Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers, Inc.

Transcription

1 P.O. Box 341, Mt. Shasta, CA Snow Phone: (530) Home Page: CLUB OFFICERS: President: Dick Cowardin, Vice President: Bill Willison, Secretary: Eileen K. Maier, Teasurer: Ann Whipple, Board Members: Ken Anderson, Russ Elgin, Dion Meadows, David Patrick, Daren Valdez Newsletter: Contents... Meeting Minuets Pages 1-3 Stats-Classifieds Page 3 New Year s Breakfast Pages 4-5 Plowing Map- Page 6 DogSled Race Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers Mission Statement A nonprofit organization of dedicated snowmobilers working together to promote the safety and pleasure of snowmobiling for everyone s greater enjoyment of the sport. We work to retain for your multiple-use and enjoyment your National Forests and other public lands. We provide you with a vital link to others whom enjoy your sport. Regular Club Meeting - 11/08/02 CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order by Dick Cowardin at China Dragon in Yreka at 7:07pm. Sixteen attending. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Minutes approved as mailed from 10/11/02 meeting. TREASURERS REPORT (Anne): Current balance $ Eileen requested reimbursement for newsletter expenses, of $74.00 for stamps and $28.83 for photo copying. Anne gave Eileen a check for $ STANDING COMMITTEES: Nordic Bypass: Nothing happening. Warming Huts/Sheds/Snoparks: 1) Deer Mt./Chuck Best Park: We could get a couple more rows of firewood in the shed, but we think it just might be too late now. 2) 4 Corners/Medicine Lake: There was 6 inches of snow out there Thursday morning. 3) Door Knob: Nothing new. 4) Pilgrim Creek: Nothing new. USFS: 1) Klamath National Forest: Nothing new. 2) Shasta/Trinity Forest: Cliff put up the rest of the high-vis signs on the McCloud side as well as ran a GPS unit on the reroute of the trail through the Xmas tree farm. We still need a map of the route. Groomer Reports: Ei did get the letters off to Serria Pacific and Becket & Becket requesting permission to groom through their property. 1) Klamath report: Nothing new. 2) Shasta/Trinity report: Nov. 7th Kassbohrer is delivering the groomer to Ash Creek. They have not yet scheduled the time to put the tracks on, but Val is going to call Ei' to come help. The review on the Groomer shed went great. The only comment was to have the paving contractor put at least an apron in front of the doors. They also got approval to put up a protective barrier on the inside of the shed. The insulation is easily ripped when something bumps into it so we will be able to protect it somewhat. OHMVR: Klamath was approved for $98,000 - Modoc was approved for $34,000 - Shasta-T was approved for $93,000. There are some open issues involving the Goshawk Territories after Feb. 1 in the Shasta-T, the OHV commission is looking into whether they can have a 'Keep Out Zone' around nesting areas after Feb. 1. Jim Stout said that in the Klamath, they don't worry about Goshawk nesting areas until after March 1. This will be something to be aware of. The OHV commission did not fund grooming in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Humboldt-Toiyabe and Eldorado National Forests. This is something we really need to keep track on; this could become wide spread. CNSA: First Fall Convention was held the end of October. Was very good and successful. CNSA donated $10,000 to the BlueRibbon Coalition for the legal fund, and they just about made that much at the Convention. Was very direct and it seems that CNSA is once again moving forward. Phil & Bobbie Carey along with Dave Holleman attended the Convention. Phil said Greg Plummer, CNSA s President, is doing a wonderful job. It seems that CNSA is taking to a new direction, a good one. There were lots of venders there, the meetings were quick and to the point. Syliva Mulligan is still our Northern CA rep. CNSA is giving away the a years membership to new members. The Page 1

