8236-R1_MSA_January2023

From The Executive Board

When it does snow and we get back on our sleds, at least here in the Central Maine area. We need to start-off easy; lots of us have not been on our sleds since last March. It’s like get ting back on a bike we all know we can do it but we’re just a little rusty and need to take it slow. When you’re riding at night slow down, be aware of wildlife. Ride smart and stay on the trail, Don’t ride alone it’s always safe and more fun to ride with a partner, be aware of hazards on the trail, you may have gone on a trail 4 hours ago and your return trip a tree has come down and is crossing the trail. Stay on the marked trail, our trial system is 95% owned by private landowners. We value our relationship with them. They make our Maine snowmobiling trail system work. Snowmobiling and under the influence do not mix, many accidents and fatal accidents happen because of this deadly combination. Please be safe out there. Take it easy. I have been spreading the safety words in schools. If your club or you know, a school that would like to have a me do a safety talk let me know. I’d love to do it! Its lots of fun we all have a great time. We have snowmobile safety posters avail able let me know I can ship them to you. They work great on the trail at you intersections and clubhouses and places to get food and gas. Thanks for all you do! AL thought of Jim Boyce when I heard how much snow Kingfield received in the first storm and wondered, “Jim, did that fill your garbage cans?” My hats off to ALL TRAIL CREWS for doing what you do and making sure trails are safe for everyone to ride. If everybody would volunteer three to five hours to a club to work on trails, the work would get done much quicker. Remember, trail crews like the plea sure ride just like you, so help them out then they can ride for fun as well. The Eastern regional meeting held at EMSC in December had a good turnout. Thanks to Larry Lafland, Joe Higgins, Brent Spaulding, Al Swett, Mike Grass, and Barry Ryan for pre senting information to those attending. It was nice to be able to gather again and hear what clubs are doing. There is another regional meeting scheduled. This one is on Jan 19 th and will be held Downeast in Baileyville. By the time this paper reaches everyone, notices will have been sent to clubs with all the info. Hopefully, snow will not prevent us from holding it and we will get a chance to meet with those clubs. Regional meetings are one of the best ways to get clubs together and let them know MSA is there to listen. If you haven’t ridden in a groomer and want to have a chance, check out the Groomer Rodeo at the East Branch SnoRovers on Sat. Jan 28th. Look for all the info in the Dec. Maine Snowmobiler. The February MSA meeting will be at the Lincoln Snowhounds club on Feb. 25 th . The trails leaving the clubhouse will be ready for riding, so come early and take a ride from there. More info will be available on the MSA website as the day nears. Until, February, Please stay safe out there. Eileen I hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays; it’s always good to spend time with family & friends. As I write this it’s currently 30 degrees, warm weather, rain and massive winds have pushed our season way back for a large portion of the state. But as usual the volunteers are out there clearing down trees, repairing bridges or installing new ones that were washed away by flooding rivers. There is disaster relief available. Regional directors and myself should be reaching out to all coastal area clubs to help get you the relief money. If your club has not been contacted feel free to reach out to me or any director, contact information is in the paper. Old man Winter & Mother Nature need to get on the same page very soon. So everyone please turn on your A/C units let’s freeze the rivers, lakes and trails. Then we need to start the SNOW DANCE!!!! Once again thank you for all your efforts. I Hope to see you on the trails soon. Ride right, be safe, Dave

