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Ofsc reducing trails in southern D5


T bird

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So over the course of the weekend I was informed that the ofsc has decided  to “trim the fat” on southern clubs in D5 by reducing amount of trails a club can operate. My concern is that this is the beginning of closing our local club and trail system. So if we open this year we basically have one trail that connects to other club trails throughout the district. So this being said, how long until they start shutting down more and more smaller clubs and reducing even more trails? I have no problem trailering, as I’ve done that for many years but will I find myself having to trailer even further to get a “local” ride in? Just wonder if anyone has heard any mention of this to the ones who are more heavily involved?

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1 hour ago, T bird said:

So over the course of the weekend I was informed that the ofsc has decided  to “trim the fat” on southern clubs in D5 by reducing amount of trails a club can operate. My concern is that this is the beginning of closing our local club and trail system. So if we open this year we basically have one trail that connects to other club trails throughout the district. So this being said, how long until they start shutting down more and more smaller clubs and reducing even more trails? I have no problem trailering, as I’ve done that for many years but will I find myself having to trailer even further to get a “local” ride in? Just wonder if anyone has heard any mention of this to the ones who are more heavily involved?

I believe the trimming isn't new. Apparently a year ago or so, the OFSC decided that any club trails that hadn't opened for 2 consecutive years would cease to exist. I was told this by one of our OCer's over a month ago and when I was discussing it with another OC'er, he confirmed that it had already happened in some cases. Seems like if you want to keep your trails you better get them open even with limited snow cover.

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Chatted with 2 groomer operators this past weekend, they confirmed the same. I do not however agree, with clubs opening trails, just because they need to in order to keep them. Like come on. Our local trails were open on the weekend, and there was barely enough snow to cover the dirt. Another sad thing is, is this section i circled,  was actually showing open, limited over the weekend,  and theres no trail anymore.  No stakes, nothing.  I could go on and on about what i saw locally here on our way home from Milverton Saturday in the truck..

20210201_182500.jpg

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While i totally agree with trimming the fat sort to speak, and getting  things streamlined etc, i think this thought process, would put more pressure on clubs to open trails, that usually need really exceptional winters to have open trails, actually open their trails with very very low snow. Which in turns makes more landowner issues etc. I witnessed some of our local trails, open, limited,  and it was complete dirt and mud and rocks. Thats not right imo. Some spots i doubt very little the groomer never even made a pass. 

Edited by Turbo Doo
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6 minutes ago, Turbo Doo said:

Chatted with 2 groomer operators this past weekend, they confirmed the same. I do not however agree, with clubs opening trails, just because they need to in order to keep them. Like come on. Our local trails were open on the weekend, and there was barely enough snow to cover the dirt. Another sad thing is, is this section i circled,  was actually showing open, limited over the weekend,  and theres no trail anymore.  No stakes, nothing.  I could go on and on about what i saw locally here on our way home from Milverton Saturday in the truck..

20210201_182500.jpg

We will have to agree to disagree on this one TD.  I've seen what I thought was a couple of very thin trail opened this year an yet these ones seem to be surviving useage without causing much if any damage. The trail past my place would have been in jeoprady over the last 5 years and yet this year there have been hundreds of sleds across it. A good number of which appear to be local ride from home sledders.

The trail being shown open is likely a miscommunication between the groomer captain or whoever was given that task for the club and the person at the District office making the changes. It has in the not too distant past been a very long dragged out job to get trails no longer used deleted from the map. I believe it is now simpler to do since a person at the District 5 (or whatever they are calling it now)office has been given the ability to do that at the district level. Just need a volunteer to do the work at the club end.

Didn't see the trails over your way but the trails south of New Hamburg along the road to Bright were decent on Saturday morning.

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Also & I don't know how long the policy has been in effect (maybe @Yukon or @Nutter  can chime in), the OFSC will not 'reimburse/fund' trails that are groomed w/ a snowmobile. It has to be a full size groomer. This has 'weeded out' a few trails in recent years. 

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We don't have trails thru Bayfield or Bennmiller this year, hope it's not permanent 

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But what are these trails really costing the OFSC annually? And what will be the cost of the lost volunteers.

 

 

When I look at our local map I see so many trails that used to be there 10 years ago and will never come back.

 

It seems time is taking away our trails fast enough. They don't help from the inside.