2 Regular Club Meeting - 11/08/02 - continued... Club has not received its application from CNSA for dues yet, we need to call who ever is in charge and find out where it's. Safety: Matt Hill asked Eileen if the Club was interested in having another Avalanche Class? Eileen said yes, Matt said to ask the Club when they would like to have it, he would really like to have 1 hours of class room training and then go out to the snow. Matt said if we could come up with a couple dates soon, we could have the class room training at the Mt. Shasta office and then head up to bunny flats for the on hands stuff after. The class is free of course. Members attending the meeting were very interested in another class. We d like to wait until there is enough snow at Bunny-Flats, then we ll pick a date. Will most likely have to be in January, after the holidays. Public Relations: Nothing new. Medicine Lake Projects (Dick Cowardin & Eileen Maier): Calpine will be doing exploration drilling through the winter around Medicine Lake area. Which means that a part of the Davis Rd. South of Four corners Park (15) and the (77) road to Medicine Lake will be plowed to just about the intersection of the 49 road from DoorKnob to Medicine Lake. We will groom alternate access to Medicine Lake via Little Mt. Hoffman past the glass flows. If you have any questions about it, call Jim Stout, Klamath National Forest at 530/ We will try to get a map in the next newsletter. Mercy Air Ambulance (Barbara McPherson): Nothing new, of course if you'd like to join, call Barbara. Bob isn't getting around as well as he has been and Barbara said that she's just not sure if they'll be able to go snowmobiling this season. Eileen told her to call up here and we'd make sure we'd get a group together to go riding with them. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Bob, and we will see you on the snow. Adopt-A-Highway (Dick Holcomb & Bill Willison): Had a cleanup day on 10/12. Eight people helped out. It went fast and they even had donuts. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Memorial Plaque for Chuck: We have $ donated to the plaque. Eileen still has not started on it. Thank you to the Daudell Family. Phil said that we should see where the historical society gets their plaques done. Wilderness Intrusions: Kenny and Eileen were out this summer and could not find where there were double signs. There are some new signs out, but they seem to be correctly placed. Xmas Tree Farm: Letters sent out by the Club, waiting for permission letters. CORRESPONDENCE: IN: a. Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau renewal Club ad application. b. BlueRibbon Coalition - Grass Roots Support Is Vital To Our Future contribution request. c. Bear River Trail Riders, Pioneer CA - Requesting letters on no funding trail grooming for the Lake Tahoe Basin & Huboldt-Toiyabe National Forests. d. Old Corral Hotel & Steak House, Centennial WY - Information Brochure e. Rogue Snowmobilers - Siskiyou County Sportsman Association - KARE newsletters, OSSA. OUT: 1. Letters to Seirra Pacific and Becket & Becket requesting permission to groom through their property. NEW BUSINESS: New Memberships: Richard & Laura Leonard. Renewed Memberships: Gary Balanesi, Ken & Darla Barnes, Phil & Bobby Carey, Central Equipment, Cary, Chase & Michaelle Clarke, Doug Daudell, Dennis Fitzgerald, Bill Glodowski, Griffin Green, Darby Hayes, Dick & Nancy Holcomb, Ron & Rosalie Lindvig, Bob & Barbara McPherson, David & Donna Patrick, George & Carrol Riccomini, Kale & Kristen Riccomini. Dealer Giveaway Memberships: Eileen did talk with Matt & Dave from Yreka Extreme Sports in Yreka about the Dealer Program. She also invited them to attend this meeting, but might not have given them enough lead time to make the meeting. Membership Status: Last years numbers: 75 Memberships with 170 Members. So far this year we have: 30 memberships with 60 members, and 2 new memberships. The DogSled Races: Planned for February 2003 have been canceled. They would still like to have them sometime in the future, but said they would contact the Club earlier for help and ideas. Eileen: Eileen will not be holding any Club offices next year! We will need someone to take her place! Club Family Rides: Dion Meadows would like to have Club Family Rides. He now has Friday s and Saturday s off, so he d like to have them on a Saturday. These would be rides for all Club members, maybe even friends that are not Club members. Maybe even someone you know that would like to go snowmobiling, but you just can t find the time to take them. We could have BB-Q s at Jack Rabbit Flats or rides out of the parks or both. These rides would be for young children and maybe older riders that don t get out much. Dion said he would be happy to chair them. Members attending the meeting thought it to be a great idea. Dion can pick a weekend, and we ll go from there. Maybe have one in January and one in March. Page 2

