Vermont snowmobile association outlines trail network, funding and enforcement needs to House Transportation committee

Cindy Locke, executive director of the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, told the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday that VAST operates a statewide snowmobile trail network that is largely volunteer-run, supports local economies and relies on a combination of trail-pass revenue, state funding and club grants.

Locke said VAST has about "20,000 members" and that the organization estimates an annual economic impact of about "$550,000,000 a year" for Vermont. She said VAST works with "about 9,500 landowners" and that "80% of our trails are on private property," with the remainder on municipal, state and federal lands.

The association manages roughly "4,100 miles of trails," Locke said, and operates a grooming fleet she valued at about "$30,000,000." She told the committee the organization runs 104 Class‑1 groomers and that power units cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars each; VAST spends an estimated "$800,000 to $2,000,000 a winter" on grooming and pays about "$500,000 a year" in annual trail maintenance. Locke said flood…