 snowmobilers earned their certification. See the January/February issue of the Iowa Snowmobiler for further reading.