Feature Article February 12, 2003
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeSnowmobiles, ATV's, and Trailsby Jeff GreenWhile the weather has been better for snowmobiling this year than in the recent past, snowmobile use continues to decline, while sales of All Terrain Vehicles are on the increase.
At a recent Snowmobile rally, one of the participants said snowmobiling is becoming overly expensive, citing rising insurance costs and permit fees. Between my wife and myself we are looking at well over $1,000 between insurance and trail permits, and then there are the inevitable machine repairs, the snowmobiler said.
Snowmobile clubs have not been protected from increased costs, either. Wayne Harris of the Sharbot Lake Snowriders, said that the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs is faced with a $3.5 million dollar insurance levy for their trails this year, compared with $600,000 two years ago.
While there are people getting out of snowmobiles and getting into ATVs because they run year round, area stores report that snowmobile sales have been good this year, so the sport is not yet in danger of dying out.
Snowmobile safety is an ongoing concern, and OPP Senior Constable Randy Haddrall of the S.A.V.E. Team based in Odessa points out there were 16 snowmobile-related deaths last year, and so far this year there have been 13. In eastern Ontario, there has been one death this year, and that was a case of a snowmobile falling through the ice. There have been quite a few close cases as well, mostly from thin ice.
While snowmobilers complain of the amount of regulations the government is imposing, and the amount of policing on the trail, charging that ticketing has gone on that is more about red tape and less about trail safety, Haddrall says our main concern is merely to make the trails safer for everyone. Most snowmobile accidents come about from alcohol and excessive speed, often in combination, according to Hadrall, and we have found fewer numbers of people on trails drinking and driving this year, which is a good thing. However, 13 deaths in Ontario is a lot.
While snowmobile clubs have been around for years, and have developed a network of trails on public and private land, ATV touring is in its infancy. Fledgling ATV clubs look with envy on the network of snowmobile trails, (see No Place to Ride) but there are two very large obstacles faced by ATV enthusiasts who would like to use the existing snowmobile trails.
The agreements between snowmobile clubs and landowners are only active for a maximum of 4 months a year, and even then only when the trails are snow covered. Often, the trails run through pasture land which is used for grazing or hay production for the rest of the year. So they will not be open to having ATVs, which run year-round, use the trails.
Then there is the matter of insurance. ATV clubs are just now being established, and the only reason snowmobile clubs have survived the six-fold increase in insurance premiums of the last two years is the size of their collective Ontario Snowmobile Association.
If snowmobilers faced the insurance obstacles of today when we were first getting our associations together 25 years ago, the way ATVs are today, we would have never gotten off the ground, says Wayne Harris.
Snowmobiles and ATVs are both controversial in terms of their potential as acceptable vehicles on public trails.
The section of the Trans-Canada Trail that runs from Sharbot Lake west is open to snowmobiles and ATVs, and it has worked well, according to Bill Bowick, former executive of the Ontario Trails Council. However, that does not mean it will be easy to convince landowners in the vicinity of the K&P line that runs south from Sharbot Lake to Harrowsmith that snowmobiles and ATVs should be allowed.
Not only is insurance an issue, but there is the question of fencing as well.
ATVs do represent a great opportunity for trails, says Bill Bowick, because they would bring up the number of users, and ultimately, would help finance trail maintenance greatly.
