8843-R6_MSA_September2024_Newsletter

From The Executive Board

D ear MSA snowmobile club members, The MSA has been working to determine legislation that needs to be brought in front of the 2025 session to better finance our clubs trail maintenance & equipment funding. We spent last year petitioning for ideas from our members and receiving feedback as we held meetings and through various other venues. Thank you to all who gave positive feedback. We know there is no “silver bullet” answers but are committed to the ongoing work to make sure our trails & clubs have the financial resources they need. In early January, we had a very productive call with Governor Mills and IFW Commis sioner Camuso. While nothing was decided upon, they now have a clear understanding of our financial concerns & plans looking for funding in the short, medium & long term. Our lobbyist has also been working dil igently gathering information and talking to folks in Augusta, reminding them of how season. MSA leadership and I have been diligently working on plans for the upcoming legislative session and hard at work supporting the $30 million trails bond on the ballot this Novem ber- Question 4. Our legislative strategy is still being refined, but we anticipate a busy legislative session and are looking to be proactive on behalf of the membership. We’ll continue to keep you well apprised of what things look like as we move towards the start of a new session in Jan uary. We continue to focus heavily on strate gies to enhance funding for our clubs. Most pressing right now is MSA’s support and the passage of the trails bond in Novem ber. MSA has been asked to join the leader ship team of the campaign, and we are work ing to raise money and educate voters about the benefits of a $30 million investment into Maine trails. If this bond measure passes, it Welcome back friends. It’s only Septem ber but according to the Farmer’s Almanac, we snowmobilers have reason to be excited about winter, the forecast calls for a colder and snowy winter than normal. Fingers crossed we deserve a good, long riding season. As the cochair of the scholarship committee, I would like to take a few minutes to introduce you to our program. The MSA and its lead ers had the foresight and generosity to start a scholarship in the early 1980’s. There have been a few been a few changes and adaptions along the way but the committee has awarded many, many scholarships to very deserving members of the MSA. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the committees desire to grow the scholarship balance so that we can continue to give out as much as possible. The cost of education has The Trails Committee has already had two meetings by the time you read this. Through out the summer, many clubs have been work ing to mitigate the damage caused by last win ter’s devastating storms. There are still going to be some reroutes, particularly in the west ern region, but we will persevere as we always do to get our system back in shape. The ITS Trail Map has gone to print and should be out the first of October. There were minimal revi sions, so the process was much simpler than last year. As your club gears up to start bushing and signing, remember to reach out to ALL of your landowners, old and new, to reinforce known relationships and start new ones. A good rela tionship goes a long way when it comes to keeping our trails intact. The Trail Committee will be continuing our signage workshops this season and welcomes an invitation to come to your club. Please con tact me if you have any questions or would like to set a date. Be safe in the woods and pray for an early winter… Brent

much financial gain our clubs bring to the State and our financial concerns. He has kept us up to date on issues that we need to know and asked for guidance for communications. He is also on the steering committee for the Trails bond, which is on the November ballot. We are hopeful this bond gets the voters support and will inject important funding into all types of trail infrastructure, most impor tantly for snowmobilers. Bond language: https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/ getPDF.asp?paper=HP0728&item=3&snum=13 Bond Question: “Question 4: Statewide trail system Do you favor a $30,000,000 bond issue to invest in the design, development and main tenance for nonmotorized, motorized and multi-use trails statewide, to be matched by at least $3,000,000 in private and public contributions? This question came from bipartisan leg will provide $7.5 million per year over a four year period into a competitive grant program for motorized and non-motorized trails alike. We have joined nearly 500 other organiza tions from across the state in supporting this measure. Soon MSA will be sharing helpful infor mation about the bond proposal that you can share with your fellow club members, family, and neighbors. It is really important that this measure pass with flying colors in November so that we can get this money into our trail sys tem, and importantly create some momentum in support of trails for the future. If you, your business, or anyone in your network would like to contribute to the campaign, please con tact me at jcote@bernsteinshur.com. With only two months to go before Elec tion Day, I also hope that club leaders from around the state will reach out to local legis lative candidates for a cup of coffee. It is so skyrocketed over the years and as a group, our goal has always been to make the award be an amount that is significant and makes a differ ence for the winners. Currently we award two scholarships of $1,500 each, we have raised the amount twice in the past couple of years and hope to keep moving the total up in order to better support the future of our families. Here is where we ask for your help. Our bylaws only allows to use the interest from our CD to pay for the scholarships. We are in the final year of a long term, low wield CD, in order to keep up have had to draw money from a small savings account and the generosity of a few clubs to pull through. This year we are undertaking a major push to build our savings account, we are asking ant and everyone if they might like to help.

