Trail damage from Thanksgiving Day storm won't sideline snowmobilers

There may be damage to some routes, but that is no reason to go without a trail pass, saysBen Fitzgerald, general manager of the Newfoundland & Labrador Snowmobile Federation.

There are several areas across the 3300 kilometres of snowmobile trails in the province that need repair after a big Thanksgiving Day storm created numerous washouts last month.

Still, he saidthere are plenty of trails that are accessible and in good shape.

"We do have some issues with storms, but we will always have that," Fitzgerald told CBC Radio's Central Morning on Wednesday.

"People don't stop buying a license for their car just because there is an outage in Terra Nova."

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Some repairs already underway

He said that repairs to trails and vegetation control are ongoing, but the process to fix the storm damage is one that needs to be performed in a methodical manner and by using the correct materials.

"There is ongoing maintenance. Both parks and natural areas are near completion of phase one, which is gathering all of the assessments of the damage, and getting values put to those," Fitzgerald said.

"From there itwill go to an approval phase and from there to repairs and construction. The timeline on that is still unknown, but at the same time it is well underway."

Proper repairs needed

He said the federation is urging snowmobile clubs not to take on large repairsthemselves because it can set back the repair process.

If clubs repair washouts with materials that are not adequate, he said, it creates a situation where the same area is susceptible to damageby the next heavy rain or spring runoff.

Fitzgerald said such repairs could even make the damage ineligible for disaster assistance.

"It is all good intentioned, but the point is that when you do this and when you go ahead and fix that problem, when an assessment comes by or an adjuster comes by, it is not even considered under the federal program because it is has been tampered with."

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He said that while damage to some parts of the Newfoundland T'railwaymay impede snowmobilers from continuing on that route, the federation is working to establish alternatives.

"We are working fast and furious to alleviate some of the burden by working with clubs to open some of those trails," he said.