One of northern Maine’s major snowmobile routes is safely passable thanks to a local club and a national grant.
The Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club finished rebuilding a bridge on Saturday along ITS 85, one of the state’s major Interconnected Trail System thoroughfares that stretches from Fort Kent to Millinocket.
Snowmobiling is big in Aroostook County, bringing thousands of tourists to explore its more than 2,300 miles of trails. The region’s 30-plus clubs band together to keep trails groomed for the many locals and visitors who traverse them. When Lakers members noticed the Dana’s Crossing bridge was failing, they applied for a grant and, with their own elbow grease, rebuilt the structure just in time for this late-blooming season to start.
“If we didn’t have the bridge it would end ITS 85 right there [in Portage],” said Susan Rogers, the club’s grant specialist. “You couldn’t go to Eagle Lake or Fort Kent or anywhere like that, and people couldn’t come south.”
Rogers applied for the $5,000 Ski-Doo Snow PASS grant, which paid for the wood for the project. Area professionals donated equipment and members put in a week’s work to finish the bridge.
Rogers has been writing grants for the 150-member club since 1996, which include yearly Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry funds as well as several packages from the United States Department of Agriculture, she said.
The club’s largest award was for $99,000 for a new groomer.
In its third year, the snowmobile manufacturer’s Snow PASS program — the acronym stands for protect, access, sustain and support — has given approximately $900,000 in Canadian dollars to organizations across the U.S. and Canada. It aims to provide $300,000 this season to more than 60 clubs, according to the Ski-Doo/Bombardier website.
ITS 85 and ITS 90 are the two trails that pass through Portage Lake, Rogers said. About 10 years ago, just after their groomer fell through the ice into the lake, the club realized it had to reroute part of the 85 trail to solid ground. Irving Woodlands helped the club create a new path over land the company owns, which meant several bridges had to be built over brooks and streams.
Weather and time are harsh on those structures, Rogers said. The bridge on the trail toward Eagle Lake needed urgent repair, so she applied for the grant to replace it. If done by a contractor, the project would have cost more than $14,000.
“We knew that we could do the work ourselves,” Rogers said. “People donated time and equipment and we wrapped up the whole project on Saturday.”
She estimated 14 workers spent about 55 hours on the project. The finished bridge is 45 feet long and measures between 12 and 13 feet wide.
Sparse snowfall has delayed a lot of winter recreation. Much of Maine has been hit with storms containing ravaging wind, rain and snow that have flooded cities, damaged coastlines and structures, and wreaked havoc with ski areas. Snowmobile officials warned of downed trees and some thin ice, but predicted most trails would be usable by next week.
Thanks to snow already on the ground, augmented by about 3 inches on Sunday, trails around Portage are usable, Rogers said. The club’s groomer was out Monday on some areas.
Most clubs are several weeks behind because of lack of snow. It may be unusual, but it’s not unheard of. Rogers remembers the winter of 2015 vividly, she said. The area had very little snow, and then it rained, and that was it until mid-February, she said. But by February vacation, snow came and recreational venues were full.
People are excited to get out, she said.
As most people who live in Aroostook County know, the snow always comes — and the area could get a foot of the white stuff later this week.
The National Weather Service in Caribou has issued a winter storm warning for Aroostook and parts of Penobscot County on Tuesday and Tuesday night, with forecasters estimating 7 to 13 inches of snowfall.
The Portage Lakers Snowmobile Club is marking its 45th year in 2024. To celebrate, the group plans an open house on Saturday, Feb. 3, at the groomer shed, located behind the Portage Town Hall. Activities are planned for adults and children, including a luncheon and local ice fishing derby. A fundraising performance by Maine’s Chad “The Hypnotist” Burke will round out the day.
The group’s membership hails from all over Maine, along with Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and even Maryland, Rogers said. Many who regularly travel here for snowmobile adventures support the club.
The Lakers groom about 50 miles of ITS trails and about 40 miles of smaller trails. All the clubs work together to help maintain the County network, she said.
In fact, the Presque Isle Snowmobile Club reported on social media that its members pitched in to remove tree debris on Portage club trails while the Lakers worked on the bridge project.
“It’s a group effort here. Say Washburn can’t groom; it affects Caribou, Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle,” Rogers said. “We all have to help each other out or all the clubs fail.”
