Panther340

Nope ....even around Sault North to Wawa has much private land, many complete townships are private owned by logging interests. Sault East to Bruce Mines mostly private , ( we have to go east of hwy 638 to hunt deer or birds on crown land )

Supposedly the Farmers Almanac agrees with that train of thought too. I bet Greta, the Enviro punk, is not happy . ....less speaking tours .

I think it depends what the landowner use agreements say.

Considering sadly that snowmachines might be around only one or two more generations after us.....trail change talk might be moot !! ......heck we are already seeing younger generations no longer interested in the " car culture" ......forced on us electric self driving cars 20 yrs from now !! .........boy they will need to pry my gas engine cars, boats, snowmachine and Atv , etc from my dead hands ! !

Here is a link to build Ont map of crown land, ( you have to accept terms and then wait for it to load, the colours aren't as vibrant as they should be to help see..) but even north of Sault and east of 17 between the Indian Reserves and Private Land and Parks , see how the leftover crownland is many times deep in bush . ( barely any crownland in Southern Ont) Now add in complex logging rights on crown land, constantly changing hands every few years .......you have a moving target for OFSC to try to make the trails permanent on lands they cannot ever afford to buy , and the existing insurance liabilities to "lease" like now on private. And also not set precedences for permanent use of crown land that other groups would want. ......just being devils advocate of tricky balance act OFSC must do now. https://www.ontario.ca/page/crown-land-use-policy-atlas

Blue skies yesterday and today here in Echo Bay and Sault area. I guess it stayed south of us here along hwy 17.

This old map 1957 is for Dan Senior to comment on.

I forgot about Pier 17 ( and I was born in Blind River ! Raised in Elliot Lake ) thats a great convenient restaurant !

We put vinegar on fries only......and at 3 am , I am snoring or up for my nightly pee !!

Yes to Bobbers in Bruce Mines, Blind River has a good clean run A+W on hwy 17 across from OPP station. Elliot Lake lost a few places due to covid, but cruise Ontario Ave a few private run restaurants there. Or McDonald's on hwy beside Timmies.

Always ! My garage is stocked with Sleemans .

The polarization of society in past three years has even gone so far as dividing families ( including my own) One of the best things this site did was separating those sensitive topics to that Monkey Forum. I am purposely not a member there because when we didn't have it , even though I would say to myself I would ignore or not read certain posts.....I am too passionate ( and well informed ) and would be tempted to read and reply.....so now with it separate in Monkey section, I can avoid easier. So as long as Moderators keep that stuff over in Monkey, I think we all , in the rest of the forums, can get along with other common passions like the outdoor sports , or technical helps , non political jokes.....etc.. so I consider you all people I am confident would be friends if we met in my garage with a beer.

Took my 8yr old Granddaughter for loop thru my 40 acre Sugar bush this afternoon, she loves to ask about the tracks she sees , ( rabbit, fox, coyote, turkey) and commented on the beauty of all the snow on the branches. ......and its those shared moments that make it worthwhile to keep the 1998 340 cat running another year !

Excellent!!!

There is some complications to permanent agreements on this land base between Wawa and Sault because not all of it is crown land. I admit I don't know all the weaving thru the various townships the OFSC trails go , but many of the townships east of the rail is private land and the get sold off between American and some Canadian corporations depending on timber values and needs. So getting permanent land use agreements not interrupted by logging or land sales might be one wildcard to this OFSC opportunity . It was probably a lot simpler when all that Land was owned by CNR.....but that changed 15 or 20 yrs ago.

My God daughter is a commercial/ residential estate appraiser, and was visiting last week , she was saying that a typical new garage build is quoted around $150 a sq ft now, pre covid a garage was $100 sq ft. I am not sure if I can trust her " Timmins Ontario " perspective but scary either way. As for new vehicles dealer inventory.....here in Sault Ste Marie area, the Ford and GM dealer lots are pretty skimpy of trucks, but the Ram Jeep dealer ( dealer is Superior Dodge Ram Jeep ) has all sorts of new Ram trucks. Not sure why.

There is a roundabout on Hwy 17 going thru Mattawa, its pretty small diameter, I bet trucks hate that one. There is one in North Bay too that is a block or so north behind the Hwy 17 truck Weigh scales. ( I use that roundabout route when I wanted to to avoid the weigh scales.

Good memories of the Horne Cliffs......When my kids were young our spring hike would be up the skihill then North along the ridge to the top of Horne Cliffs for lunch and pictures across Horne Lake of town from up high.

It seems that some here are ignoring the posts from Dan Senior, about the unbelievable snow dump that area got. ......and no Armed forces to dig them out like Toronto needed a few years back ......but I agree a team effort from all parties involved might be able to keep future years feasible.

https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/halfway-haven-ending-season-early-after-heavy-snowfall-causes-safety-concerns-for-employees-5097751

Eacom changing ownership.... https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/eacom-timber-officially-acquired-by-interfor-5092545

Okay ,I will start the bashing......reason 1 ) why should the thousands of Northern Ontario snowmachine owners that don't use OFSC trails at all ,( many do not even live close to trails and use crown land instead) pay for people in Southern Ont like yourself to do your sport. The political pushback would be substantial. ...Reason #2 - the lack of control over trail enforcement occurred when the Onrario Government took on more control over the OFSC a few years back, ....having them take complete financial control over the system, with would put non snowmobilers ( politicians) decision control over a complex system that needs expertise not more bureaucracy.

As an example of the lack of commonsense in new riders . i have a relative that lives on North Mary Lake near Huntsville that bought his first ever snow machine ( a couple years old 1200cc MX ? Skidoo,) for him and his 14 yr old rookie son to use. He posts how he has been riding private trails in his area. I see from FB that a neighbor informed him the last year sticker on his machine is not valid. So he promised neighbor he would pursue. But unless there is truly a lot of private trails in his area , then he is freeloading probably on closed trails. . And this is a well educated IT Manager that unfortunately has no common sense . I also suspect the 1200 cc is going to maim him or his son , but that is another story still to be written.

I think your right, .....I had to post my 40 acres with 3 inch red dots on white background signs on border trees, to inform all that it is private , no hunting. If I didn't I would not have legal leg to stand on to uphold my land rights. ( or else it would be assumed crown land) Imagine me expecting people to go on the Ontario crown land website to determine it as private. Its too much to expect.

So true, I live in another Northern Ont town serviced by OPP, my wife and I make it a conversation event if we see an OPP cruiser on our long fairly busy township thru road, and when we do see them it is a Monday or Tuesday morn , when all the DUI are never around. So expecting OPP on the trails is pie in the sky.