3 Regular Club Meeting - 11/08/02 - continued... GOOD OF THE ORDER: Your Riding Areas: No snow yet. Duck Award: N/A. Classifieds: See page 3. UPCOMING EVENTS: 1) Sunday, December 8th - Club s Christmas Breakfast at Chuck s Park, starts around 9:30am. Dick asked for volunteers Several member said they d help and Eileen said she would chair the event and make sure we had everything we need. (The date was the 1st, but it was changed because that s Thanksgiving weekend.) NEXT MEETINGS: CANCELLED & CHANGED CANCELLED & CHANGED Board Meeting: None Scheduled. Regular Meeting: Meeting to follow the Christmas Breakfast, but usually does not. Phil said we need to have nominees for offices. Board Members were elected last year, so they still have 2 more years to serve. Membership News: Newsletter Label: Please check your address label. The (Sept. 02) next to or below your name means your membership is good through September, The (Sept. 03) next to or below your name means we received your dues for this season. If you feel this information is incorrect, please contact Eileen. If there is a (Comp) there, the newsletter is a complimentary copy for nonmembers. Copies go to every member, to local Chambers of Commerce, local Visitors Bureaus, to local FS reps, and to State snowmobile organizations. This mailing we sent out 97 newsletters. The campaign is going great, we have lots of addresses, over half. I will again forward any and all information that has to do with snowmobiling and/or and rights. I don t expect you to read all of it, but some of it is very interesting. I d like to thank everyone for renewing and welcome our new members. It is important that we keep our total Club numbers high. We are having to fight harder and harder to keep our riding areas open, and with all of your help, we will make a difference. Eileen CLASSIFIEDS: CLUB STATS: CITY: MEMBERS: Bend, OR 1 Burney Chico Cottonwood Dunsmuir 3 Fairfield 1 Ft. Jones Fremont Gazelle 1 Gerber Grenada Keno, OR Klamath Falls, OR 1 Lake Shastina Livingston, TX Macdoel 1 Magilen 1 Medford, OR 2 Montague 2 Mt. Shasta 6 Oroville 1 Phoenix, OR 1 Red Bluff 1 Redding 1 Salem, OR 1 San Carlos S. San Franisco 1 Shasta Lake Tahoe Trinity Center Weed 1 Woodland 1 Yreka Total Memberships=32 Total Members= 63 Childeren= 12 New Members= 2 Dealer= 0 Remember to list your snowmobile related classifieds:!!!!! FOR SALE: 4-Place snowmobile trailer. All wiring and lights recently replaced. Excellent condition. $ Please call Kenny at 530/ S O L D !!!!! FOR SALE: 2000 Polaris RMK 800, 136 x 2 paddle track, skid plate, windshield bag miles. $ Firm. Please call Dean Whipple 530/ !!!!! To place your snowmobile related ad in S O L D the Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers Newsletter contact the Editor, Eileen K. Maier at or <graphicsbyei@snowcrest.net>. Ads will be removed after 4 months. Page 3

4 Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers New Year s Breakfast Sunday, January 12th, 2003 At Chuck Best Memorial Park (Deer Mt. Sno-Park) ** Need cooks if you have the time! ** WIN A DOOR PRIZE! (Must be present to win.) Page 4

5 Win A Ham for the New Year! Tickets $2.00 ea. Ham donated by Tony and Eileen Congi at Tony s Meats in Dunsmuir. 50/50 RAFFLE Tickets $2.00 ea. Club Gets Half... Winner Gets Half!!! Page 5