 

 

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1 hour ago, PISTON LAKE CRUISER said:

We will have to agree to disagree on this one TD.  I've seen what I thought was a couple of very thin trail opened this year an yet these ones seem to be surviving useage without causing much if any damage. The trail past my place would have been in jeoprady over the last 5 years and yet this year there have been hundreds of sleds across it. A good number of which appear to be local ride from home sledders.

The trail being shown open is likely a miscommunication between the groomer captain or whoever was given that task for the club and the person at the District office making the changes. It has in the not too distant past been a very long dragged out job to get trails no longer used deleted from the map. I believe it is now simpler to do since a person at the District 5 (or whatever they are calling it now)office has been given the ability to do that at the district level. Just need a volunteer to do the work at the club end.

Didn't see the trails over your way but the trails south of New Hamburg along the road to Bright were decent on Saturday morning.

If you seen some spots i seen Saturday,  you would be shocked they can even be called limited.  Just telling it how it is. I have seen 'thin' trails,  and i seen what i seen Saturday.  Mud and Rocks is not thin..

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I believe the bigger issue is the lack of volunteers,  and the workload on the ones that do the work. I know that in our club, which I have only been involved with for 3 years now, there are only maybe 4 or 5 people who actively seek trail permissions and routing. And that is for approximately 130kms of trail. In farm country. And I am the young guy in the crowd at 48yrs old.

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5 hours ago, Turbo Doo said:

While i totally agree with trimming the fat sort to speak, and getting  things streamlined etc, i think this thought process, would put more pressure on clubs to open trails, that usually need really exceptional winters to have open trails, actually open their trails with very very low snow. Which in turns makes more landowner issues etc. I witnessed some of our local trails, open, limited,  and it was complete dirt and mud and rocks. Thats not right imo. Some spots i doubt very little the groomer never even made a pass. 

I noticed this on my drive up Sunday morning. I couldn’t believe the groomer had even made a pass. Even my local club said they were going to attempt and we have even less snow than Strathroy!

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3 hours ago, Zertrider said:

I believe the bigger issue is the lack of volunteers,  and the workload on the ones that do the work. I know that in our club, which I have only been involved with for 3 years now, there are only maybe 4 or 5 people who actively seek trail permissions and routing. And that is for approximately 130kms of trail. In farm country. And I am the young guy in the crowd at 48yrs old.

My local club currently has a good solid group of young  determined and dedicated volunteers. I’ve done plenty of work in past years with the club and on my own as well. Looking forward to keeping it all afloat!!

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This is always happening.

Groomer allocation is based on a certain number of kilometers of trail, not by club etc. 

We groom 4 different clubs trails.

If trails rarely if ever opens, there is still a groomer that is attached to it and is unavailable to do other, more used trails.

Although groomers are wholly owned and paid for by OFSC permit $$, you would not believe the temper tantrums that some clubs have when told they are losing a 5 year old,  like new groomer because it never moves.

 

 

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12 hours ago, Turbo Doo said:

trails, open, limited,  and it was complete dirt and mud and rocks.

 

Some friends plan a ride tomorrow in D9. They would like to avoid this area. Can you suggest where to stay away from?

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12 hours ago, revrnd said:

Also & I don't know how long the policy has been in effect (maybe @Yukon or @Nutter  can chime in), the OFSC will not 'reimburse/fund' trails that are groomed w/ a snowmobile. It has to be a full size groomer. This has 'weeded out' a few trails in recent years. 

This is true. We have bought a new snowmobile and a new drag over the past couple of years for the stretch of D trail near Trout Lake in North Bay.

The equipment, fuel, insurance etc. to operate it is not funded by the OFSC. This is not a secondary trail as most people know.

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18 minutes ago, -crz- said:

This is true. We have bought a new snowmobile and a new drag over the past couple of years for the stretch of D trail near Trout Lake in North Bay.

The equipment, fuel, insurance etc. to operate it is not funded by the OFSC. This is not a secondary trail as most people know.

Yes same for us on our trail 4 and 3. Personally I think the funding model needs to change to assist clubs and Districts on those trails that you can’t take an industrial groomer through. 

 

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15 hours ago, revrnd said:

Also & I don't know how long the policy has been in effect (maybe @Yukon or @Nutter  can chime in), the OFSC will not 'reimburse/fund' trails that are groomed w/ a snowmobile. It has to be a full size groomer. This has 'weeded out' a few trails in recent years. 

