There are 14 snowmobile clubs that belong to the Fond du lac County Snowmobile Association. The member clubs spent over $103,000
on snowmobile trails, charities, and gifts to the community during the 2009/2010 season.

Each club provided the association with financial and volunteer hour details from their receipts and volunteer logs. A breakdown for the county indicated $5,553 donated to charities, $3000 to youth groups, and $94,600 spent on trail grooming and trail maintenance.

Club members also contributed over 4800 hours of volunteer time. In addition to the time it takes to set-up and take-down trails. Groomer operators spend many hours of their own time, keeping our trails in shape. Even more hours are expended on groomer maintenance and repair, especially during periods of persistent heavy snow. The next time you enjoy a day of snowmobiling out on the trails, be sure to thank our land owners for the use of their land and club volunteers for donating their time to keep the trails marked, groomed and safe.

Look for us this fall as we will again be in the fields preparing them for your winter enjoyment. We will mow the grass on the trails, level the un-even plowing on the farmland and mark all trails with trail blazers and directional signs.

Once prepared the clubs wait for snow. Actual grooming does not always start with the first snowfall. Most trails run on private property which requires we have sufficient snow cover before grooming can start.

The first requirement for a good trail is a good base. Some clubs do not open their trails until the base is established. This requires several inches of hard packed snow. When the base is tore up by snowmobilers who use the trail before it is ready, they delay having good trail conditions that much longer.

The Fond du Lac County Snowmobile Association reserves the right to shut down the trail system where it is learned that snowmobilers are not staying on the marked trail. All snowmobilers should keep their eyes open for those riding off the trail and either ask the violators to stay on the trail or report them to local officials, The future of our sport requires all of us to educate others on the privilege, not the right to use the trails.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature and the lack of sufficient trail funding make trail maintenance an uphill battle. A club must balance spending available funding early in the season with the risk of running out of money at the end of the season. Once available funding runs out, the club must come up with the money from fund raising events within their club to continue trail maintenance and grooming for the balance of the season.

You can help in a significant way by supporting club fund raising events and or joining a club. In fact, you should consider joining or at least donating to any club whose trails you ride on regularly.

If you are a snowmobiler and would like to join a club to help with the trail system you enjoy riding on, we invite you to join a local club in the area. To find a club near you please visit our Web-Site at
www. fdlsnowmobileassn.com or you can call our local AWSC Director, Ray Sippel at 920-533-4279.