Parry Sound snowmobilers are frustrated and worried about the local Health Unit’s closure of the region’s trails.
Barrie Wilkinson, President of Parry Sound Snowmobile District 10, tells MyParrySoundNow; “It is frustrating because we have so few cases, and case numbers are looking good compared to provincial ones,”
“We see ourselves (Snowmobilers) as a fairly outdoor activity, and we are definitely frustrated by the fact that we are not able to get out there when some other amenities like the cross-country ski trails are open.” Wilkinson said, “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to people in the snowmobiling community”
Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club trails and trails on Crown land have been closed by the Health Unit since January 18.
This is in addition to skating rinks, tobogganing hills; however, hiking and cross country skiing trails have remained open.
Wilkinson adds, “We have about 11,000 permit buyers between the Parry Sound District and the North Bay District and none of us are able to access our local trails,”
The closures in place are set to be reassessed on Monday, with the hope that snowmobilers will be given the green light soon, Wilkinson says, personally, he is worried the health unit will further extend the closures.
“The economic impact to the snowmobiling community is fairly large because our funding formula is based on deliverables. So when we don’t go out and do our normal level of grooming, we are not getting the funds we budgeted for which costs money,’ He said, “And of course every rider is losing anywhere from $190 to $280 depending on when the permit was bought, they are losing that investment made because they can’t use it,”
Dr. Jim Chirico, medical officer of health, stated at the time that the reason behind the closures was to stop people from travelling from COVID-19 hot spots to the region.
The local Health Unit remains the only one in Ontario to forbid snowmobiling, but Wilkinson says there have definitely been people who have gone on the trails, which the club strongly discourages.
Earlier this week the OPP’s West Parry Sound Detachment reported stopping 174 people while patrolling snowmobile trails.
He says there’s also been travel outside the area for the sport; “There are people travelling mainly to the south because of heavier snowfall, so areas like Gravenhurst and Bracebridge are seeing more traffic and trailers coming from our area,”
“We’re probably getting increased exposure just from the fact that snowmobilers want to ride and are travelling to another district, potentially opening themselves up to exposure” Wilkinson added.
“We all want to do our best to get through this, and no one wants to make this worse” he says, “But now, we have over 20,000 km of trail in the province that is open and that risk of travel to our district is greatly minimized”
With files from Greg Bowman