News and Events

Jan 14, 2021

It is January 14, 2021 and we are waiting for snow. I received notice yesterday the West Carleton Snowmobile Trails Association (WCSTA) has 983 Members to date this year through Permit sales. I believe this is the highest number we have ever had this early in the season. We have worked hard in the last several months to have our trails and groomers ready for when we get snow.

I want to thank our volunteers for their continued support to the Board and the Members. Snowmobiling may be the biggest recreational activity in Ontario that funds the development and operation of its trail infrastructure and maintenance and grooming equipment and operations from Member Permit dollars with no ongoing financial support from any level of government. Volunteers do it all, including fund raising.

We face challenges keeping Members informed of new volunteer opportunities. Of the 983 Members, 233 of you have agreed to be contacted for volunteering.  This is very encouraging. We are working to put in place a means to email these people and let them know how they can help on projects, trails or the Board.  You will hear from us shortly.

Below is a message from our Governor, Bruce Robinson on the value of our volunteers and his thanks to those that keep our Clubs running.  Please read it. I want to thank all our volunteers, including the silent people that I do not meet and never hear from. Your time and efforts are appreciated.

As Roy Rogers would say – “Happy Trails to You”. Now we need snow.

Paul McDonald, President

—————————————————————————————————————————–

A Message from Bruce Robinson, Governor, District 1 – December 24, 2020

Its Christmas Eve and I just returned from our church service which was quite different without carol singing and limited to 30 percent capacity but at least we were able to hold it before the approaching lock down.  Christmas is a time to be with our families however for many this Christmas will be much lonelier because many folks are not travelling due to the virus.  So much has changed and it has become very clear to me that we have taken so much for granted.  My Christmas Greeting tonight is for my snowmobile family who I, and many others, have taken for granted.  Each year at this time as I travel throughout Eastern Ontario, I notice the thousands of signs and pickets that spring up in the fields.  Being a trail worker myself, I know how much effort it takes to prepare the trails.  We got the OK to picket our last 2 corn fields just yesterday and there was 4 inches of frost.  Thankfully we had a generator and drill.  But my point is that we take for granted the thousands of hours of volunteer labour to make those trails happen.  Not to mention the work that went on beforehand getting all the land use permissions in order and re-routing around new seeding and new owners that have refused to let the trail on the property.  And this not only happens in District 1 but all across the province.  Imagine that field you picketed connects to the next piece of land and to the next and so on and so on until you have a complete trail system of 30,000 km.  An amazing feat.  Then there is the grooming and then the spring clean up.  Incredibly it happens every year and in spite of disagreeable weather, Bill 100 (remember a few years back), insurance issues, pandemic viruses, and a host of other issues, the volunteers persevere and the trail happens.  And we all take if for granted that the trail will be ready once the snow flies.  So this Christmas message is for all those unsung volunteer heroes who work behind the scenes and never get the recognition they deserve.  A big MERRY CHRISTMAS and THANK YOU.  You are part of the snowmobile family and we appreciate the work you do.  Hopefully the snow will soon arrive so we can at least ride locally and enjoy the fruits of our labour.  Please distribute this Christmas Message to all the volunteer heroes in your club.

Bruce Robinson  

No Change For OFSC Snowmobile Trails At This Time

Posted on 13 Jan 2021 | by OFSC

Trails Remain A Permitted Recreational Activity Under New Regs

OFSC Update Based On Info Available as of January 14 at 9 AM

On January 12^th, 2021, the Province of Ontario announced a second province-wide State-of-Emergency and a new Stay At Home Order. The Order, which has come as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, January 14th and will last at least 28 days. On January 13 at 5:56 PM, the Province issued an Order In Council with the regulations for the Stay At Home Order. This Order In Council specifically allows:

16. Exercising, including,

i. walking or moving around outdoors using an assistive mobility device, or

i i. using an outdoor recreational amenity that is permitted to be open under the Stage 1 Order.

As stated previously in the Stage 1 Order, Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020, Ontario Regulation 82/20 (Stage 1 Order) dated January 11, 2021, in Schedule 3, section 4. (2):  “The following outdoor recreational amenities may open if they are in compliance with subsection (3)” with the permitted uses listed in subsection 16 as “Snowmobile, cross country ski, dogsledding, ice skating and snow shoe trails”.

This means that as of today’s date and time, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) can reconfirm that our snowmobile trails remain a permitted recreational activity, allowable across the province as they have been since the last shutdown began on December 26, 2020, provided that participants comply with all other provincial and local public health unit directives. So, snowmobilers with valid trail permits are permitted to access any available (GREEN) or limited availability (YELLOW) trails at this time, but only within the context of the provisions of the Stay At Home Order that allows local recreational exercise from your primary residence.

