8369-R1_MSA_May2023_MaineSnowmobiler

From The Executive Board

a lot more. I want to thank every club in the state and especially the Eastern Region clubs for ALL THAT YOU DID TO MAKE 2022-23 A WONDERFUL SEASON. Once again, I am very proud of the clubs in the Eastern Region. You have had an amazing year of supporting snowmobiling in this state. We had two regional meetings this season, one in Holden and the other in Baileyville. At each meeting there were ten plus clubs in attendance. Information about trail grants, MSA, memberships, scholarship, safety, trail inspections and more was presented to club members present. It was nice to be able to hold these meetings again after so many years and to listen to clubs and their concerns. In February we held another Eastern Region showcase ride. This one left Lincoln Snowhounds on a cold, -6 degree day, and went over trials maintained by Lincoln, Mattawamkeag, Lee and Quad County SC. Along the way we came across Barney Robichaud, the 100-year-old gentleman who grooms for Mattawamkeag, making the trails smooth for our ride. We rode to Sysladobsis Lake Dam where Quad County The annual banquet was great, clubs and snowmobilers from all reaches of the State came out to recognize many award winning individuals and groups who make up the awe-inspiring Maine Snowmobile Association membership. Individuals and clubs that go all out to ensure snowmobiling in Maine continues to move forward. Aroostook County folks brought home some great awards: Presidents award went to Mike McNulty, MSA membership awards for the year - 2nd place statewide Washburn Trail Runners, 4th place Madawaska SC, 7th place Portage Lakers, 9th place Ft Kent Snow Riders SC. County Sports from Caribou received dealer of the year and the Bunker Inn in Limestone was supporting business of the year. Back this year were landowner of the year and Patty & David Corriveau of Caribou received the small (under 100 acres) award. Last but certainly not least was Youth snowmobiler of the year, this went to Jesse Tagget from the Caribou SC. All awards were well deserved and take hours & years of dedication to the sport. Thank you to all Northern Region clubs for all that you do. Without each & every volunteer hour we could not accomplish the tasks at hand to enable the season to happen. I know each club has struggles and successes. I would love to hear about them There are lots of things to work on, but in the remaining weeks of the 2023 legisla tive session I will be working on a piece of legislation that State Senator Russell Black has submitted on MSA’s behalf. The bill, LD 732, An Act to Prohibit Off-trail Oper ation of a Snowmobile in an Area Closed to Off-trail Operation, seeks to provide new lobbyist in Augusta. As a snowmobile enthusiast myself, I know the tremendous work it takes to maintain Maine’s trail sys tem and the fantastic relationships that the association has with landowners. I live in Farmington with my wife and two sons, and spend a great deal of time at camp in Rangeley. For the majority of my career I have represented outdoor interests, including sportsmen, private landowners, and other recreational interests.

SC was braving the cold temps and holding a hot dog roast outside! From there we went back to Lincoln and that night we had a MSA directors meeting after enjoying a meal prepared by the Snowhounds. Throughout the season this region’s clubs worked diligently to collect memberships. Right up until February these clubs were the top in the state for number of memberships sent to MSA. When the annual meeting was held at the end of April, four of the top ten clubs in the state were from this region! Way to go: Moosehead Riders, Blue Ridge Riders, Northern Timber Cruisers, and Penobscot SC. In the end a total of 2,958 memberships from 72 Eastern Region clubs were entered in the MSA system! The recognition didn’t stop there! Quad County SC was the co-winner of the Snowmobile Club of the Year Award. They are the little club that is located in Springfield, up the road quite a way from Lincoln. They groom 120 miles of trails in four counties, host community breakfasts twice a month, serve free Thanksgiving meals to the community and so much more all in a community with a population of both, help collect concerns to determine how the MSA & I can help or connect new or struggling clubs with ideas or people who can help them move forward. There are SO MANY new people in club positions and it can be overwhelming to determine how to best spend your volunteer hours. The low points of the season for me were the trail closures due to inconsiderate riders and serious accidents/fatalities. I am saddened that people lost their lives enjoying their passion. Many of these were preventable. I am challenging all clubs for the 2023 2024 season to join forces with their local warden to set up a trail side safety check and learning session. I envision a club setting up trailside, maybe doing a hot dog roast/membership drive, having club members and a warden (or two) there to interact with sledders. Talk with them about the importance of riding right, in control & sober. Inform them about the awesome privilege we have due to the generous PRIVATE landowners. Talk to them about how much time/effort & money the clubs and their volunteers spend all year long to make sure they can enjoy the trails. We (MSA, clubs, individuals & the Maine Warden Service) need to do more to make sure the riders understand our system, think about themselves and the others on the trails and all return home to their friends As of the time of my writing (April 30), I am optimistic about our chances for suc cess with this legislation. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife testified in support of this legislation, and the Legis lature’s IFW Committee seemed to receive the legislation positively. We’ll continue to work this bill, and likely a handful of oth ers in the closing weeks of session. We are all hopeful that the Legislature will adjourn law enforcement with the tools they need to enforce violations where riders decide to ride off-trail in areas that are marked closed to riding. As we all know, this abuse of private land access can jeopardize our relationships with private landowners as well as trail access. MSA members should be proud that MSA is providing this type of policy leadership in Augusta.

