Snowmachine trails, programs get $70,000 boost

EOWYN LeMAY IVEY-Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU -- Improved snowmachine trails and more safety programs -- that is what Mat-Su Valley snowmachiners will get for their registration fees this year.

A half-dozen Mat-Su organizations recently received a total of more than $70,000 in Snowmobile Trails Grants. The funds come from the $10-per-season registration fees paid by snowmachiners in Alaska.

While 10 grants were awarded statewide, the program actually had a shortage of qualified applicants, and state officials say about $70,000 wasn't awarded and instead will roll over into next year's grants.

"This year it seemed some of the applicants did not put a lot of time into it … the legal and access questions weren't being fully addressed, and they're not supplying some of the good documentation," said Jim Renkert with the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.

The review process for the grants is fairly rigorous, with members of the statewide citizens advisory Snowmobile Trails Advisory Committee looking over the applications and choosing which will receive money.

"It's good because we know the ones that we do award to we have a high degree of confidence that they'll complete the project," Renkert said.

The grants this year went to a wide variety of groups, including the relatively young Backcountry Avalanche Awareness and Response Team. Just three years old, BAART has received three of the SnowTRAC grants, including this year's $15,000.

"At this time it is our main source of income other than fund-raisers that we do and their various donations," said former BAART president Chris Noakes.

This year's funds will go toward continuing the group's goal of educating people about avalanche hazards. Each winter, BAART conducts avalanche recognition workshops and distributes educational material among snowmachiners. The $15,000 will also go toward BAART's ongoing effort to form a Valley-based search-and-rescue team.

Noakes cited statistics that make Alaska the highest in per-capita avalanche deaths, and she points out Alaska is the only Western snow state that doesn't have an avalanche forecast center. She said BAART will once again be putting the pressure on the state to provide such a facility.

Noakes said she was involved with the effort to get snowmachine registration fees put toward projects like these, and she said looking over the list of grant recipients it is clear the money is going where it should.

The Mat-Su Borough received $15,000 from the grant program. The money will be used to construct a trail underpass for snowmachines beneath West Lakes Boulevard at Orchid Creek in Big Lake.

The City of Wasilla will use its $15,000 to purchase and dedicate two lots in Buena Vista subdivision for public trail use.

Alaska Snow Cats also won $15,000, that it will use in Trapper Creek to groom and install signs along an unplowed portion of Petersville Road from Kroto Creek to Petersville. The area is a favorite among local snowmachiners.

In the safety and education area, in addition to BAART's grant, Iron Dog Inc. won nearly $6,000 that will pay for Iron Dog racers to visit villages along the snowmachine race route to give presentations and distribute information on snowmachine safety.

At the same time, the Lake Louise Snowmachine Club and Wolf Pack Youth Snowmachine Safety Program in Glennallen received more than $5,000 to promote snowmachine safety education in the Copper River Basin using posters, handbooks and a weekend safety program.

Other communities around the state won grant money as well, including $15,000 to be used to groom trails in the Caribou Hills on the Kenai Peninsula. The communities of Aleknagik, Dillingham and Valdez also received grant funds.

The next application period will be during May and June. Grants are available for easement acquisition, equipment rental or purchase, and construction or maintenance of trails and trail related facilities. Matching funds are required for trail development grants. No match is required for safety and education grants.

More information about the grants and the applications are available by visiting www.dnr.state.

ak.us/parks/grants/snowmotr.htm or by contacting Jim Renkert at the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation at (907) 269-8699 or e-mail jimr@dnr.state.ak.us.