(Facebook/Melfort and District Trail Riders)

By Angie Rolheiser

Snowmobile warm-up shelters ‘disrespected’ on Melfort trails

Mar 19, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Warm-up shelters along the area’s groomed snowmobile trails are being disrespected according to the Melfort and District Trail Riders group.

A recent Facebook post by the group’s vice president included a picture of garbage and empty beer cans left in one shelter.

Curtis Parfitt told northeastNOW he and other volunteers are fed up with it.

“We do this on our free time, keeping up these shelters and trails and if this continues it will result in the removal of these shelters,” Parfitt said.

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Parfitt said the shelters are there for people to warm-up on a cold day and not for partying.

“We are encountering more and more of people not respecting the shelters for what they are there for,” Parfitt said.

He said there’s no excuse for a mess when there are garbage cans in the shelter. Parfitt added the snowmobile association has a ‘pack it in, pack it out’ motto.

“If you brought it up it’s real easy to put it back in your bag and when you get home to throw it out,” Parfiit said.

In his social media post Parfitt wrote those making the mess also failed to replenish wood inside the shelters.

Parfitt reminded the public that with the coming of the end of the snowmobile season a few things should be kept in mind. ATV’s or side by sides with or without tracks, dirt bikes, with or without track kits and vehicles will be severely fined for being on snowmobile trails with the new implemented laws.

“If it continues like this, I think what you’ll see is that snowmobiling will dwindle away because you are not going to see members going out and looking after everybody else,” Parfitt said.

Signs have been posted and all shelters are now alcohol-free family zones.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: Angie_Rolheiser