Press Release 

Snowmobiling Economic Benefits Realized Worldwide

     Haslett, MI, November 1, 2011 – The snowmobile community generates over 28 billion dollars in economic activity in North America.  Snowmobiling supports over 90,000 full time jobs and generates millions of tax dollars.  There are many ways that snowmobiling impacts on the economy.  The production and sales of snowmobiles and the related products generates substantive economic impact and employment.  In addition, there are thousands of snowmobile dealers and distributors of snowmobile parts that generate significant economic impact locally and nationally.

    The largest single impact of snowmobiling can be seen in studying the Tourism Activity reports.  In addition to snowmobile tourism, there are many snowmobiling events which generate millions of dollars of economic impact which are not considered in economic impact studies.  Whether it is a snowmobile grass drag, an oval race, snow-cross race or a hill climb, they all collectively have a positive impact on the economy.

    Communities that embrace snowmobiling benefit directly from recreational snowmobiling.  Snowmobilers build trails that make communities more attractive in the winter and summer.  Trails are one of the most sought after community amenities anywhere in North America for prospective homeowners. 

    Along those lines there is a considerable amount of money spent developing and maintaining trails by the snowmobile clubs and associations along with related government agencies and trail partners.  The many weekends in September and October involving trail clean-up, brushing, signing and general repair generate positive economic activity for the community supporting snowmobiling.

    All local businesses thrive during season, as those local businesses provide meals and lodging, gasoline, repair parts, and more.

    Snowmobiling provides considerable health benefits, and the economic impact of healthy vibrant citizens must be considered.  Studies show that snowmobiling requires positive physiological demand that has a beneficial effect on health and fitness.  It has been determined that recreational snowmobiling is associated with moderate intensity cardiovascular demand and fatigue inducing muscular strength challenges similar to other activities such as alpine skiing and rock climbing.  The rigorous physical activity associated with snowmobiling is recognized as being positive by the American College of Sports Medicine and should be considered to be a benefit to the overall economy and to the local region.

    Snowmobiling generates snowmobile trails and supports family activities which helps build friendships and better communities – and a healthy active populace.

Do you use B.C.’s resource roads for work, recreation, or live in or visit rural communities that use resource roads? If so, help us serve you better by contributing to the Natural Resource Road Act Project (NRRA) to improve resource road laws and regulation for the benefit of all users. Comments are invited on a DISCUSSION PAPER that will help build the foundation for the NRRA. The principles and proposed policy framework presented in this discussion paper are the starting point for a single, streamlined law that applies to the construction, maintenance, use and deactivation of all resource roads in B.C. 
For further information about this opportunity to help shape how we manage resource roads in BC, please visit the project website Natural Resource Road Act Project website. 
 
http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2011/10/simplified-resource-road-rules-benefit-industry-users.html

 
 Thank you

Natural Resource Road Act Project Team

Natural Resource Sector Ministries

Province of British Columbia