BCSF SNOWMOBILE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

Infrastructure Fund Was Created To Support Ongoing Investment In Clubs To Grow Snowmobile Opportunities In British Columbia

The British Columbia Snowmobile Federation recently announced a massive new snowmobile infrastructure fund accessible to its 60-member organizations in support of local recreation projects.

This new source of funding for local organizations will be an important supplement to traditional funding models that have historically limited what BC snowmobile clubs can do with their dollars.

Under the terms of the legally required partnership agreements between BC snowmobile clubs and the provincial government, snowmobile clubs are permitted to collect set day-use fee amounts that are determined strictly on a cost recovery basis for services provided to the public—such as parking lot snow removal, signage and trail maintenance.

Within this system, there is no provision for the purchase of trail grooming equipment, large-scale capital improvements such as the replacement of aging warming shelters or to set aside funds for environmental and economic swings. Volunteerbased recreation clubs have historically relied on fundraising, a small handful of available grants and surplus revenue from membership sales to support these capital intensive efforts.

BY NICOLE MATEI

Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd and Mackenzie snowmobile clubs, which have been greatly impacted by winter motorized closures (shown in red), were the first to receive funding from the initiative.

Map Data: Google Earth, Landsat / Copernicus

The first BC snowmobile clubs to benefit from the program are a handful in the South Peace region including Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd and Mackenzie. The provincial government provided an initial outlay of $330,000 as part of the Cariboo Recovery Program for those clubs impacted by the recent winter motorized closure decision there. The funds will be used to improve access, parking, trails, grooming and other associated snowmobile infrastructure in areas that remain open to riders.

Moving forward, BCSF President Peter Doyle said, “It is our vision that the BCSF Snowmobile Infrastructure Program will continue to grow with new partners and continuing investment to support our clubs across BC.”

He continued, “We know that snowmobile tourism is driven by quality trails that have ample parking, maps, trails that are clearly signed, emergency shelters to warm up in and smooth trails that are freshly groomed. This fund was established to support snowmobile clubs in investing strategically together to grow our snowmobile opportunities in BC.”

Snowmobile Federation

The Pine Valley Trail Blazers Snowmobile Club of Chetwynd, BC, is one of three South Peace region snowmobile clubs to benefit from the new Infrastructure Fund, to help offset the loss of riding area closed as a result of a recent mountain caribou recovery decision.