The Last Straw
 

Yesterday the LRCC closed the Red Hill snowmobile trails.Now that the Castle trails are closed,the economic effect to this area will be huge.Restaurants,Hotels and stores barely get by in the winter and this is a crippling blow.Clearly ,this is an organization of elitist enviromentalists that don't believe that our natural resources are for the use of everyone,but for the use of those that they approve of.
This is a slap in the face to every taxpayer,business owner and contibutor to the LRCC property fund and I urge everyone to contact their town officials,legislators and any media outlets that they can.
Oh...bye the way.....please don't believe their phoney 'insurance issues' excuse.

Sam,

How did you find out about this?

We watched them,yesterday installing a huge metal fence blocking the trail in front of the village kitchen.If you get a chance,drive by and look at it.People are having to turrn their machines around in a very short,dangerous place.There is very little room to turn between the road and the fence,so people are driving right up to it and having to stop right on rt 25.
They didn't even have the guts to put a sign up explaining why it was closed.
The Red Hill trail and the Castle are the two prettiest areas in the lakes region.

Does this mean that access it completely denied through the Castle?

Crippling to businesses and heartbreaking to riders!
 

Y'know, I'm all for preserving natural space, I moved here for the natural space! However, there seems to be a strong disparity in what was "originally planned" for this area, and what has ultimately taken place. This is indeed a slap in the fact to all contributors who happen to have donated because they believed that it would help to preserve the trails, only to be shut out!

Ditto Pepper, Glad I donated :rolleye2: (not)

this makes me angry.
 

Even though I don't live there anymore, I am angry about this. What happened to the "Live Free or Die" motto? It's the same everywhere, the ones with the $$$$$$$ dictating.

I remember when the woods belonged to all of us......we could just go there....
Very sad, indeed.

Conservation is still important
 

LRCC has some image repair to do. They used to have my respect, and I'm sure the respect of many others. Their lack of communication skills in soliciting input from their contributors (unfortunately, I'm one of them) and notifying users about the snowmobile issue has damaged the ability for the LRCC to conduct future fund drives for worthy conservation projects. The lakes region needs a steward for conservation - but who will next step up to the task. The issue has been brought up in the "Winter Sports" category - it really needs to be also brought to the conference on "general interest".

Ok I will ask the question....
 

What are our options, and what can we do? We all know that the LRCC has taken offense to our statements on here and in the papers. Their must be a legal option somewhere? They blatantly lied and misled investors!!! Someone must take a stand. I for one would happily donate money to a legal fund to protect the rights of snowmobilers. I still like the idea of many sleds sitting in front of the LRCC offices. :rolleye2:

Be glad Kerry did not get in
 

He is against snowmobilers and ATV's. He vowed to close Yellowstone back down to snowmobiling.
Darn tree huggers...

Lrcc
 

Why do the call themselves Lakes Region Conservatory when they don't even represent the Lakes Region??????
What is their phone number, their email address.? How do we get our money back?
Is the Foster's newspaper and or the Union Leader like to make this an issue on the papers?
Let's see if we can drum up some support!! I'm all for open spaces but please allow recreational use of the land.
My family owns many acres of land in Gilford. We allow the use of the land to the public for recreational purposes. We never had an issue with insurance. LRCC is full of bull! tell them to contact me if the want to dispute my claim! :look:

I don't think that you can really mount a legal battle with them closing off those trails. Technically they control the property so they call the shots. However this does not prevent a PR battle to ensue. This is a disgraceful move by the LRCC, but give them enough bad publicity effecting donations and they may start singing a different tune. I certainly feel bad for those who own businesses that depend on tourism to make a living as this will have an immediate impact on them.

How about a protest in front of their offices?
 

:fire:

I believe that their offices are located right on busy Route 3, near Hart's Turkey Farm. How about a bunch of us staging a friendly protest with signs out in front of their offices some day? With all the traffic on that road, I'm sure that they would hate the bad publicity, especially if Channel 9 were to cover the story. Any takers?

Their website is www.lrct.org
Tel. 603-279-3246
Fax 603-279-7278
e-mail: lrct@metrocast.net <lrct@metrocast.net>

Seaplane,that's not a bad idea and in the meantime I am attempting to contact my state legislators as well as any media people that might get this in front of the public.It's clear that after all the angry responses to the castle closing, that the closing of Red Hill is just an act of arrogance.I urge everone to take the time to contact their senator and congressperson.I have written to Ray Burton and others.Over 5,000 people read the original Castle closing thread and I believe that will have a huge negative impact on tourism.Insurance has not been an issue at either of these locations for the last 40 years and I believe the Conservation Trust is just using that for an excuse.

Seaplane, I'm in. Samiam, in on that one too.

OK - we have some interest...
 

...Let's see what kind of response we get in the next 24 hours. Our timing might be perfect with the Fishing Derby this weekend. Just adds to the traffic on route 3 and also the publicity. Channel 9 will be covering the Derby for sure, so they'll be right in the area. In the meantime, I'm going to e-mail Channel 9 to let them know about the situation. I'll post any responses on the forum. In the meantime, to quote General "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, "Illegitimi Non Carborundum"...

Spell Check...
 

Don't forget to "spell check" those signs.

It's better to be thought a fool, than to prove it... :rolleye2:

P.S.- Try to remember that it's the LRCT; not the LRCC.