6 Dog Sled Races back on again. The sleddog Race has moved to the weekend after the three dayer, Feb. 22nd & 23rd. If you are interested in the agenda, please check out their web site at com Phil Carey, Dick Cowardin, Michele Valdez and Eileen Maier met with Eileen Burke-Trent, Director of the Race, on Tuesday, November 19th. The meeting went well and we were able to get our safety questions and concerns addressed. We were able to review their Race route, which we modified by the 4-Corner Snowmobile Park due to CalPine plowing and rerouted them away from the Christmas Tree Farm. Eileen wrote a letter to Eileen Burke- Trent from the Club supporting their event as long as our Club concerns were met. The Letter was distributed to the Club s Board of Directors and approved by a majority of the Board. The Letter was sent to Eileen Burke-Trent and those copied in the letter on Monday, November 25th. We did support the Race, with some guide lines on safety issues. The dogsledders could become great allies for us, so it's necessary that we share our trails. Also, Eileen spoke with several other snowmobilers with CNSA that share snowmobile trails with dogsleds. The over all consensus is that everything goes well, and we enjoy each other. With the OHV commission denying funds to so many trails, it's good to have a non-motorized voice behind us. The Race will begin Saturday at Pilgrim Creek around 2pm. It will be mostly ran at night. They will leave Pilgrim Creek, go to 4-Corners Park to Chuck s Park then back to Pilgrim Creek. They should start arriving at the finish at Pilgrim Creek around 2pm on Sunday. CalPine Snow Plowing Area Road Plowed 1 & 1/2 lane for vehicles 10 ft lane for snowmobiles Eileen Burke-Trent, Director Mt. Shasta-McCloud Sled Dog Race for Search & Rescue c/o Fourteen Angels Foundation, Inc. 738 Justeson Road Gridley, CA Dear Miss Burke-Trent, RE: Comments regarding the proposed Mt. Shasta-McCloud Sled Dog Race for the weekend of February 21, 22, and 23, Road plowed - No snowmobiles New priority groomed trail for snowmobiles CLUB S SLEDOG RACE LETTER First of all, thank you for taking the time and drive to meet with Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobile Club members (Phil Carey, Dick Cowardin, Eileen Maier, and Michele Valdez) on November 19th in Yreka, CA. It was a pleasure to finally meet you and discuss our questions, concerns, and issues involving your proposed Sled Dog Race. At our meeting we reviewed your proposed Race date and time, Race start and finish area, Race checkpoints, and Race routes. We referenced the "Tri-Forest Snowmobile Trails Modoc, Shasta- Trinity, and Klamath National Forests 2001" map provided by the USFS and paid for by OHV Winter Grant Funds. These are our recommendations and comments: 1. We appreciate changing your Race date from a busy three-day weekend when snowmobile use is highest to a regular two-day weekend. It would also be nicer if the Race could take place in late March or early April when snowmobile trails are less busy, but we understand the weather is too warm that time of year and would be too much of a hardship on the dogs. Dates later in the season are also tied up with other current evens. 2. Since the race is scheduled to start around 2pm on Saturday, February 22 and run though early afternoon on Sunday, February 23, the overall impact of snowmobile and sled dog team contact should be at a minimum. 3. We felt that your starting and finishing area utilizing the Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park could be possible as long as there were not too many entries in the Race. The Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park can not accommodate an abundance of vehicles with snowmobile trailers along with a great number of 'Dog Trucks'. Snow plowing of the access roads and parking areas become more difficult with increased snowfall and the roads and parking areas become smaller with high piled snow. If the Race becomes an annual event and brings in a great number of competitors, the starting and finishing location will have to be changed. 4. Checkpoint 1 (one) at Four Corners Snowmobile Park and checkpoint 2 (two) at Deer Mt. Snowmobile Park should suffice your needs due to Page 6

