just another rant

this winter we let the local snowmobile club cross are farm and use are bridge to cross the river ,it would be miles to go around the river and gully ..well thy set up fences and signs warning of sensitive crops .well today we went back to scout for birds and check the river for bows .we have a cabin that we agreed to leave open for a warming shelter .well we were pissed at what we found first 68 little trees in the field were destroyed drove right thru the fence and over the trees the garbage and beer bottles were everywere along with a ton of trash in the cabin and all around the river .it Is a disgrace what people will do to others property .I think we are going to put a stop to this next year .we do buy a trail permit and do ride the trails but would never leave a mess like what we found today ,,why would someone drive thru a caution tape and drive thru a field of baby trees when it is clearly marked part way down with snow fencing and caution tape the rest of the way ,,,and a big sigh saying sensitive crops ..we spent three hours cleaning up the cabin and the area around it and I got 400 beer cans and bottles and a lot of whiskey bottels .it is a shame ,,Dutch

I would contact OFSC and demand payment for damages, tell them flat out they are absolutely banned for life from your lands unless they replace every single tree, plant it at there cost. Make them remove the garbage again at there cost. If you make it public in a news report both on television and in the papers the "bad Press " will help force there hand. Sounds harsh, but I have seen it applied and it works quite well. REPORT THE DAMAGES TO THE POLICE AS VANDALISM BY THE LOCAL CLUB< WATCH HOW FAST THEY COME TO YOUR DOOR!Savage308

Well,let's see,you have $40 worth of empties,so,truck 'em back to the Beer Store,although,that's hardly compensation. Take photographs of the damage,demand they pay the cost of new trees and the re-planting and e-mail them to the OFSC along with a letter telling them that next year,don't even ask. Repair your fences and properly post the property. I have friends who dealt with the same thing and,after much coaxing, decided to give them one more chance this year. This time the damage was worse. Somebody even stole the hose and manual pump from his Diesel fuel storage tank in his "back 40",ripped down 140 feet of split-rail to use for firewood and left him with 3 dead batteries,five oil jugs,a pair of women's panties,a fire pit and a bunch of used condoms. Lesson learned,let me tell ya.

I'm not a snowmobiler but, it sounds like the OPP need to patrol in your area. With all those empties, I would guess a few impaired riders were out there. Sad news.

In February I was assaulted, threatened with bodily harm when I questioned 2 snowmobilers about driving over our properties, septic and water systems beside the house. They told the cops that they didn't know what I was upset about as they do this all the time. This is a short cut for them from the OFSC trails to some of the local services. OFSC is a joke and could well use to be cut off some access to some properties just to hear them squawk about no place to ride. I'm getting together with the neighbours around my place to see what we can do to have the issues with the trespassers from the OFSC trails resolved.

I say bill them heavy and cut them off Dutch as there is an obvious lack of respect.

outback

The best way to solve this is to boot them the hell off your land. Clearly they aren't very good at policing themselves. I rode and bought permits for over 15 years and gave it up because I was sick of the drunken idiots. It's unfortunate that the good ones have to pay but there is no other way to make them understand. The OFSC have all kinds of problems. A trail warden tried to kick my buddy off his own property that he allowed a trail onto. Next year they're out.

OFSC should have never been given any authority to police the trails. It should have been the sole domain of the OPP only on Crown land. I swear that if I have one more "warden" tell me I need a trail permit to walk trails when I'm not even using a snow machine..........

It's really a shame there are so many ignorant pigs who feel entitled. Now what if one of those drunken morons injured themselves on your property. I'm sure they would sue you.

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Originally Posted by rippin_355

It's really a shame there are so many ignorant pigs who feel entitled. Now what if one of those drunken morons injured themselves on your property. I'm sure they would sue you.

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That's the beauty of the Trespass to Property Act and The Occupiers Liability Act. Unless the property owner does something stupidly neglegent like leave an uncovered well open,the onus and liability is on the occupier-meaning the snowmobiler or trespasser. The owner can't be sued.

Dutch,
Sorry to hear that you have to clean the mess left by others after extending a kindness. I guess my first thought was that if the same kindness had been extended to allow hunters on the property and there was a mess then there would be many up in arms, especially given the combination of booze and firearms.
Yet here we have people operating machines + booze in a situation that lends evidence that a recipe for disaster was in the making. I agree with the other posts... time to lodge a formal complaint and begin the process of making those responsible fess up. If it were me there would already be a large fence up with signs...

I'd be demanding the OFSC pay for damages to the trees, and never allowing them on the property again. Enough of that crap.

Sounds like pretty much the same story as any other land owner i know who ever let OFSC run trails through their property.

You can't really blame the OFSC, but it is astounding how little respect a large portion of their ridership has for others' properties.

I'll never understand how there's so little OPP presence on the trails, considering the ridiculous rate of drinking & riding that continues.

I hope you took pictures of the damage and the garbage as pic is worth a thousand words. I would also demand they pay for damages and boot them from the property.

Sorry to hear that dutch. Once again, I know several people who have had the same experience and had to shut them out.
The sooner you send them notice that they are prohibited from entering your property the better. Good fence and signage helps but the only thing that deters some of these scumbags is the likelihood they are going to encounter someone there. You have to keep an eye on it.
It's funny to read the snowmobile forums and see how they talk about trespassing atv's ! lol

Sorry to hear about all those troubles Dutch. I had a similiar experience (but not as bad as yours) and sadly cut off use on my land for the snowmobilers. Evan after that they still continued to trespass right past the no trespass signs. Took my tractor and several boulders to block the trail to finally resolve the issue. Too bad it had to come to that.