As the British Columbia Snowmobile Federation enters its 44th year, we should take the time to reflect back at our accomplishments as a provincial organization. To many people snowmobiling is their favorite pastime in the winter but to some it means a lot of hard work to continue maintaining access to our favorite riding areas. Along the way the BCSF and its members have continually taken snowmobiling in our province to another level. Building on and improving our programs while still fighting to keep areas accessible. To our members this is not new information, but the rest of the snowmobilers in BC have no idea, and its time they found out!
The BCSF has built many successful programs over its years and yet strives for more every year, why? Visionary planning, that’s why. Good Visionary planning shows you the direction to go based on where you want to be, or what it is you want to accomplish. We offer programs that benefit all snowmobilers and take into consideration future needs. Over the past years, the BCSF has enhanced many of our programs.
One being the Sledsafe Safety program and the many courses it offers to all people using snowmobiles whether for work or play we have the safety course for you. Through hard work and determination, we have built a program that encompasses seven courses, except for avalanche. To include that component into our program we needed to have the availability of trained professionals that could instruct courses around B.C. to our member clubs. We now have that access and the list is on our web site. This year we are working with the provincial government and the four snowmobile manufacturers to make sure these courses are being offered in your community. Some communities may already offer avalanche courses, but remember we offer a whole safety program including youth training and Snowmobile Patrol training for clubs wishing to take their safety program up another notch. Program information on these courses is a click away on our website and booking a snowmobile safety courses is as easy as contacting the BCSF provincial office.
Environmental Stewardship is another program that benefits all snowmobilers and our environment in B.C. The BCSF in partnership with the Ministry of Environment has produced an Environmental Stewardship Manual for snowmobilers of British Columbia. This manual contains information that will help trail managers, club land-use officer’s, and interested snowmobilers who want to know more about laws, the environment, operating procedures, code of ethics etc. For clubs, this manual may prove to be very important and helpful when dealing with other users or at land-use processes where not everyone around the table has a good understanding of snowmobiling and environment issues. To provide a manual with this much information requires a lot of work. The Environment committee of the BCSF has worked very hard with the BC Commercial Snowmobile Operators and Provincial ministry staff to accomplish this. Of course, our environmental stewardship program offers more than just a manual, it offers posters, sign standards, Stewardship Management Agreements templates, and now a recording/ monitoring form for clubs so they can record observations of animals, or activities of people who don’t abide by the rules or laws. This form was developed through a partnership with the BCSF and MOE, and SARCO. They worked with our environment committee to make sure the clubs will have a form that provides a copy for the club and one for the government, thus creating a paper trail that will help with compliance issues and show all snowmobilers how serious we are about the environment in which we ride. All of this information can be downloaded off our web site at www bcsf.org very soon!
As you all know, the Mountain Caribou has been an issue many clubs and the BCSF have been dealing with for many years. This summer we have been busy trying to finalize Stewardship Management Agreements between clubs and government. For the most part many agreements have been made, and at the time of writing this, only a few areas have yet to be resolved. We are hopeful that solutions can be reached in order to give some hard working volunteers a break. As said before, the Environment/ Wildlife committee has met many times to deal with these issues and to work with the Ministry of Environment on the development of a provincial monitoring/ reporting form. To some this may not be a huge deal, but to many clubs and their members it represents an opportunity to record sightings and violators. Unfortunately it takes only a few non-compliant snowmobilers to have us all painted with the same brush, these people need to be held accountable. The monitoring part of the form will give us this information and a paper trail we’ve never had. This also will show habituation in some of our areas, and record where else we see animals even outside areas of concern.
The list goes on with our programs. The BCSF has built a unique partnership with Capri Insurance. It used to be that clubs only worried about a General Liability insurance and only a few ever carried cabin insurance. Today the Sled Safe Insurance program offers not only your club insurance but also policies that cover all your personal needs. For more and more people, having proper insurance coverage means everything and at the BCSF we want to make sure everything a club or member needs is available through this program. Yes CGL is the number one item on the list but cabin, groomer, Directors, Third Party Liability, and snowmobile insurance are all offered. This program has discounts for members and provides coverage’s that ensure we have good protection. No the BCSF is not in the insurance business, but we have built a relationship with a company that understands our requirements, and are there to make sure all our needs are looked after. They also recognize we are a non-profit organization and support us by being one of the BCSF’s biggest sponsors. Any insurance questions can always be directed to Clayton Prince at Capri Insurance, @ 1-250-860- 2426 or check it out on BCSF.org and click on the Capri button.
