With the winter season ticking closer to an end, Ontario snowmobilers are being reminded to stay on marked trails and not venture into rural fields where they risk collisions, trespassing, and a long list of other issues.
The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), the non-profit responsible for coordinating the province’s groomed trails, released a statement asking snowmobilers to respect the property of private landowners.
The OFSC is responsible for over 30,000 kilometres of groomed trails across the province, approximately 60 per cent of which fall on private land. “The generosity of landowners cannot be overstated,” says Ryan Eickmeier, OFSC CEO.
By venturing off trail on private property, snowmobilers risk their own safety. “There could be any number of objects: tree stumps, rocks, water, that are buried under the snow off trail, and the rider wouldn’t know that they’re there until they run straight into them,” Eickmeier says.
If a snowmobiler is injured on private property, it is their legal right to sue the landowner for damages, but Eickmeier points out that snowmobilers are clearly directed to stay on the trail and the landowner could press charges for trespassing.
The OFSC also introduced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this season. Property owners were required to sign it before the OFSC used their land for trails. The MOU protects landowners in case a snowmobiler is injured on their property, backing them with $15 million in liability insurance.
Besides safety issues, staying on trail maintains good relationships with landowners. “When we’re talking agricultural land, there’s a very important reason why the trail is where it is,” Eickmeier says. “There may be winter crops that have been planted elsewhere. There may be farm equipment. There may be other environmental concerns that the landowner wants riders to respect, so staying on the marked trail is critically important.”
An angry landowner could revoke access to their property. And losing one property could put an entire stretch of trails in jeopardy, forcing the OFSC to find an alternative route. “It creates a lot of extra work for our volunteer clubs to go out and try to secure that access,” says Eickmeier.
Land use is negotiated on a property-by-property basis. Each property owner signs a land use permission agreement. Depending on the owner, this could grant the OFSC multiple years of use or a single year of use. When the agreement expires, the OFSC is forced to renegotiate.
Finally, land boundaries aren’t always well marked in the winter. By taking off into an open field, a snowmobiler could inadvertently cross onto an adjoining property. “We have thousands of landowners across the province who graciously allow us to use a portion of their land to put in an OFSC prescribed trail,” says Eickmeier. “That permission is explicit to where that trail is and not adjacent properties.”
By crossing onto another property, snowmobilers could be slapped with a trespassing fine. Typically, these sit around $50. But if a snowmobiler enters a field that’s designated as an enclosure for farm animals, the cost could jump to $15,000 for a first offence and $25,000 for any subsequent offences.
“Our clubs do such a great job of making sure trails are groomed and ready to ride,” says Eickmeier, “There really is no reason to go off trail.”
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