The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 33and property. On its website the
OFSC has stated that some trails
have had to be closed after the
landowner was insulted, annoyed or
endangered by a snowmobiler.
"Behaviours such as riding too late at
night near a landowner's residence,
making unnecessary noise . .
littering, frightening children,
livestock or domestic pets or
damaging property, can have drastic
consequences for the continued use
of the trail."
Jim Campbell, who resides on a
farm north-west of Blyth, doesn't
snowmobile. For many years the
trail, which goes by the picturesque
hamlet of St. Augustine, has skirted
his property, but last year, for the
first time, he was approached about
allowing the club to use his land. It
has been a positive experience, he
said. "There has been no problem
whatsoever. The snowmobilers have
been absolutely super. They have
respected the trail and respected our
farm."
The fact that many of the
landowners are not themselves
snowmobilers is a bit of a changing
trend from the early days, too, said
Howson. "Back then virtually every
farmer had a snowmobile. Now a lot
don't. There's less and less all the
time."
One of the reasons behind this
he thinks, might be the
weather. When it comes to
snow, there is little control and
Howson maintains that the total days
of snowmobiling each season has
changed. "We used to have greater
amounts of snow. You could travel
just about anywhere. Now, it's a
pretty expensive piece of equipment
to only be able to use it a few weeks
each year."
Insurance has also made the sport
less attractive. "The cost has just
risen too much," said Howson. "It
can make it unaffordable for some."
What hasn't changed, he said, is
the farmers' generosity in sharing
their vast properties with the
thousands who still love the sport of
snowmobiling. "We'd have no
snowmobile trails whatsoever,
there'd be no system in this area
without the farmers' co-operation.
We'd be forced to go north to
snowmobile. We can't appreciate
them enough."0
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