Safety Committee

Steering Committee

the MSA office and we will set one up. Signs and grooming. This is a tough one but I feel the need to tackle it, mostly for safety reasons and conversations with Joe Higgins. While everyone likes to get an early start, starting grooming operations before you have your signage up creates safety problems. Why do you ask? Well, first off, are your “stop” and “stop aheads” up at all your road cross ings? Are all your hazards marked like fences, stumps and rocks? Are all of your informa tional signs up, like kiosks at intersections telling folks how and where to go? If you answered no to any of these questions, groom ing only invites trouble. Are all the water holes, swamps and normal wet areas frozen yet? More places for people who are unfamil iar with the area to get in trouble. People are just waiting for the chance to ride and any glimmer of hope turns into a prob lem if trails and clubs aren’t ready for traffic. For instance, if you groom a “section” of trail but not all of your trails, riders will assume all the trails are open. This not only could lead to riders getting stuck in water holes or other issues but also upset a landowner who doesn’t want snowmobiles crossing their unfrozen field and making more work for them in the spring and potentially closing it for the next season. There are many reasons clubs need to make sure signage is in place before you start grooming and clubs need to be sure they are basing any “trails open” statements on social media on their whole system and actually the connecting systems. People from hours away will show up if they see one groomer out, assuming there is all kinds of snow, water holes are frozen and all the signs are up. This year especially, it is just not the case. Old man winter just hates to take hold of us so far. Please be very clear in any social media/online posts that the actual conditions are posted. We all want the information but it needs to be accurate and up to date. With all that said, please email your clubs trail conditions to the MSA office so we can update our Trails Conditions page when things get going. The long-range forecasters are still saying the second half of January will be cold and snowy. Let’s all do our best snow dances and welcome 2023 with tons of snow (and cold). Think Snow, Mike In the meantime, please lend your usual weekend riding time to a club that could finally get to a bridge repair or new improve ment that will further enhance the trail system. We will get through this…. We have for over 50 years! LET IT SNOW! John quibble about this, but this is truly the way the clubs cover their expenses for these incurred trail expenses. Worrying about how to cover the costs for these should not be added to the dismal conditions. Upward and onward! On the steering committee front, we have reached out to an interested person for talks and a possible direction for future lobbying. On the surface, the person has political expe rience, familiar on lobbying, knows the rules of the legislative road and as an added bonus, is an avid snowmobiler. An initial meeting was set up, but got clouded last minute with scheduling. Another firm meeting date has not been scheduled yet, but is slated to happen in mid to late January. We’ll update as we have additional info. Our Trail Enforcement Bill has been in since November 28 by Senator Russell Black and is currently being reviewed by committee for language. As we have talked about over and over again, this really is a no brainer and aimed 100 % at protecting the club, landowners and respectful riders at preventing unwanted and clearly deliberate “off the corridor” trail devi ations. Its intent is to keep landowners who graciously allow trail from having to go to court to defend an agreement with a club of trail usage. It really should never have to get to that level. Please help educate your local leg islators and we will provide the LD number as soon as we get it.

Alan Swett, 207-872-7282 234 County Rd, Waterville ME 04901 snowtraveler@roadrunner.com W but then we got flooded out along with high winds that upset and eliminated what snow we had. Most of the land here Waterville and South has grass showing and very little ice on the ponds, lakes and brooks. With that said, please stay off the lakes and ponds. The ice has not formed enough and is not safe. The weather has been very cold and then the warm up goes into the high 40’s. Typical weather the last few years! Let’s hope this month changes and we get back into a Maine winter pattern. ell, January is starting snowless here in Central Maine. We had a good cover

John Monk Chairman of Steering Committee monksdoomopars@hermon.net

H ello All,

What quickly had showings of a very strong season, quickly turned sour with some Mother Nature foul participation. All is not lost though. While the strength of clubs each season does waver from time to time, the overall view from postings and commu nication this season has spoken otherwise. As demonstrated riders are concerned of the conditions and are rapidly reaching out to help and remedy the issues, so when conditions do turn around, not only will trails be ready, they will be better than ever. Recent landowners in my own club even have marked, cut and helped our club open up a section now closed for over two years. Enough positives just can’t be shared about these people. While the condi tions are right, lend a hand! As an added tough one to swallow, register your sled. Most might

Eastern Region VP

Trails Committee Chair Report

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com H appy New Year Everyone and Welcome to 2023!! We write and submit these news articles the month before they are published so as I write this one on Dec. 20 th part of the state is still trying to dig out from a large snowstorm and get their power back on because the heavy, wet snow took down many trees and power poles. They are also predicting another storm just before Christmas, but this one looks to be rain and more high winds! Seems like Ole Man Winter gave us our wish and Mother Nature is saying- “Not so fast!” They sure need to get on the same page. Clubs have worked so hard, many times with limited crews, since early fall to get trails brushed and ready to ride then we get a storm like this that erases so much of what they have done. When you only have five to ten people clearing many, many miles of trails it takes hours and hours to clear them the first time, then you must do it all again! I will say, I

Mike Grass, Jr., 207-368-2316 249 Condon Rd, Plymouth ME 04969 mgrassjr@gmail.com W elcome to 2023. I hope 2022 was bet ter than 2021 was for most of us. Last years snowmobile season was definitely not one for the record books but most clubs had at least a week or two with some riding and northern areas having a decent season. This year is starting out much different for almost everyone. The 50-degree days and rainstorms can go away anytime! As chairman of the MSA Trails Committee, safety is always our top priority. When we are inspecting trails, the stop and stop ahead are at the top of our list. Road crossings can be very dangerous and we need to make sure we have them marked correctly each year. Signage is our biggest “weakness” across the state and much of our inspection form is directed at that very subject. Mark Chinnock started doing signage workshops around the state during his tenure as Trails Chair. The areas where he took his roadshow saw an immediate improvement in the quality of the signage. This year we have had three already. Minot, Holden and Bene dicta have all had an MSA signage workshop this year. Each had great information, ques tions and conversations concerning different signage issues. Hopefully, everyone went away with a better understanding of how, where, when, why to use the signs supplied by DOC and MSA. If your club would like to host a signage workshop, please contact me or

Coastal Region VP

David Watson, 207-205-1558 412 Roberts Ridge Rd East Waterboro ME 04030 dwatson6841@gmail.com

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