SNOWMOBILE GRANT AND GROOMING POOL AWARDS

[john]

ALASKA DNR IN THE NEWS

December 3, 2007 Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation

SNOWMOBILE GRANT AND GROOMING POOL AWARDS

Snowmobile Grants Awarded for 2008

The Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 Snowmobile Trail Grant and Grooming Pool awards. The Snowmobile Trail Program is a competitive and reimbursable matching grant. Grants are available for developing and maintaining public snowmobile trails and related facilities and for safety and educational projects. The Snowmobile Trail Program's Grooming Pool provides funding for trail grooming, marking and signage for snowmobile trails.

Grant applications were reviewed and evaluated by SnowTRAC, a statewide citizen advisory committee appointed by the Director of the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation to promote safe snowmobiling and development of facilities statewide. These grants were made possible by snowmobile registration fees paid to the State by snowmobile owners. Continuation of this grant program is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the Legislature of snowmobile registration fees.

•ﾠﾠﾠTesoro Iron Dog Snowmobile Safety EXPO, submitted by Iron Dog, Inc.
The grantee will host a free public festival to promote snowmobile education and safety through presentations, seminars, industry vendors, public safety organizations, and the distribution of educational brochures. Festival will be held indoors at the Wasilla Sports Complex on February 2nd, 2008 from 10am to 2pm.

•ﾠﾠﾠMat-Su Borough Trail Marking and Signing, submitted by the Matanuska Susitna Borough.
The grantee will purchase trail markers and signs for multiple-use winter trails, primarily used by snowmobiles. Markers and signs purchased with grant funds will be distributed to trail groups and organizations who have signed agreements with the borough under the Trail Care Program. The trail groups will be responsible for installation and maintenance of trails markers and signs.

•ﾠﾠﾠPurchase of Utility Snowmobile for Grooming of Juneau Area Trails, submitted by the Juneau Snowmobile Club.
The grantee will purchase a utility snowmobile to enable grooming of Juneau snowmobile trails.

•ﾠﾠﾠSafety Trail Marking from Puntilla Lake to Rainy Pass, submitted by Iron Dog, Inc.
The purpose of this project is to adequately mark the Historic Iditarod Trail from Puntilla Lake to Rainy Pass. The Iditarod National Historic Trail, Inc (INHTI) will purchase materials to construct approximately 220 tripods placed at 300 ft intervals for approximately 12.5 miles of treeless open alpine environment.

•ﾠﾠﾠSnowmobile Helmet Safety Distribution Program, submitted by the North American Outdoor Institute.
The grantee will purchase and distribute DOT approved snowmobile helmets to attendants that participate in the Be Snow Smart presentation. To receive a helmet for $25, individuals must take and return a five question quiz to demonstrate their understanding of critical safety information that applies to winter travel by snowmobile.


2008 Snowmobile Trail Grant Awards:

Iron Dog Inc. was awarded ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$5,000

Matanuska-Susitna Borough was awarded ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$20,855

Juneau Snowmobile Club was awarded ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$9,799

Iron Dog Inc. was awarded ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$7,490

North American Outdoor Institute was awarded ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$15,000

Total Grant Awardsﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$58,144


2007/2008 Grooming Pool Allocations

MatSu/Chugach State Parks was awardedﾠﾠﾠ$94,000

Northern State Parks was awardedﾠﾠﾠ$33,000

Kenai Peninsula was awardedﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$27,000

Southeast State Parks was awardedﾠﾠﾠ$1,000

Southwest was awardedﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$5,000

Total Grooming Poolﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠ$180,000

To obtain more information regarding the Snowmobile Trail Grant Program visit the Alaska Trails web site, email Bill Luck, or call Bill at (907) 269-8699.

[john]

I copied the following from the ASSA web forum and believe this guy in right on as far as DNR handling of funds.

The snowmobile registration fund now has paid for potions of salary for 3 full time employees in PARKS. The rest of their salary comes from Rec Trail grants which are funded though gas taxes collected from recreational vehicles (boats, ATVs, Snowmobiles).

They are not snowmobilers nor do they come from a snowmobile background.

I think a new department should be formed outside the State Parks to distribute funding for projects.

It appears that Sustainable Trails (the new catch word) that is being developed by agencies that rarely allow for motorized use is the theme for the Grant funding. I am very concerned about the intent by the other agencies (DPOR, USFS, NPS) to use these terms to restrict access and not actually provide for multiple uses. The management history of these agencies has proven just that.

The veiled attempt by the DPOR to use the term sustainable trails to determine who gets the grant $$$ is a bunch of crap.

Yesterday, I met with DPOR to determine why the Iron Dog snow trac grant ($9,000 for 15 miles of trail improvement) was not funded. They said it was because an easement was not yet issued even though we had written letter of support saying we would get the easement signed and recorded before winter travel begins out there. The easement has gone though public notice, coastal review, admin decision and easement document are all complete as is a trail location drawing. I asked if we had the easement signed that day would that be acceptable. The answer was no.

Yet DPOR plan to fund the USFS grant for $108,000 for a one mile foot trail on State land…no easement is signed, lots of negative comments from the public, and it is still in the application stage. Who is your buddy??