Farmers stop snowmobilesRiding clubs agree to ban to put pressure on province

By TOM VAN DUSEN, OTTAWA SUN

WINCHESTER -- Fed up with financial support, farmers have reached an understanding with trail riding clubs prohibiting snowmobiles from crossing farms in Eastern Ontario as another means of applying pressure on the province.

The action is being taken despite an announcement, earlier this week from Ontario Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky, providing an addition $125 million to cash-strapped producers.

While the snowmobile season is nearing an end, the ban could have a major impact on the rural economy, with restaurants, motels and gas bars depending on that extra business.

The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs estimates the recreational activity generates $100 million in annual spinoffs from Napanee east to the Quebec border.

Reached at a meeting here this week, the volunteer ban affects 5,000 km of managed trails and members of the 28 clubs who use them. Similar understandings are being struck elsewhere in Ontario. Bruce Robinson, governor of the OFSC's eastern region, said the network of groomed trails is dependent on voluntary agreements with farmers to cross their properties with no compensation other than an annual draw.

"We're with them 100%," Robinson said, adding the federation will launch a letter-writing campaign to MPPs and cabinet ministers. "Without the co-operation of farmers, we wouldn't be able to link the trails."

Admitting the ban will be impossible to police, Robinson said grooming equipment will be parked and "closed" signs will be placed in strategic locations along the trails. Club members will also erect bright yellow "Farmers Feed Cities" signs to show their solidarity.

Insurance paid for by the OFSC covering participating farmers will be kept in place during the ban to cover any incidents involving unsanctioned use of the trails, Robinson emphasized.

NEED $400M

Representatives of farming organizations are counting on club members to complain to other cabinet ministers about the ban, so Dombrowsky "won't stand alone when she asks for more farm support," said John Vanderspank, a Lanark County grain and oilseeds grower and protest co-organizer.

Vanderspank noted only $80 million of the $125 million announced by Dombrowsky is for grain and oilseeds producers, falling far short of what's required to help the industry regain its financial equilibrium.

Vanderspank estimated $400 million is needed from the federal and provincial governments to recapture lost ground in Ontario alone, and to prepare for the 2006 growing season right around the corner.

Between now and planting time, protesters rallying under the Unified Voice banner are considering several actions, including blockading highway weigh scales and possibly border crossings.

They're also withdrawing permission to the Federation of Anglers and Hunters to use their land.

Vanderspank used to run with the militant Lanark Landowners Association as co-founder and second-in-command. After a falling out with president Randy Hillier, he joined forces with Unified Voice.

http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/03/09/1479130-sun.html

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