Another program that started many years ago but fell off the plate provincially is Trail Development. A lot of hard work has gone into trails in BC by local clubs and in the mid nineties a provincial trail project was started called the Gold Rush Trail. This trail was developed from 70 Mile House to just about Horsefly, although never totally completed it was useful in highlighting the obstacles that all clubs face. Things like road crossings, riding right of ways and riding on forest service roads. A lot of lobbying went into this project in order to get it off the ground, and at the end of the day, it was a trail that many use, but fell short on total completion. Just recently after an eighteen-month government lead process, with all major trail users in BC at the table including the BCSF representing the snowmobiling sector they realized the following. The process brought a few issues to the forefront but concluded it is apparent we need to continue to push forward with snowmobile trails in BC. The BCSF board had a Trail Committee and since its reformation, much headway has been made. We are working hard to develop a process within the BCSF that will allow us to help move the issues along. The first trail manual should be available this fall and already we have some clubs underway with trail projects in their areas. Funding has always been a problem and the BCSF has been working with Government to find funding solutions. We hope that this will be a possible future backing. There are still obstacles to overcome, but through hard work we will have connecting provincial snowmobile trails in the near future, stay tuned!
Our Provincial Signage standards program is now two years old and manuals are still available on line or at the BCSF office.
Our BCSF Membership program still offers member clubs the standard information packages including posters, benefits brochures, updated contact lists and this year we are proud to offer members a chance at some cool prizes. To qualify for this new membership drive you must sign a new member up with your club, which will be verified by our database. Print Trail Permit Number of the existing member who encouraged and signed up a new member, on the top of the new members snowmobile permit (top of the permit page) and the office will enter the existing member and the new member’s name into the draw. Prizes will be announced soon. Considering the value of the programs and initiatives offered by the BCSF plus, all that each club offers by way of: trails, cabins etc, far exceeds the few dollars paid to become a member!
The Lets Ride BC campaign is going very well. At the end of August, Roger, Clayton and I, were accompanied by Alex, Craig, and Doug (members of the BC Commercial Snowmobile Operators), to a planning session with people from Tourism BC. It was a facilitated meeting with an Agreement to work together to build aspects of snowmobiling in British Columbia, including memberships. There will be funding provided for this program, with a $5000.00 check in the mail to develop pamphlets and promote. The spotlight this fall will be on the Let’s Ride B.C. Snowmobile & ATV Show Oct 31 to Nov. 2 at the Vernon Recreation Complex. Free admission, for all!
Last but not least, this season the BCSF is proud to announce the ‘BC Snowmobilers, MakingGreener Choices initiative! This new program will provide all the updated information concerning snowmobiles, from emissions to riding tips. Snowmobilers Making Greener Choices program launches this fall as promised and is supported by many BCSF sponsors. Look for more information on our web site soon!
As you have read, the BCSF and its’ member clubs continually strive to set the bar higher, of our standards and the programs we offer. Not only for our members but also for the many programs we offer to all snowmobilers in British Columbia. The British Columbia Snowmobile Federation is still the recognized voice for snowmobiling in British Columbia, and is an integral part of standards and policies related to snowmobiling, both provincially and nationally. We are members of the Canadian Council of Snowmobiling Organizations, Canadian Avalanche Association, Outdoor Recreation Council, International Snowmobile Congress, IASA, and are supported by the Snowmobile Manufacturers. The BCSF has built good relationships with many government ministries, establishing an open door to many key ministers. For that, we are proud to say thank you for the past forty-three years, and look forward to a successful forty forth year.
Thank you
Les Auston
General Manager
BC Snowmobile Federation
Recreation Division
