The Maple Summit Snowmobilers are honored to have PSSA select Doug Langford as the Government Official of the Year. Doug is the Assistant District Forester for Forbes State Forest in Laughlintown.
Doug is a snowmobiler himself and understands what is involved with having a safe enjoyable trail system and riding experience. Doug has a family history of snowmobiling. In the early nineties, when we were installing the first snowmobile trail into the newly reopened Laurel Mountain Ski Resort. We were short on money, manpower, time and equipment. We had to clear many trees and stumps to make this trail and all we had was a chainsaw and basic hand tools. Out of the blue, we received a call from a Dr. Langford offering to help. He showed up with his stump grinder and other equipment. He spent all day, and with his important equipment and help, we were able to create an access trail that was wide enough to get a groomer through and was level and safe. It turns out that the good doctor was Doug's father.
Doug has served in various positions at the DCNR for approx. 20 years. He is well respected amongst staff in the Forest District, as a person that leads by doing, and hops in to give a hand. He is also respected for his many great ideas not only with the snowmobile program, but with other programs he deals with throughout the year. He is a thinker and always trying to improve what he sees. He always returns our calls and/or emails in a timely manner. Years ago, when we had some trail closures, we had to re-route part of our trail system. In the spring, we requested that the DCNR install a new bypass trail so we could have a continuous loop. Several months later they were at work. Doug was one of the people that had hands-on involvement. He has first-hand knowledge of what it takes to have a safe and enjoyable snowmobile trail. This is the Gary Run Trail and is about 1 mile long. With this connector trail, we now have a continuous loop of approximately 15 miles that is wide, groomed, safe and fun to ride.
Doug is now the Assistant District Forester with many responsibilities other that snowmobiling issues. Some of his responsibilities have to do with trail building, maintaining, trail grooming and communications. During riding season, he coordinates the opening and closing of the trail gates with State Forests, State Parks and the clubs that are stewards of the private property where the snowmobile trails are. Part of this requires him to closely watch the weather and make his decisions to open the gates or not. This past December, we received an under predicted heavy snow that came late on a Saturday night, on the last day of hunting season. On Monday morning, he had to focus on coordinating resources to get the roads open and the parking lots cleared with limited manpower. Unfortunately, the snowmobile trail gates could not be open right away. This led to him having to deal with many phone calls from other government agencies, legislators, snowmobile clubs and some unreasonable snowmobilers. This was a no-win situation. These calls slowed down his ability to get the gates open and deal with other important issues. He handled it in a very responsible and professional manner. Doug gained even more respect from our club.
This past February, Doug coordinated and conducted a meeting between State Forest officials, State Park officials, the LHSC, the Maple Summit Snowmobilers, PSSA and the Rolling Ridge Snowmobile club. This was the first ever meeting trying to get all the clubs and groups to work together. It was a very productive meeting. One of the big outcomes will be the first ever open meeting that will be held before the beginning of each riding season. The meeting will be held on State property and be open to all club members, snowmobilers that are not club members, businesses that benefit from snowmobilers and anyone interested in snowmobile related issues. We look forward to this great new opportunity.
Last year, we were going to nominate Doug for this award because of the fantastic grooming job on the snowmobile trails. He felt it was more important that the people that were directly involved with grooming got the award. We nominated the "Forbes State Forest Grooming Team" instead. They won the PSSA award for 2024/2025! Doug is more concerned about his fellow workers getting credit than himself. A true show of character.
The present District Forester may be retiring in the next several years. If we are fortunate, Doug Langford will fill his position. Doug is very responsible, credible, professional, a pleasure to work with and is a snowmobiler himself. We are honored and proud to have nominated Doug Langford for PSSA Government Official of the year for 2025/2026!
Some of the items we are working on during this summer:
- working with Bureau of Forestry on updating signage on some of the trails in our area.
- fall picnic, the fall information meeting with the DCNR and some trail maintenance projects.
While out checking for new possible trail opportunities and connecting with our trail partners we became aware of some changes and important issues that we all need to address.
First off, THE GRILLE at the Sporting Clays near Seven Springs ski resort will be offering some new dining specials and live music. For those that are not familiar with the Grille, this is the best destination ride for snowmobilers in southwestern Pa. Excellent food, drinks, fantastic staff, beautiful building with great amenities. Also, a very close and secure snowmobile parking area.
Secondly and possibly the more important issue, we all need to support and patronize all the businesses, like this, on the trail system so that they will be there when the snow comes. They cannot survive on the limited winter business. If you are in the area or better yet make it a point to go to our snowmobiling dining destinations to get something to eat, drink and have a good time. While there see the beauty of the area during the summer and learn something new about the area. We don't know what we don't know!
Restaurants are dealing with many issues right now: increased supply costs, fuel costs with people not going out as much and some people eating less to mention a few. Let us do what we can now to make sure they are there when we have our snowmobiles out. Do you really want to carry around and eat a cold bag lunch and drink from a can or a bottle when winter is here? Or do you want to sit down in a warm beautiful restaurant, have a hot delicious meal, great drinks, clean bathrooms and meet fellow snowmobilers? Think about it, then do something about it.
Respectfully,
Maple Summit Snowmobilers