7 the late check-in times. Most snowmobilers should be gone from the Parks. Also, less 'Dog Trucks' will be at these areas due to teams arriving and leaving at different times. Once again, as the Race could grow over the years, these areas might not be able to accommodate the increased traffic. 5. As for the Race route, we have suggested a couple of changes to your draft route. Once again we referenced the "Tri-Forest Snowmobile Trails Modoc, Shasta-Trinity, and Klamath National Forests 2001" map. First, due to road plowing by CalPine out of the Four Corners Snowmobile Park; primary forest route 77 (forest route 44N50) (trail intersection junctions #20, #22, & #23) can not be used. We suggested an alternate route, which sled dog teams will double back at trail junction #26 using forest route 43N15Y and 43N77 to primary forest route 15 (trail intersection junctions #34, #35, #37, #19 & #20). Second, due to private property snowmobile trail grooming agreements, non-priority grooming trails, and big snow drifting issues; we feel proposed Race route forest route 42N16 starting at trail intersection junction #11 and ending at #9 should not be used. We suggest going past trail intersection junction #11 to #50 and taking forest route 43N44, 42N09, 44N10, & 44N70 (trail intersection junctions #44, #43, #42, to #10) to primary forest route 19. This route will add some miles to the race, but is one that can be kept open either by grooming or snowmobile use. We also discussed some major concerns from several Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobile Club members: 1. Dog feces: We would like all three Snowmobile Parks and the total 135+ miles of Race route cleaned of all dog feces. This is a potential health problem and huge concern of Club members. Snowmobiles can throw snow over 40 feet, if dog feces is on any trails it can be thrown on snowmobiles and riders. Several riders have gone to an open-faced helmet, thus resulting on dog feces directly on ones face. Also groomer personal could come in contact with the feces when servicing or working around the groomer. The feces can not be placed in Snowmobile Park toilets or trash cans. You assured us that the entire Race route and Snowmobile Parks would be cleaned of all dog feces. 2. Signage: You assured us that all Snowmobile Parks, Race route trails and trail intersections will be multiplied signed so that snowmobilers will know there are dog sleds using the trails. The Club will help out with notifications of the Race to snowmobilers through newsletters and networking. 3. Snowmobile Park size: You feel the three Snowmobile Parks are large enough to accommodate the number of dog sled entries and possible snowmobile users for this Race. These Parks may not be large enough in the future. 4. Possible snowmobile and sled dog collisions: A major concern of the Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobile Club membership is a collision between a snowmobile and a sled dog team. Snowmobiles travel at a high rate of speed on the groomed trails; we could run into major problems around blind curves where sled dog teams must cut the curve to make the turn. There is a very good possibility that someone can get hurt. You assured us that multiple signing will be used as stated above in item number 2 (two). You also informed us that there would be spotters, people with ham radios, and Search & Rescue personal from the sheriff's office on the trails at a verity of locations thus providing traffic control. This is still a major concern of ours, we don't want anyone hurt and that goes for the dogs too. You assured us that you did not see this as a problem, that you have had great success at other areas using snowmobile groomed trails with snowmobiles and sled dog teams on the trails together. 5. Trail grooming problems: We expressed our concerns that there is a great possibility that the entire Race route could or would not be groomed. As snowstorms hit, it is impossible to keep that many miles of trail groomed. Groomers can only groom at 4 to 6 miles an hour thus making it impossible to cover 135+ miles in a day. You let us know that the sled dog teams must travel on some kind of groomed trail. You said that you had already spoke with Jeff Burcher with the Klamath National Forest, Goosenest District, along with Dave Nicholson from the Sheriff's Department and they assured you that the trails would be groomed. If not from snowmobile trail groomers, then from snowmobiles themselves packing down a trail in front of the sled dog teams. You asked if the Club would like to help out with this. Members attending the meeting are