MOUNT FOREST – A local snowmobiling group is concerned some riders' recent impatience with the wet winter weather and subsequent use of closed trails could ruin future seasons for everyone else.
Asking residents to respect participating landowners in a Facebook post earlier this week, the Mount Forest Drifters Snowmobile Club has warned its members that continued abuse of closed or red trails on private property could result in the club losing access to some existing routes altogether.
While the group is actively working to rehabilitate most of its trails to a useable state, this post accompanied sightings of riders leaving neighbouring open trails in areas like Palmerston for Mount Forest trails, despite posted warnings on the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) interactive trail guide.
There are approximately 175 km of snowmobile trails around Mount Forest.
"Our private and commercial landowners are the backbone of our organization," said OFSC District 9 manager Karen Buratynski. "If people are disrespectful and ride before the clubs indicate the trails are available...that could be harmful to the landowner's property and they could decide the next year that they don't want a snowmobile trail there anymore."
According to the OFSC, trails are typically closed if volunteers haven't been able to establish enough of a trail base to protect the land below or when hazards exist along the trail that aren't safe to ride through.
If a rider uses a closed trail, they risk damaging the land and crops like winter wheat below, not to mention they're technically trespassing.
But while the rules surrounding closed trails are "very clearly outlined" when someone purchases a snowmobile trail permit online, Buratynski said riders are becoming increasingly impatient with the area's recent "volatile winters" interfering with their snowmobile season and are likely choosing to ignore the trail closures as a result.
"(In the past), we could always count on getting snow by a certain date...that is the piece that's changing," said Buratynski. "It's not that we're not getting the cold weather and it's not that we're not getting the snow, it's that we're getting cold and snow in places that didn't typically get it before (and vice versa)."
One of several snowmobile clubs in Wellington County, Buratynski suggested eager snowmobilers visit open trails in neighbouring townships for a joyride until they can drive a little closer to home- rather than risking their safety and the trail's integrity.
A year-round effort, Mount Forest snowmobile trails are maintained exclusively by volunteers who "groom" local paths by ensuring the existing trails remain flat, frozen and smooth for use in the winter and staking routes and asking landowners to share their property during the off season.
"It's very, very unfortunate if people are trespassing and not obeying the rules and to have a landowner feel that they have to close their trail," said Buratynski. "Snowmobiling really is the best way to travel and experience winter in Ontario...so own your winter and go out and have some fun."
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
