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New Trail Being Blazed In Nebraska For Snowmobile Riders
February 17, 2007
By: Linda Wuebben, Associated Press Writer newsroom@yankton.net
Published in the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan P.O. Box 56 Yankton, South Dakota 57078-0056 605-665-7811 Fax: 605-665-1721 To submit a Letter to the Editor: http://www.yankton.net/letters/ (300-word limit)
Daryl Holmberg, superintendent of the Lewis & Clark State Recreation Area and vice president of the Nebraska State Snowmobilers Association, said he is excited to be part of the first designated snowmobilers' trail in Nebraska. Through a federal program called Recreational Trail Program, grant money has been acquired for a motorized trail. Holmberg said the program is divided into three funding areas: 30 percent is for nonmotorized trails; 30 percent is for motorized trails and 40 percent for multi-use trails. The program is supported by fuel taxes and distributed to every state. Nebraska's share is $1 million, and the program is set up until 2009. The funding for the trail in the South Shore Recreation Area -- part of the Lewis & Clark State Recreation Area -- is for motorized trails, but the only motorized vehicles allowed on the proposed trail will be snowmobiles. The trail can be used in other seasons by hikers, bikers and horseback riders. Park permits will be needed to gain access, and snowmobilers need to have proper licensing for their vehicles. The $180,000 needed for the 6.5 miles of trail was part grant money and part matching funds from the state snowmobilers' group. The state group accumulates funds from their licensing fees, which is monitored by the Nebraska Game and Parks. In past years, the group has used this money to lease land with corridors across farming acres they could use for their recreational sport. With the completion of the trail by late fall of 2007, the snow lovers will be able to cover ground on a 10-foot wide trail in the heavily wooded area near the Missouri River. "We basically tried to follow the contours of the land," Holmberg said. He and other park officials have 3.5 miles already mapped out. They have completed initial grading with a skidloader and cut out trees and brush along the site chosen for the trail. The remaining three miles still need to be cleared, and trees cut out, but it should be ready for fine-tuning this summer as the parks commission will contract the remaining ground work and make use of labor from the federal prison. "The trail will be dirt -- no gravel or pavement -- and the grading should go pretty fast," Holmberg added. Holmberg loves traveling to mountain areas to practice his sport. Wyoming, Colorado and the Black Hills are all great places to snowmobile. "You need powdery stuff, and we don't seem to get a lot of snow around here anymore," he said. But he's hoping for snow next winter so he and other snowmobile
lovers can enjoy the new and only designated snowmobile trail in
Nebraska.
Copyright 2007, Yankton.net.
http://www.yankton.net/stories/021707/news_5410021707.shtml
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Daryl Holmberg 57431 897 Road Crofton, Nebraska 68730-3290 402-388-2580 |