Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy President’s Day!
Spending time outdoors refreshes the soul!
Yesterday (January 27, 2021) I had the opportunity to join the virtual Conservation and Natural Resources Advisory Committee Meeting (CONRAC). The meeting focused on the statistics which indicated the importance of outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania especially during the current pandemic. Several speakers emphasized the increase in participants in outdoor recreation in the state parks and forests during the pandemic. More maintenance, guidance etc. were required due to this increase. There were 46.9 million visits to the above parks and forests with 2,000,000 visits to the PA Wild’s area alone. Statistics include winter sports. As you can imagine this increase in users has a dramatic effect on the local economy including local dealers, restaurants etc. A Lion Poll conducted by Penn State showed that 4 out of 5 Pennsylvanians who visited parks and trails during the pandemic believe that time spent outdoors is essential to their physical and mental health. Furthermore, 75% of these respondents agree that funding outdoor recreation …should be considered a top priority by state and local governments. Contact your state and local officials and ask them to provide more funding for outdoor recreation.
Looking for trail/club information?
PSSA provides the website: www.pasnow.org and Facebook page: “Pennsylvania Snowmobiling” at www.facebook.com/pasnow
Use the website and follow these directions: click on the DIRECTORY TAB across the top on the HOME screen. Click on “Pennsylvania Snowmobile Clubs” on the drop down menu. A map of PA appears. Click on the area you have an interest in riding. Club information populates below the map. It may help to check with the club whose trails you are going to ride before you go on that ride.
If you are interested in riding on trails on state land refer to the DCNR website: www.dcnr.pa.gov/Recreation
Also the Allegheny National Forest(ANF) which is located in North Central Pennsylvania(Region Four) has about 300 miles of trails. You can contact the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) at: www.fs.usda.gov for trails there. Volunteer clubs help groom and maintain much of these trails. The ANF clubs are in Region Four as noted on our website: www.pa.snow.org
Pennsylvania has Reciprocal agreements with many states. One exception is New York. Check with your state if you are from out of state. PA has a Registration Fee but no Trail Permit. Contact the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) at: www.dcnr.pa.gov/Recreation or call 717-783-7941 for further information.
Don’t forget to Join a club and join PSSA.
If you are experiencing problems with plowed joint use roads contact the following for problems in state parks and forests: Troy Withers: twithers@pa.gov
Problems on private land: Contact the local club. Contact information is on their websites found in Directories Tab on the PSSA website. In addition call the local elected officials. This plowing activity hurts the local economy.
All illegal riding should be reported to the local State Police.
PSSA SURVEY
Thank you to those who took the time to answer our Survey. The PSSA Survey was on the website and Facebook. The Board will be discussing and analyzing your responses and moving forward with viable suggestions. Thank you to Arline, Clint, Cindy, Randy and Maura for their input in all phases of this project.
Reminders:
How can you help?
- Clubs please update your contact information.
- Don’t forget to Join a club and join PSSA.
- You can help PSSA by asking Businesses to give a 10% discount to PSSA members. This discount can help reduce the bill significantly for those who take weekend trips / buy accessories. Contact Arline LaTourette (arlinedutton@hotmail.com) for more information.
PSSA is in need of several Regional Directors. Regional Directors are our voice in their area and represent the clubs. Directors are needed for Region Six – Carbon County area, Region Seven – Potter and Tioga County area and Region Ten – Clinton County area. Contact Rich Hayes, Vice-President (rahazey@yahoo.com) or myself (ottilia@roadrunner.com) if you are interested or know of someone who would be a help to the clubs in the area and PSSA. Your help is appreciated.
It is always a great time to donate to your organization PSSA. Contact the Palmyra office for details.
Several years ago the Yellowstone National Forest was compelled to reduce emissions and noise on snowmobiles or close the Forest to riders. Engineers and “die hard” mechanically inclined snowmobilers took up the challenge. The SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge was born. Since then (20+ years) a college/university challenge has been held annually. The focus of this competition is to research and improve/develop technologies that help reduce snowmobile emissions, noise and improve acceleration. Knowledge gained thru this competition has been used by major snowmobile manufactures to improve snowmobiles. PSSA in partnership with Michigan Technological University and other Associations and businesses has been a proud sponsor of this challenge. Now our challenge is to have a team represent PA. What college/university will see this competition as an opportunity to showcase the work of their students? Current information can be found on the 2021 SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge website: https://www.saecleansnowmobile.com/ or the website: www.mtu.edu/snowmobile/ (Note: this competition was founded in Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.)
The PSSA Board continues to meet by way of ZOOM.
Ride Safe and Respect Landowner Property.
Liz Krug, President