Meanwhile where weather conditions permit, grooming operations are also allowed under the new regulations, which grant an exception for “Working or volunteering where the nature of the work or volunteering requires the individual to leave their residence, including when the individual’s employer has determined that the nature of the individual’s work requires attendance at the workplace.”

As per the previously released Flex Trail Plan, the OFSC will continue to keep feeder trails between public health regions unavailable (RED) and are urging all snowmobilers to stay close to home, ride with those in your household in groups of 5 or less, and only ride local trails if they become YELLOW or GREEN. For latest trail availability, please check the Interactive Trail Guide.  The OFSC encourages all riders to respect local communities and ride in as self sufficient a manner as possible.

The foregoing update provides as much clarity as is available at this date and time regarding OFSC snowmobile trails. We remind riders that the OFSC is about riding trails, not travelling to them, so questions about travel restrictions on trailering away from home or outside your public health region should be directed to local law enforcement agencies as municipalities and public health units across Ontario have the authority to enact local restrictions in addition to provincial legislation.

The OFSC will continue to share updates as they become available about snowmobile trails as they become available to ensure snowmobilers are informed. Please check our website, Facebook Page and the OFSC newsletter regularly for these updates.

---

The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) is a volunteer led, not for profit association that provides the voice for organized snowmobiling in Ontario. OFSC snowmobile trails managed by 200 community based, member clubs generate up to $3.3 billion in economic activity in the province each year.

For questions or to schedule a media interview with the OFSC, please contact  marketing@ofsc.on.ca

To view more OFSC news and releases: https://mailchi.mp/8620a2cef4df/industry-newsletter-sign-up/

We are looking for a Volunteer to work with the Board in the Secretary position. We are looking for an individual that can attend our meetings each month through the season, (and a few during the summer) to record the minutes, including actions and decisions of the Board.  The secretary will also help with the clubs interactions with the Upper Canada Snowmobile District which our club is a member of.   Minutes are to be kept in Microsoft Word format, and kept as part of our club records.

Taking on the role of Secretary does not keep you from participating  in other projects or initiatives of the club,. You do not have to be a Director of our club to hold the Secretary position, although this has occurred in the past.

Your responsibilities would include:

• Attend meetings of the Board and produce minutes onc e a month
• Assist in preparation of the Agenda
• Check mail at post office and distribute as appropriate.
• Help track Board decisions and actions

This position has been filled by Doug VanderVelde for a number of years. Doug also takes on a  number of other tasks and we want to lighten his load. Please consider giving some of your time to the Club so that we can continue to provide safe, well maintained trails as well as meet our responsibilities to the OFSC.  For any questions or further information please contact volunteer@wcstai.com, or any of the clubs directors.

At the meeting, the board had updates on preparations for this season. The 417 crossing at Panmure will be closed, which will cause the W19 trail to be split into 2 parts. The Interactive Trail Guide will be updated accordingly. A re-route will not be available this season.

Work is underway to get drags, and groomers ready for the season. A startup meeting is set for groomer operators as well.

Efforts on funding for the W1 bridge crossing of the Ottawa River are ongoing.

Board meeting Nov 10, 7 pm. It will be held at 3680 John Shaw Road, Kinburn.

Due to covid restrictions, this will be kept to directors only. If any member of the club has an item to bring up at the meeting, please contact any one of the directors, as listed in the “About” page of this site.

Big thanks to Dave, Paul, Doug, and Stewart for coming out Sat, and working on a section of W21 in the Carp Ridge

The Upper Canada Snowmobile Region is holding their annual general meeting, on Oct 22, at 7 pm. This was formerly known as District 1, and is the district to which our club, and our club members belong.

Due to COVID-19, the 2020 UCSR AGM will be conducted VIA ZOOM.

Advance registration is required for this meeting to facilitate voting and to confirm attendees. This may be completed here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJApd-qrrTgjHdJqahSfjLIxaqhYEiNUBcaC

The only persons entitled to attend the AGM are the Members (any member of a club within the UCSR), the Directors of the UCSR, the auditors of the UCSR and any other person invited by the Chair of the meeting or with the majority consent of the Members present at the meeting.

Each member will simply need to provide first name, last name, e-mail address, club and position within the club. Each member should register separately and access the meeting from separate computers to facilitate voting (1 computer = 1 vote regardless of the number of people participating from a single computer).

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Additional meeting information, agenda, and voting details will follow shortly.