I have been out of the loop for a better part of two years. Left a club  and took a break, but I got reeled back in. Now on the board with Sno Voyageur club.  I am not sure how long the policy has been in effect, but its been long enough for me to forget.

 

See below.

2 hours ago, -crz- said:

This is true. We have bought a new snowmobile and a new drag over the past couple of years for the stretch of D trail near Trout Lake in North Bay.

The equipment, fuel, insurance etc. to operate it is not funded by the OFSC. This is not a secondary trail as most people know.

Yup, funded by the club or if the district chooses to support  snowmobile grooming. Fundraising or through budget allocation. 

 

I get it, clubs feel the squeeze, when it comes to funding and using a snowmobile for grooming. The use of snowmobiles are very much an anomaly province wide. But the OFSC had to draw the line and prioritize where funding goes. I think replacement of our Provincial fleet of industrial groomers is more important at this time.

2 hours ago, Nunz said:

Yes same for us on our trail 4 and 3. Personally I think the funding model needs to change to assist clubs and Districts on those trails that you can’t take an industrial groomer through. 

 

Not so long ago a neighbouring club of yours was working on a pilot project with a tracked side by side, with a mini mogul master drag. This project was initiated to build a case for a funding model change. 

 

I am not sure what of what really came of it, but I did see the results of the usage and benefits..

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12 hours ago, -crz- said:

This is true. We have bought a new snowmobile and a new drag over the past couple of years for the stretch of D trail near Trout Lake in North Bay.

The equipment, fuel, insurance etc. to operate it is not funded by the OFSC. This is not a secondary trail as most people know.

I have been behind that groomer. Also pulled it out after the operator got it stuck trying to turn it around in then little pull off area. I honestly don't believe that setup does a lick of good.  It just doesn't have the weight to cut down moguls and make them flat. It more or less just rolls up and down over them.

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Some major trails like TOP D south of Trout Lake have a considerable number of swamps and ponds that are very risky for industrial groomers to navigate. There needs to be some provision for smaller tracked vehicles to groom these very important trails and be reimbursed for grooming hours at some reduced rate and also for capital cost of purchase.

 

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On 2/1/2021 at 8:19 PM, Blackstar said:

 

But what are these trails really costing the OFSC annually? And what will be the cost of the lost volunteers.

 

 

When I look at our local map I see so many trails that used to be there 10 years ago and will never come back.

 

It seems time is taking away our trails fast enough. They don't help from the inside.

 

 

Look at traffic pressure on existing ones. The b111 and b108 and b109 for example was steady traffic all day Saturday. Some of club trails were ones that survived the day because less people were on them. Take away those and won’t be much fun riding around. Look at baden for example. One trail going north now and it is beat in no time, from heavy traffic. 

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On 2/1/2021 at 8:06 PM, brodhagenbullet said:

We don't have trails thru Bayfield or Bennmiller this year, hope it's not permanent 

Yep, one trail to Goderich from Clinton and no trails directly north of Goderich. I've been told  by a local that the loss of the Benmillar trail is likely  permanent. Just sad!

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7 minutes ago, PISTON LAKE CRUISER said:

Yep, one trail to Goderich from Clinton and no trails directly north of Goderich. I've been told  by a local that the loss of the Benmillar trail is likely  permanent. Just sad!

Rode both last wknd,part of the benmiller trail is staked as on map,left a piece of my sled on guardrail in benmiller.Does anybody know of the clubhouse on the map near benmiller???

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57 minutes ago, Zertrider said:

I have been behind that groomer. Also pulled it out after the operator got it stuck trying to turn it around in then little pull off area. I honestly don't believe that setup does a lick of good.  It just doesn't have the weight to cut down moguls and make them flat. It more or less just rolls up and down over them.

Not sure when you had this experience. The new drag is a mogul master and purchased new last year. Works much better than the previous old drag. 

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38 minutes ago, Strong Farmer said:

Look at traffic pressure on existing ones. The b111 and b108 and b109 for example was steady traffic all day Saturday. Some of club trails were ones that survived the day because less people were on them. Take away those and won’t be much fun riding around. Look at baden for example. One trail going north now and it is beat in no time, from heavy traffic. 

I00% ,I Live on B108

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52 minutes ago, brodhagenbullet said:

Rode both last wknd,part of the benmiller trail is staked as on map,left a piece of my sled on guardrail in benmiller.Does anybody know of the clubhouse on the map near benmiller???

Not sure what map you are speaking of. There is none of the Benmiller trail on the online map.

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