22 STATEWIDE SNOWMOBILE TRAILS PROGRAM (SSTP) REPORT Submitted by Matt Tetreault, Trails Administrator FY 2017 was a hit or miss year depending upon where you were in the state. Some areas had some great riding all through the season and others struggled the entire season. Snow would come and so would a warm up just a day or two later. For many areas snow came late in March, and by that time the ground was warm and there was no trail base to speak of, which meant that not much could be done. Overall, it was a mediocre season. If folks wanted to ride, there was some riding to be had, especially along the trail systems in the higher elevations. If the rain we have received this spring could have only fallen as snow this winter, we would be all set! A special thanks once again to all of the volunteers who created a well-maintained and signed trail system, the great landowners who told the volunteers they could do it and the membership for sticking with us through a challenging season. As we prepare for the winter of 2018 I will leave you with some statistics that recap what happened on the Statewide Snowmobile Trail System (SSTS) during the 2017 season. Year # of Grants rant Dollars Budgete Average Grant $ Disaster Funds (FEMA) 2001-02 147 $400,500 $2,724 none 2002-03 156 $433,543 $2,779 $28,000 2003-04 178 $486,098 $2,731 $20,000 2004-05 229 $574,728 $2,510 $15,000 2005-06 218 $570,000 $2,615 none 2006-07 190 $614,000 $3,232 none 2007-08 175 $524,000 $2,994 $25,000 2008-09 164 $450,236 $2,745 none 2009-10 163 $355,237 $2,179 none 2010-11 156 $385,500 $2,471 none 2011-12 135 $330,000 $2,444 none 2012-13 128 $378,000 $2,953 none 2013-14 146 $280,000 $1,918 none 2014-15 158 $320,144 $2,026 none 2015-16 159 $382,000 $2,403 none 2016-17 111 $335,000 $3,018 $45,000.00 16 Yr Total 2613 $6,818,986 $2,609 $88,000 Trail Construction & Maintenance There are approximately 4,686 miles of groomed trails and 1,500 miles of secondary trails maintained by 121 VAST snowmobile clubs. During the 2017 construction season, there were a total of 111 regular construction projects funded at a total cost of $204,585 and 18 debrushing projects funded at a cost of $15,933. The average cost per mile to construct/maintain the VAST Trail system this past season based on these figures was $47.06/Mile as opposed to a figure of $76.26/Mile during the 2016 season.