Tough, but I can see both sides of this, common ground will surface at some point.

Maybe raise permit prices to a necessary level....................

Haliburton was hit hard too. They seem to be handling it well but they defiantly have some great volunteers too. I see pics of rail trail there it's a mess too. Kudos to everyone helping out.  

Must be an issue or there wouldn't be a news story. Like everything, there's this side and that side. Truth is somewhere in the middle. Perhaps ODSC needs to be more patient. I'd imagine that the other clubs in the area have the same problem due to ice storm.

Permit revenue is down approx 10% over the last 5 years. Expenses are up over the revenue received. Groomers and their expenses aren't cheap. There's not much left in the OFSC pot. Changes will be happening.    The ODSC should be going through their District first to see what's available instead of going to the OFSC. Don't know their situation. Just reading the article. There could also be grants available through the Government of Ontario that they/district/OFSC may be able to be access.   We rented a 4wd backhoe last year for a few days to go through as much of our trails as feasible. It was a good investment as the backhoe can clear many of the downed trees quickly, fill in low spots and help drain the water holes etc.. It wasn't a huge investment but we do have a very skilled operator/volunteer that ran it for the rental period. It probably saved us weeks of work to do manually. I would imagine that ODSC could do the same and it may fall within their budget or the district's budget. Again, don't know. Just speculation.