islation that was signed into law in April. If approved by voters, the law already lays out how the money will be spent over the course of multiple years to create what would be known as the Maine Trails Program. The law also says that a quarter of the funds would be used for non-motorized trails, another quarter for motorized trails and the other half for multi-use trails for recreation or active transportation.” We hope this provided some critical short to medium term funds for trails work outside the snowmobile season. As we prepare for the upcoming legislative season, we have narrowed the scope of fund ing options and have meetings setup with Joe from the Snowmobile Program and our lob byist to understand the details and potential financial implications of a few scenarios. Respectfully submitted, Matt Stedman important that these candidates hear from you about the needs of your club locally, and what your vision is for the future of snowmobiling in Maine. Creating strong relationships now pays dividends in the future. So please, invite them to the clubhouse, take them on a tour of your trail network, or meet them for a cup of coffee at the local diner. And if you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. For now though, please encourage your network to VOTE YES ON QUESTION 4 in November- the $30 million trails bond! We will continue to share lots of information online and through our social media channels. If you have any questions, please don’t hesi tate to ask. In snow-adarity, James Cote MSA Lobbyist We have had some awesome response and feel confident that with a good year not only can we pay the awards from our savings but also build the balance up so that we can pay out more in scholarships down the road. Our CD can be rolled into a new term next month, there won’t be enough interest this year but by next year we’ll have even more money to give out. As your clubs begin to meet for the season we ask that you might consider a donation to the Scholarship Fund, it doesn’t have to be big anything will help. Next month we hope to include some of the ways other clubs are helping out and maybe your club might find a fun and exciting way to support our cause. Remember any of our committee members are willing to help too. Thanks for all you do! Mcfarland, and to Larry and Eileen Lafland. Get well cards to: Mike Grass Sr., Dan Wilson, and Larry Lafland, and a card to Valarie Swett. A Retirement card to: Marty White A thinking of you card to Mark Chinnock his dad isn’t feeling well. And sympathy cards to Brant Winsor he lost his wife. A card to Lori Hemmerdinger she lost an aunt. A card to Darlene Kelly Dumond she lost her dad. A card to Jeff and Julie Monk her father passed. And a card to John and Melanie Monk she lost an uncle. These cards were sent since the annual ban quet in April to just before the first meeting of the season in August. Anyone who would like to have a card sent for any reason, birthday, baby arrival, get well, thinking of you, anniversary and of course sympathy cards. Please send me an email at skidoo6000@aol.com or contact me through the MSA office. Respectfully submitted, Gail Ryan

Funding Legislation Committee

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

MSA Lobbyist

James Cote MSA Lobbyist

H ello MSA Members! Hard to believe that summer has come and gone, and we are on the cusp of fall and another snow season. Hopefully very snowy Scholarship Committee

Harvey Chesley, 207-314-0637 25 Hillcrest Dr, Clinton ME 04927 harv.chesley@gmail.com

Trails Committee Chair Report

Hospitality Chair Report

Gail Ryan, MSA Hospitality 207-478-6821 207 Lancaster Brook Rd, Glenburn, ME skidoo6000@aol.com H i everyone, Hope you’ve had a great summer. I’ve already sent out quite a few cards for the 2024-2025 season: A thank you card to the Bowlin-Matagamon S.C. for their donation to the Scholarship Fund. Anniversary cards to: Chuck and Charlene

Brent Spaulding, MSA Trails Chairman 207-944-7762 41 Madison Ave Brewer ME 04412 msatrailchair@gmail.com G reetings from Brewer, The ’24-’25 season is already under way.

6

b e r 2

e m

0 2 4 l M a i n e S n o w m o b i l e r

p t

e

S