sometime in June. I look forward to meeting you in the months ahead to hear your ideas and con cerns, and continuing to advance the prior ities of the Maine snowmobile community.

Capitol Report

James Cote MSA Lobbyist

G reetings Maine Snowmobile Associa tion Members! My name is James Cote and I am very excited about the opportunity to be your

Eastern Region VP

around 500 people. This region also had two of the three Scholarship winners. Congratulations to Thomas Watt from Greenville and Kathryn Smith from Holden. Both students belong to active snowmobile clubs and support snowmobiling in their areas. Lastly, I want to thank the regional directors for your support and assistance this year. Gary Dowling, Paul Bolstridge, Craig Lemieux, John Monk, and Larry Lafland have made this year easier for me in many ways. John Monk has decided to step away for next year and I thank him for the years he has been doing this. I also want to thank Barry Ryan for agreeing to come on board and fill this position for the next year. Barry has been a tremendous help this year with many aspects of MSA and will be a great addition to this team. So, another season is in the books. Clubs are, if they haven’t already, winding down for this season and taking a much-needed break before gearing up for the 2023 24 season to start in the fall. Enjoy your summer everyone. See you in the fall Eileen and families in the same condition they left. Please reach out to me, I want to make this happen and can help your club get it setup. Clubs now are looking forward to summer groomer maintenance or possibly grant writing and purchase of a new(er) machine. This always leads to the need for additional fundraising, and many clubs keep rolling with some sort of club business and/or activity all summer long. Please stay in touch with clubs to make sure you do not miss the chance to talk shop with fellow snowmobilers on a beautiful summer day. For the Northern Region your MSA directors for the 2023-2024 season will be: Lendell Buckingham – Portage Lakers Nick Morrill – Caribou Snowmobile Club Jeff Brooks – Big Valley Sno Club (Island Falls) Denise Duperre – Madawaska Snowmobile Club Please reach out with questions and concerns so we can all help and work together. Enjoy your summer, if you have a question, problem, concern, or idea on snowmobiling in “The County” or Maine, get in touch with me. You can contact me at the phone # or email above. Matt Stedman Northern Region VP

Eileen Lafland, 207-843-7813 PO Box 733, Holden ME 04429 L.andE.lafland525476@gmail.com

2022-23 started off slow in most of the Eastern Region with little to no snow for most of the season. That didn’t stop clubs from clearing trials, contacting landowners, signing trails, gathering memberships and everything else they must do to get ready for the season. Once snow did come clubs continued their efforts with grooming, running club meetings, fundraising and

Northern Region VP

Matt Stedman 207-557-1921 (call or text) PO Box 621, Ashland ME 04732 Stedman.matt@jdirving.com

W inter of 2022 & 2023 has come and gone, another great season is in the books. The County had snow from mid January through the 1st of April and people showed up in droves to ride our trails, enjoy the sights and eat at the wonderful restaurants. Early winter brought rain & sleet mixed with the snow in the south and light fluffy snow to the north which wasn’t the best for the groomers to make stay put, but the clubs and their volunteers did a wonderful job keeping up & persevering through increased traffic load and a season that ran to April.

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