Do your part! If you ride, read this and share!
A Mid Valley Trails volunteer helps maintain a trail in the area. These unsung volunteers and clubs depend on your financial support to help keep trails safe and groomed. Credit: Mid Valley Trails
There is nothing more exciting than unloading the sled and hitting a freshly groomed trail on a bluebird winter day. A well-groomed trail makes for a safe and smooth ride, and offers accessibility to some of Alaska’s most scenic spots.
But those pristine trails don’t happen by magic. If you are a snowmachiner – no matter your level of expertise – supporting your local trail-grooming clubs and businesses is imperative. Volunteer your time, donate to local clubs and above all, take the time to pay the required nominal sled registration fee that helps fund trail maintenance statewide.
The State of Alaska’s Snowmachine Trail Grant Program uses snowmachine registration fees to support a system of groomed riding trails in select regions across the state. The funds raised by the $5 fee are used by snowmachine clubs, nonprofits, and businesses that apply for grants to groom and mark trails – all of which are approved by the Snowmachine Trail Advisory Council known as SnowTRAC.
This year’s pool of grant recipients will receive $168,000 to maintain and groom more than 4,200 miles of trail throughout the state. About 70 of those miles are along the Iron Dog Trail race route.
Groomers work into the night to prep the trails. Well-groomed trails make it safer to ride, and more enjoyable as well. Credit: Montana Creek Motor Mushers
“The majority of the Big Lake to Skwentna portion falls under the SnowTRAC program,” said Iron Dog board president Roger Brown.
Ricky Gease, Alaska State Parks director, said the grant program is vital to trail maintenance efforts across the state.
“We strongly encourage people to register their machines,” Gease said – and Brown concurs.
“Iron Dog’s push for support of this program is more about the big picture,” Brown said.
Gease said the Snowmachine Trail Grant program takes in only enough money to cover about a third of the requested funds it receives each year. Due to such high demand, the program caps requests at $45,000. The total amount of money awarded each year also varies, he said.
“The low was last year (2020-2021) at $138,000 and the high is $240,000, so we’re near to the midpoint on that for 2021-2022,” Gease said of the $168,000 distribution this season.
Gease said there have been efforts in past Legislative sessions to increase the fee from $5 to $10, or change the fee structure to a one-time, larger fee, but no new regulations have yet to be approved; Gease said any changes would only help improve the state’s ability to award more money to trail-grooming entities.
Big Lake Trails, Inc., for instance, requested $35,000 to fully fund its grooming efforts, but received $12,926.31 from the available pool of funds. While that money helps, said club president Richard Gaffey, it doesn’t come close to covering the costs.
“Not enough people are registering their sleds, and not enough people are donating,“ Gaffey said. “Big Lake Trails has like 3,600 ‘likes’ on Facebook, and not enough of those followers are donating. We put in a lot of time, and our own personal money to groom these trails. If everybody that ‘liked’ us on Facebook spent $20 to donate, we wouldn’t need to go to the state begging for money.”
As Gaffey puts it: “Hold the applause, throw the money.”
Rick Bailey, president of Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers, in the North Caribou Hills beyond Kasilof, said the grant money is critical for the club’s ability to keep its 130-plus miles of trail in safe riding condition. Last year, the club received $13,891.86; for the coming season, it was awarded $16,619.54. But he, too, said the funding falls short of what the club would like to do to keep trails better maintained.
“We do what we can to generate money and do fund raisers and stuff like that, but we can’t come anywhere close to matching our SnowTRAC funding,” Bailey said. Bailey added that he’d like to see expanded registration fees to cover all users. In Caribou Hills North, he said, he has groomed trail for fat tire bike and sled dog races, as well as providing routine maintenance to snowmachine riders. Use in the area has grown vastly, too, he said.
“We built our cabin in the Caribou Hills in 1974, and I think there were six cabins when we were first there,” he said. “It’s grown so much since then.”
Gaffey also encourages users to be more proactive. Even if they don’t have money to donate, the littlest of efforts is helpful. Take downed trees, for example:
“Nobody seems to carry a little handsaw; they just go around and leave downed trees and branches for somebody else,” Gaffey said. “Don’t go around; be the ‘somebody else’ who stops and clears it.”
Gease said the SnowTRAC grants not only help fund maintenance but also are, in effect, a way to promote winter recreation in a safer and more user-friendly environment.
“In any activity, there is that beginner, intermediate and then the expert curve,” he said. “Groomed trails are great for beginner and intermediate people to get out and feel comfortable – the expert folks tend to know where they are.
“Having groomed trails also helps lower our search-and-rescue costs in the wintertime,” he added.
Brown said safety is key – not just during the race, when riders are literally full throttle, but for all people who enjoy the sport.
“The Big Lake to Skwentna portion of the racecourse are among the most heavily used trails in the state, and it would become extremely rough if it wasn’t for those organizations that keep them groomed,” Brown said. “The Yentna River is very fast, and if it wasn’t for the hazard marking and maintenance, there would be a lot of accidents.”
Do your part! Help improve trail maintenance, grooming and other winter trail improvements by donating to your local club, and by taking the time to pay your state-required registration fee of $10 for two years. To register, visit https://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/reg/snow.htm or contact Iron Dog, Inc. at 907-563-4414.
The 14 recipients of the 2021-2022 SnowTRAC grants include:
Big Lake
Big Lake Trails, Inc.: $12,926.31
Caribou Hill North
Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers: $16,619.54
Caribou Hills South
Snomads, Inc.: $16,619.54
Denali Highway
Denali Highway Trail Club: $9,602.40
Denali Snowcat Services: $16,619.54
Hatcher Pass Management Area
Hatcher Pass Snow Riders Club: $16,065.56
Juneau Area
Trail Mix, Inc.: $2,215.94
Lake Louise Area
Lake Louise Snow Machine Club: $12,926.31
Lower Susitna-Yentna Area Trails
Lower Susitna Drainage Association: $12,926.31
Mid Susitna Valley Trails
Mid Valley Trail Club: $8494.43
Montana Creek Motor Mushers: $2585.26
Petersville Area Trails
Petersville Community Non-Profit Corp.: $16,619.54
Curry Ridge Riders, Friends of Denali State Park: $12,926.31
Willow Area
Willow Trail Committee: $11,818.34
Melissa DeVaughn is an Alaska freelance writer and longtime contributor to Iron Dog, Inc.