Our days are numbered.

[moyiesledhead]

Lots of good paying BC jobs from sledders spending money in various areas all over BC as well don't you think. How hard could it have been to allow us a small trail for the rest of the year.

Again.....it's not a small trail, it's a forest service road.....or actually they're properly called "resource roads" in this province these days. Pretty sure nobody lost their job in the sledder service industry in Fernie because they plowed this road. Could very well have been loggers not working if they hadn't.

 

[catrutt]

That may be true this time but ... Trails = sledders = tourist dollars. Can't we all just work together. I want my kids to do this great sport when they are 50 something as well.If the clubs have no say in anything then who is next to come in and shut things down.

 

[moyiesledhead]

That may be true this time but ... Trails = sledders = tourist dollars. Can't we all just work together. I want my kids to do this great sport when they are 50 something as well.If the clubs have no say in anything then who is next to come in and shut things down.

Your bigger fear for getting shut down should be environmentalists, not loggers. Like it or not, this province has a resource based economy, same as Alberta does. Sledder tourism is a drop in the bucket in comparison. Some roads will get plowed every winter for resource extraction, and those of us that spent a lifetime in a good paying career in industry applaud that. I hope the forestry and mining industries that are supporting both my kids good paying careers now are around all the way to their retirements too. Nearly every other resource road in the Elk Valley is still snow covered. This one getting plowed is little more than an inconvenience, yet people are having a hissy fit over it.

 

[FernieHawk]

Your bigger fear for getting shut down should be environmentalists, not loggers. Like it or not, this province has a resource based economy, same as Alberta does. Sledder tourism is a drop in the bucket in comparison. Some roads will get plowed every winter for resource extraction, and those of us that spent a lifetime in a good paying career in industry applaud that. I hope the forestry and mining industries that are supporting both my kids good paying careers now are around all the way to their retirements too. Nearly every other resource road in the Elk Valley is still snow covered. This one getting plowed is little more than an inconvenience, yet people are having a hissy fit over it.

Do you think Canfor could have handled this a little better? I sure do.

The interior of BC is definitely a resource based economy and the tourism industry is definitely smaller, but that doesn't mean that common courtesy should be ignored. To think they would start plowing a maintained trail while sledders were up in the alpine and no prior notification to the FSA blows my mind.

 

[SicLoco]

Do you think Canfor could have handled this a little better? I sure do.

The interior of BC is definitely a resource based economy and the tourism industry is definitely smaller, but that doesn't mean that common courtesy should be ignored. To think they would start plowing a maintained trail while sledders were up in the alpine and no prior notification to the FSA blows my mind.

Thats the forest industry!! They dont even treat their own very well

 

[catinthehat]

Do you think Canfor could have handled this a little better? I sure do.

The interior of BC is definitely a resource based economy and the tourism industry is definitely smaller, but that doesn't mean that common courtesy should be ignored. To think they would start plowing a maintained trail while sledders were up in the alpine and no prior notification to the FSA blows my mind.

You are correct. It could have been handled better with some notification to the FSA. However, not knowing the who,what, when about this lets not go hanging Canfor out to dry.
Who actually plowed the road? Canfor or a contractor?
What was the original plan for this area? It was obviously scheduled for early logging to begin with, how much earlier are they?
When would they be expected to notify the club? The forest companies put out a 5 year plan every year and try to follow that.
The Cranbrook Snowmobile Club contacts all the contractors in our area every fall to get an idea of whether our area will be effected. But even then it's not cast in stone, they will come in early to take advantage of conditions.
Bottom line- it would make no difference, the road would still be plowed.

 

[Bnorth]

Lots of good paying BC jobs from sledders spending money in various areas all over BC as well don't you think. How hard could it have been to allow us a small trail for the rest of the year.

Lots of good paying jobs related to sled tourist dollars? Some jobs maybe but I doubt many are good paying and certainly not lots of them. Probably the only good paying sled jobs are dealer salesman and mechanics. They're both getting more business from locals than tourists and still making less than the guy on the dozer opening the road.

That may be true this time but ... Trails = sledders = tourist dollars. Can't we all just work together. I want my kids to do this great sport when they are 50 something as well.If the clubs have no say in anything then who is next to come in and shut things down.

The forest companies don't give 2 chits about the sledders in fact sledders are more of a headache than anything as they are often riding on plowed roads and not using radios on resource roads. I heard about a guy almost getting a grader wing dropped on him last month. Operator raised the wing to get around an obstacle and a sledder rode under just as he was about to drop the wing again.

 

[lilduke]

Lots of good paying jobs related to sled tourist dollars? Some jobs maybe but I doubt many are good paying and certainly not lots of them. Probably the only good paying sled jobs are dealer salesman and mechanics. They're both getting more business from locals than tourists and still making less than the guy on the dozer opening the road.



The forest companies don't give 2 chits about the sledders in fact sledders are more of a headache than anything as they are often riding on plowed roads and not using radios on resource roads. I heard about a guy almost getting a grader wing dropped on him last month. Operator raised the wing to get around an obstacle and a sledder rode under just as he was about to drop the wing again.

And sledders don't give 2 chit about forest companies.
It's a vicious circle.

 

[moyiesledhead]

Do you think Canfor could have handled this a little better? I sure do.

Sure they could. So could we. In my experience dealing with them, they usually do. But sometimes they forget, especially with short notice changes. And yes, Tembec was better at it. Tembec also doesn't exist any more.