... and good luck!

Color me there!!
 

I know that quote!!! Nice choice of words! :D

I dont sled but....
 

What can I do to help you guys?. I also dont think this is right.Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help

I certainly agree that something really sinks in this whole story. I went out to the LRCT web site and read thier little rant about snowmobile access. They seem to be mostly concerned with liability issues, I'd have to say that I can understand thier concerns. At the same time allowing the public to access thier properties opens them to liability issues regardless of whether they are on foot, horseback, bike, snowmobile, camel, or whatever...Way I see it is they have had it in mind that there will be access to that property only by approved methods, which clearly eliminates anything motorized. If you read thier statement to the snowmobile issue they made that point quite clear if you pay attention to the way it is carefully constructed.

I would have a whole lot more respect for them if they would just tell the truth about the whole thing.

Hey I'm all for conservation, responsible use and preservation of natural areas, however the key word here is responsible USE. The closure of the property to selective activities shows the true motivation of those over there at the LRCT (AKA treehuggers, along with thier buddies at the AMC) and the more people that know about it the less likely they are to recieve continued donations from the masses.

It would be one thing if snowmobiling was a unorganized free for all, but the clubs and state together do a heck of a job.

Maxum...don't be fooled by the 'liability' issue.Both of these properties have been open to snowmobiles for over 40 years without any problems. Make no mistake...these are enviromentalists who's goal is buy up property and then close it to public use....their arrogance is demonstrated by the fact that they closed red hill even after a huge public outcry over the castle trails.They only solution is to hold them accountable .I think we should start with a fund to place ads in all the regional papers,publishing the names of the board of directors.The public has a right to know.I was fooled too.

Simple issue to me, if you don't want to allow public access, don't take public money. Can I get mine back, since it was under false pretenses? :confused:

Playing Devil's advocate here...As I was driving home from Rochester to Alton, I was surprised to see how much the snow has disappeared from some of the snowmobile trails along rte 11. It has been years since I went up in the Castle trails, and to the best of my knowledge, I've never been on Red Hill. I think the C.I.T.C trail issue is possibly different from Red Hill. Is there enough snow to support moderate to heavy snowmobile traffic??? In New Durham, there are bare dirt spots in some of the areas where the snowmobiles have been running.


Don't throw rocks at Upthesaukee...I am just wondering, especially in re: Red Hill, is there enough snow to support the use???? I'd like to see a couple more 6-8 Inch storms to give the good ground cover.

Ouch, I said don't throw any rocks....:laugh:

Lrct/ohrv Trail Insurance???????????????????
 

some three and a half weeks ago there was to be a meeting of the "minds" to clean up all the loose end and get all the i's dotted and t's crossed. unfortunatly mr, curren was called out of state on a medical emergency. it seams the whole stumbling block is the insurance issue? take a look at the "hot news" section on the nsha web site under the heading of " landowners not liable for snowmobile trails. then tell me about the insurance issue.

this has been draging on since october. are they just waiting out the winter. is it "red hill" or "retaliation hill"?

i will be in concord tomorow and plan on talking to paul gray if he is available. in some respect he has been put between a rock and a hard place in the situation. as for nsha it is about time they spoke out on this. the gates open and the horse is out of the barn.

winnocturn

There is no liability according to this law
 

I posted this earlier. Please read and see if you interpret this as I did. There are two laws in NH regarding public use of lands and the owner's liability. It appears that LRCT would not be liable.

http://www.uvlt.org/html/NH_Liability.html

It's official.............
 

From the Moultonboro Snowmobile Club Website...

http://www.moultonborosmc.com/

"The Red Hill trail system has been temporarily closed to snowmobiling while the Lakes Region Conservancy Trust (www.lrct.org) works out insurance details with the state (posted 2/1/05). According to the LRCT telephone receptionist, they expect this to take a few days."


Trial lawyers and the people who hide behind them are the source of most of the misery in our country today.......... They say that they make the "evil corporations" pay when in fact it is you and I that pay and pay and pay, both in cash and aggravation...

Good news
 

It is my understanding that the LRCT is going to announce the opening of the trails in a story in the Thursday Manchester Union.I am a little skeptical about their future plans but am grateful and pleased to see them open again.Hopefully,the publicity doesn't keep people from coming up to enjoy the lakes region.

It might be time to contribute again
 

If LRCT figures out its legal problems, opens the trails and starts communicating its issues with its contributing users, each of us should consider contributing to the cause. They got a well deserved big black eye on this one, but the damage can be repaired.

Do not be so forgiving! Geezer
 

they got every thing they deserved. the word i have is there was to be a very negitive article in tomorows union leader. so negitve that it forced them to finally make the necessary agrrements with the state. as of earlier to day both the castle trail (corridor 15) and read hill are open. red hill is being groomed as i right this.

the article coming out tomorow will not be what was originaly planned according to my sources.

i dont mean to say they need to be taught a lesson, i dont think they should be let off the hook so lightly. i truely feel that the public should be made aware of what they have been doing for the last 3 months.

as i said the insurance thing was a sham on their part!

winnocturn

Union Leader Article
 

sounds like the issue was real and there was a solution that worked. Sometimes we tend to run off with the sky is falling when there maybe a logical reason. At least this one seems solved