Snowmobile Trail Grants Awarded for 2000

The Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is awarding fourteen Snowmobile Trails Grants. Ten grants are being awarded in the acquisition, development and maintenance category and four grants in the safety and education category. These grants were made possible by snowmobile registration fees paid to the state by snowmobile owners. Continuation of this grant program is dependent upon an annual appropriation by the legislature of snowmobile fees collected the previous year.

Grant applications were reviewed and evaluated by the Snowmobile Trails Advisory Committee (SnoTRAC), a statewide citizen advisory committee appointed by the Director to promote safe snowmobiling and development of better facilities for snowmobile use statewide.

ACQUISITION, DEVELOPMENT, & MAINTENANCE AWARDS

Caribou Hills Cabin Hoppers, Clam Gulch. $15,000. Purchase of a trail groomer.

White Mountain Volunteer Fire Department, White Mountain. $15,000. Refurbish and renovate three shelter cabins to be used for stranded travelers and recreational users in Western Alaska and the southern Seward Peninsula.

Chatanika Community Council, Chatanika. $15,000. Purchase of a Tucker Sno-Cat, and a Maxey Trail Groomer for grooming of area trails.

Copper Country Snowmobile Club, Gakona. $15,0

Big Lake Chamber of Commerce, Big Lake. $15,000. Grooming, clearing, signing, and maintenance of approximately 110 miles of trail in the Big Lake area.

City of Brevig Mission. $15,000. Staking the winter trail between the City of Brevig Mission and the Nuluk Shelter Cabin on the Seward Peninsula with flexible reflective markers.

Anchorage Snowmobile Club. $7,560. Grooming trails in Chugach State Park at Eklutna Lake, Upper Huffman, & Bird Creek.

Southeast Alaska Outdoor Club, Ketchikan. $3,380. Brushing and removing deadfall on 2,500 feet of the Harriet Hunt Saddle Trail.

Pilch Land Surveying, Willow. $15,000. Grooming trails that connect Willow with mountain areas to the north and east, including Hatcher Pass and the Kashwitna River. The project also includes maintaining and marking trails.

Lake Louise Snowmachine Club, Lake Louise. $9,464. Surveying six trails in the Lake Louise area, including: Eureka, Tolsona, Crosswind, MacLaren, Moore Lake Loop, and the Cameron Cove Access Trail.

SAFETY & EDUCATION AWARDS

Southeast Alaska Avalanche Center, Juneau. $8,000. Avalanche safety education programs specifically geared to snowmachiners. Programs will consist of indoor workshop and field courses in several Southeast communities.

Fairbanks Snowmobile Travelers/Northern Lights Snowmobile Club. $4,500. Snowmobile safety education and training in Interior Alaska that will include television, newspaper, and radio announcements, development of a safety brochure and safety courses and seminars.

Backcountry Avalanche Awareness & Response Team, Matanuska-Susitna Borough. $15,000. Promote avalanche awareness to all back-country snowmobilers through education and training. Develop and maintain a Mat-Su Borough based response team to assist in avalanche incidents.

Kotlik City Council. $14,048. Mark and sign the trail across Pastol Bay between Kotlik and Point Romanof.