Bill 100 and the O.L.A. may have closed our trails for good!!!

[soupkids]

and the nails, screws, PL 5000 are being applied to the trails that will be closing.

[02Sled]

and the nails, screws, PL 5000 are being applied to the trails that will be closing.

There were revisions made to the bill. Read what it actually is before you predict the doom and gloom

[Faceman]

I think it's a win. If this is approached correctly : the concerns of the landowners were fully addressed by the amended wording, the committee made the recommendations and the governing party accepted the recommendations as expressed by the landowners . Trail of Distinction designation is voluntary, trail classification is voluntary and the contentious Section 12 (3) is now clearly voluntary. Time to put the positive spin on things!

[dweese]

Wonder what pushed this bill to creation anyways. Laws like this don't get created and passed unless there is good reason for it. OFSC didn't sound like they were the ones behind it, so I wonder who was...

[Faceman]

Bill was started by the Harris government strictly to identify and catalog existing "important" trails throughout the province.In theory a Central Registry was to be created so that the traveling public could quickly locate trails. 

[soupkids]

I agree the bill was clarified but you know how nervous landowners can be, that's all I'm saying.

I hope to god that it doesn't close trails but I'm afraid some will anyways.

[catinental couch]

One of the land owners contacted me yesterday so I explained it and told them not to let anyone bullcrap them into signing anything except an MOU.These people already closed a section of our trail years ago and I think we had to kiss their donkey on the city hall steps to reopen the trail.We didn't need this to get them all nervous again.

[Nith Valley Sledder]

Which end of the donkey did you have to kiss???

[revrnd]

I bet there won't be any public comment from the OLA. If there is it'll be full of weasel words.

[catinental couch]

Which end of the donkey did you have to kiss???

LOL You have 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.ROFLMAO

[bbakernbay]

One local property owner advised yesterday that trail can't continue any longer on his property.

Too much garbage and beer cans to pickup every spring and damage to septic tank.

Another road te-route thanks to careless riders.

[Nith Valley Sledder]

We're our own worst enemy.

[slomo]

One local property owner advised yesterday that trail can't continue any longer on his property.

Too much garbage and beer cans to pickup every spring and damage to septic tank.

Another road te-route thanks to careless riders.

 

More low income skraelings moving north due to poor conditions in the south last winter - usually for the only weekend trip they can afford - and don't care about anything as it is  unlikely they will be back - although could be the motels I choose to stay in (inexpensive, but I'm saving for a non-cat food retirement) but noticed more theft and disregard for other people even around accomodations, let alone on the trails.

 

At one place, an ambulance arrived to take away someone who had had their foot smashed by a member of their own party who drive a sled over it. Cops arrived next. Motel door practically kicked in as one of this guy's friends demands to know why we phoned the cops....'hey pal, think maybe the cops monitor the ambulance radio traffic? duh'. Already chronicalled the disappearance of my trailer tilt bar. At another, all 15 sledders decide to sit and rev their machines for no purpose - not going anywhere - a cloud of blue smoke settles over everything and I shake my head thinking non - sledders have another reason for complaint. One guy backs into another's trailer and attempts to make off without telling the owner.

 

Hoping for a better year next year so less idiots per square mile out there.

[Cuyuna]

Sleds are similiar to motorcycles wherein both activities attract both "trailer trash" low-life as well as upstanding, responsible people. Always a clash of values and behaviour.

Unfortunately, as a total group, we all get judged by the lowest common denominator by outside non-participants.

[Spanky]

Sleds are similiar to motorcycles wherein both activities attract both "trailer trash" low-life as well as upstanding, responsible people. Always a clash of values and behaviour.

Unfortunately, as a total group, we all get judged by the lowest common denominator by outside non-participants.

 

Very well said.  Here's to lots of snow in the south this winter 

[Wildbill]

 Unfortunately the lowlives inflict the damage on the rest of us. As to their income slomo many of those low lifes make damn good money and still have no class . 

[Viperules700]

Unfortunately the lowlives inflict the damage on the rest of us. As to their income slomo many of those low lifes make damn good money and still have no class .

You said that right! The more they make the cheaper they are too!

[revrnd]

We've noticed in the past when the Ganny has groomed trails, there are less BM wannabes on the weekends.

[Faceman]

Very positive landowner meeting on Manitoulin last Thursday. Check out the article in www.manitoulin.ca

[Canuck]

Very informative. Thanks.

While the premise of easements (see below, extract from article) makes sense, you get this feeling that legislators present a 'worst case' scenario to justify their agenda.

“The red flag is if you choose to have an easement,” Mr. Mantha continued. He gave the example of areas with significant water crossings or major infrastructure to be undertaken by the OFSC costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. “You want to make sure you still get to use that property in the years to come.”

