AUGUSTA – Maine’s $350 million snowmobile industry could be speeding toward a crisis unless the volunteer clubs that maintain the state’s network of trails get some financial help, state lawmakers were told on Tuesday.

The 2007-08 snowmobile season is off to a strong start thanks to December storms that dumped several feet of snow throughout the state.

While a welcome change from recent years, the early start could actually spell financial trouble later in the season for cash-strapped snowmobile clubs that are the backbone of Maine’s sledding industry.

“We are on the edge of a fairly significant collapse in the system right now if we don’t do something,” Scott Ramsay, head of the Department of Conservation’s Off-Road Vehicle Division, told members of the Legislature’s Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee.

On Tuesday, the panel of lawmakers continued grappling with how to funnel more money into the all-volunteer clubs that groom the 13,000 miles of snowmobile trails that have made Maine a top destination for sledders. The leading proposal, LD 633, calls for a two-tiered system of snowmobile registration fees modeled after one operating successfully in New Hampshire for several years.

Maine residents who join or are already members of one of the roughly 300 local snowmobile clubs would pay $38 to register a sled, up from the current $33 fee. Most clubs charge between $12 and $25 in annual dues, with membership averaging about $20.

But the registration fee would rise to $78 for Maine residents who are not members of a local club, according to the latest version of the bill, which is sponsored by Democratic Rep. Herb Clark of Millinocket.

The additional money would go into the state’s snowmobile program and be divided up among clubs, towns and state agencies according to the existing formula.

Likewise, out-of-state residents would pay $78 if they join a Maine club – a $10 increase from the current fee – but $108 if they decline to join a club.

The idea behind the two-tiered system is to encourage more riders to join a snowmobile club, thereby increasing the clubs’ trail maintenance and equipment budgets.

“There is no question that the clubs are hurting, particularly in a year like this one,” when the grooming season could be much longer, said Bob Meyers, executive director of the Maine Snowmobile Association. “This will provide the injection of cash into the program that they need.”

State and industry officials estimate that 90 percent to 95 percent of all snowmobile trail grooming in Maine is performed by volunteers from local clubs. Those volunteer groomers may spend anywhere from five to 12 hours compacting and smoothing the trails for the next day’s riders.

But clubs are struggling to find volunteers willing to spend hours alone behind the controls of a groomer, in the dead of night on trails and roads far from civilization.

Last season the state paid between $12 and $37 an hour for trail grooming and offers grants to cover up to 40 percent of equipment costs.

While the hourly reimbursement may appear generous on the surface, club leaders point out that it has to cover fuel for a groomer that may get only 1 mile per gallon, plus the mortgage and maintenance costs.

Jon Holmes, president of the Poodunk Snowmobile Club in Dixfield, said his club paid $86,500 for a used groomer a few years ago. Volunteers from the Poodunk club groom 42 miles of trails all week long.

Speaking outside the committee room after the meeting, Holmes said a golfer can’t expect to play on a well-manicured course without first paying greens fees. The same goes for snowmobilers enjoying well-maintained trails, he said.

“The snowmobile clubs need a shot in the arm, … and it should come from the people who use the trails,” Holmes said. “You’ve got to pay to play.”

Ramsay, who oversees the Department of Conservation program that reimburses clubs, said his budget is entirely dependent on the number of sleds that are registered, which in turn is weather-dependent. Registrations range from about 70,000 in bad years to more than 100,000.

If registrations go up significantly this year because of continued snowy weather, the program should be in the black, he said. But if they remain flat, the department is predicting obligations will exceed income by as much as $350,000, he said.

“It’s incredible that people think those trails just pop up and are ready to go,” Ramsay told the committee at one point. “We’re at a point where we have to do something. The clubs are struggling.”

Most committee members appeared to support the idea of somehow encouraging more riders to join clubs. Several lawmakers on the panel also seemed receptive to charging higher fees for nonclub members.

But members said they want to ensure the additional money going to the clubs will be spent on trail maintenance or equipment. The lawmakers also discussed ways to make it easier to register a sled and join a club at the same time.

The panel agreed to delay a decision on LD 633 while state officials and the snowmobile representatives work on the specifics.

“I think the concept is great,” said Rep. Ralph Sarty, R-Denmark. “I think it needs more work logistically about how you would collect these fees.”