Snow sled groups need your support

Where are all the snowmobilers? I know that they are out there, because they’ve left their tracks everywhere, everywhere except in the ranks of snowmobile clubs. Perhaps they just don’t know that their riding days are numbered.

With access becoming a bigger and bigger issue every year, it’s only a matter of time before snowmobiling as we know it in the great state of Maine is only a memory. As we lose more and more trails because of large tracts of land changing hands and environmental groups lobbying to shut us out, we, as snowmobilers, have to decide, will we do something about it or will we sit idly by and just let it slip away.

What can you do? To start, you can join a snowmobile club. The clubs are the backbone of the sport and, without them, there wouldn’t be any trails. Although many riders apparently think that snowmobile trails magically appear as soon as there’s enough snow on the ground, it only happens because of volunteers, state agencies and the Maine Snowmobile Association.

The Department of Conservation distributes money, acquired through registrations and taxes on fuel, for clubs to maintain trails. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife collects the registration money and polices the sport. These two state agencies are constantly battling through budget cuts to provide the foundation to our statewide trail system.

The snowmobile clubs provide the manpower to brush, sign and groom the trails. The Maine Snowmobile Association provides leadership and direction for the clubs. MSA deals with everything from landowner issues to lobbying in the state legislature on bills that affect the sport. Without the efforts of these groups there would be no trails.

Currently the clubs and the MSA are in a near-crisis situation. With almost a year and a half of little snow, high fuel prices and an aging membership, it is unclear how long we can keep up the effort started nearly 40 years ago.

Besides membership, the MSA raises money through advertising in the Snowmobiler newspaper and through proceeds from the snowmobile show in October. The annual “Super Raffle” drawing raises money for the MSA and local clubs, each receiving $1 for every ticket sold. Although advertising dollars have stayed constant, attendance at the show was down this year and raffle ticket sales have been steadily declining since its inception.

If something isn’t done soon, the MSA could cease to exist. The dwindling number of volunteers are starting to wonder if their efforts are worth keeping up for a majority who don’t seem to care.

The only way to reverse this trend is to join your local snowmobile club and show your support. Maine is now the preferred destination for most snowmobilers in the Northeast with an economic impact nearing a billion dollars. Don’t let this boost to our economy fall by the wayside. Together we can make this work.

Brian Paradis is the central region director for the Maine Snowmobile Association.