“I wouldn’t encourage you to get into an easement but if you do, get a lawyer and make it ironclad,” he encouraged.

[bbakernbay]

Finally a government that realizes the value of Landowners by giving them a tax credit of 10 cents per foot of trail.

Snowmobilers in Oneida County could soon have more places to ride their sleds.

A proposed bill in the state Senate would grant a tax credit to landowners who allow for a state-funded snowmobile trail on their property to the tune of 10 cents per linear foot.

Local lawmakers are hoping that incentive will not only reward the land owners who currently allow for trails to be maintained on their property, but also encourage those who have been on the fence.

"You look at the whole county and there is about 500 miles of trails and there are several businesses along those trails that benefit from the activity they provide," said county Legislator Brian Mandryck, R-17, who was part of a majority of the Oneida County Board of Legislators who recently signed a petition in support of the proposal. "Not only does it help business, but it generates sales tax money for the county ... and if this goes through it would give some money to the landowners."

Currently those trails, which run from the Old Erie Canal Trail to the state parks at Verona Beach and Delta Lake to the Tug Hill Plateau and all the way into the Adirondack Park trail system, are made up of a combination of municipal and private land and are maintained by a dozen snowmobile clubs and associations.

While the state picks up the insurance costs of any injuries sustained on private properties through fees associated with snowmobile licencing, property damage comes out of the pockets of the clubs.

Dan Stysh, president of the Forestport area-based Lost Trails Snowmobile Club, is responsible for recruiting landowners to allow for trails on their properties, and thinks the proposal would aid him in his cause.

"I'm the one out there knocking on doors ... so I think it would be nice," said Stysh, whose 700-member club rides on trails provided by 92 private landowners. "There is a lot you have to go through to get the permission to ride on that land, so anything helps. It could also go a long way toward opening that land up to more types of recreation."

Both Mandryck and Stysh said there are still some untapped private farmlands and some areas of the Tugg Hill Plateau that a tax credit could entice, but not everyone thinks it's fair that landowners be rewarded for that allowance.

Rome resident Brenda Fosella counts herself among that contingent.

"If property owners allow them access to use (their) property for recreational use, then that's up to the property owner," Fossella said in a comment on the Observer-Dispatch Facebook page. "They don't need special tax credits. That is so wrong. Use the state property trails."

The bill, which is sponsored by state Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-50, is currently in committee, but Rocco LaDuca, director of communications for state Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, said Griffo would most likely get behind it if it moves further along in the process.

"With snowmobiling rising in popularity all across the state, this bill appears to be a positive proposal that Senator Griffo can support," LaDuca said. "It proposes to offer a variety of potential benefits for landowners, local economies and the state, but any final decisions will be made only when the bill has advanced to the active list to be fully considered and discussed by the senate."

Be sure to get all the latest snowmobile news in your hands by subscribing today. If you missed an issue on the stands, or would like a copy of the issue this article was featured in, back issues are also available. Snow Goer Canada Magazine gift subscriptions are also available.

[slomo]

Didn't want to quote bbbaker's long article, but the folks from Oneida County are usually at the Toronto sled show each fall - trying to get some Ontario people to visit. The insurance for out of staters is a bit complicated though. The ten cents a foot idea sounds like a good one - our experience in Ontario though, ms. slomo generally picks up enough empties along the trail that usually add up to more than ten cents a foot when returned to the beer store.

[FreezerBurnt]

Didn't want to quote bbbaker's long article, but the folks from Oneida County are usually at the Toronto sled show each fall - trying to get some Ontario people to visit. The insurance for out of staters is a bit complicated though. The ten cents a foot idea sounds like a good one - our experience in Ontario though, ms. slomo generally picks up enough empties along the trail that usually add up to more than ten cents a foot when returned to the beer store.

curious in what sense?

 

If you buy the pass for said state/province and are insured in your own province/state would you not be covered?

[dweese]

curious in what sense?

If you buy the pass for said state/province and are insured in your own province/state would you not be covered?

That's a good question.. New York state requires out of state sleds (visitors included) to be registered with thier DMV as thier permit is part of thier val-tag system. So if they want you to register it, I'm sure there is a clause requiring you to insure it with a state controlled agent.

With rules like that you have to wonder if the tour operators and rental companies don't have friends in high places, because it sounds like it would be cheaper and less of a headache to simply drive and rent then tow your own.

[Viperules700]

That's a good question.. New York state requires out of state sleds (visitors included) to be registered with thier DMV as thier permit is part of thier val-tag system. So if they want you to

register it, I'm sure there is a clause requiring

you to insure it with a state controlled agent.

own.

Aren't you exempt if you have your own liability insurance. I have 2 million which exceeds most limits when offered with your permit in places like Quebec. My insurance goes with the machine and is valid in all provinces and states up to 90 days at a time.