unable to help due to prior commitments, but we will bring it up at future meetings and see if we could gather some volunteers for you. As this still remained a concern to us, you felt it would be no problem. One final issue was brought up at our meeting. We do not wish to see any OHV Winter Grant Funds used by the Forest Service or Sheriff's Department to help with this sled dog Race. The OHV Commission has already approved our seasons OHV Winter Grant Funds and this event was not funded in the grant requests. Because we are only allocated limited funds per season, the strain from this event would cut deeply into our OHV funds for the season, thus cutting our snowmobile trail grooming season short. It would be totally unfair and unwise to use OHV Winter Grant Funds to pay for dog sled grooming, law enforcement, personal time, or any other support from the Forest Service and Sheriff's Department. If this Race becomes an annual event, maybe your organization could put in for Grants to help whit the cost of covering some of the expenses or the Forest Service and Sheriff's Department could plan ahead and add additional funding requests for the event. After reviewing the information you provided, and expressing our concerns, it appears that you are very willing to help keep the area undisturbed and have as little impact on snowmobiling as possible. We also feel you have addressed our safety issues. We feel an annual dog sled race would be great for tourism and Siskiyou County. Although there may be some Club members that for one reason or another do not wish the sled dog Race to happen, our Club wishes to show our support for the "Mt. Shasta- McCloud Sled Dog Race for Search and Rescue 2003". We do of course support the event with the understanding that the above listed safety issues and items are handled. The Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobile Inc. Board of Directors and not the general membership have approved this letter due to time constraints and general meeting dates. Thank you for your time and for keeping us in the development loop. If there any questions I could answer please don't hesitate to contact me at the below address. Sincerely, Eileen K. Maier Secretary, Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers Inc. 730 Greenhorn Road, Yreka CA graphicsbyei@snowcrest.net 530/ Cc: Stacy Smith, Special Use Officer, Shasta-Trinity NF, Mt. Shasta RD Ed Hatakeda, Recreation Forester, Shasta-Trinity NF, Mt. Shasta RD Jim Stout, Resource Officer, Klamath NF, Goosenest RD Jeff Burcher, Klamath NF, Goosenest RD Dave Nicholson, Administrative Sargent, Siskiyou County Sheriff Page 7

8 Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers: ---CBMP=Chuck Best Memorial Park (Deer Mountain Park) ---TBA=To Be Announced ~2002 ~December 8, Sunday = Christmas Breakfast/ Regular Meeting - CBMP at 9:30am, meeting after (maybe). Chairperson: Eileen 530/ NEW~December 13, Friday = Regular Meeting with Nominees for Officers - Silva s in Weed at 7pm. ~December 31, Tuesday = New Year s Eve Potluck. CBMP at 7pm. Night ride if possible. ~2003 ~January 10, Friday = Board Meeting/Regular Meeting with Elections - Silva s in Weed. Board Meeting at 6:30pm, Regular Meeting at 7pm. NEW~January 12, Sunday = New Year s Eve Breakfast. - CBMP at 9:30am. Chairperson: Eileen 530/ ~February 14, Friday = Regular Meeting - China Dragon in Yreka. Dinner at 7pm, meet- CANCELLED & CHANGED CLUB SCHEDULES FOR SEASON: Sno-Riders: *All events are subject to change due to whether etc. Chiloquin Ridge Riders APRIL ~TBA = Regular Club Meeting MAY ~TBA = Regular Club Meeting-Election of Officers/Banquet Rogue Snowmobilers: Pres: Dave Elder 541/ TBA=To Be Announced ~2002 ~Dec 3, Tuesday = General Meeting 7pm - Roosevelt School ~Dec 7, Saturday = Christmas Tree Ride/Chili Feed Springs ~Dec 14, Saturday = Winter Banquet 7pm - Diamond Lake ~Dec 26, Thursday = Board Meeting Klamath Basin Snowmobilers: ---TBA=To Be Announced ~2002 ~December 5, 7pm = Snowflake Parade ~December 10, 6:30pm = General Fairgrounds ~December 17, 6:30pm = Christmas Fairgrounds ~December 22 = Club Ride - TBA ~2003 ~January 4, 5pm = Crab Fairgrounds Mt. Shasta Sno-Mobilers, Inc. P.O. Box 341 Mt. Shasta, CA Page 8