Despite the best snow conditions in four years, Bayfield County snowmobile trail officials have been forced to order the end of trail grooming effective Sunday night.

The reason for the premature end to trail grooming is simple; there just isn't any money left to pay for grooming operations.

"We are down to the point where we feel that we have enough money to pay our bills, but not a lot left over," said Earl Orner, vice president of the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance, who oversees county snomobile trail grooming operations.

"This is a shame because after three lean years, businesses are enjoying the best year they have had in a long time," Orner said. "We have tried to keep the trails in good condition, but if we keep going, we won't be able to pay our bills and we don't want to do that."

So far, snowmobile trail grooming has used up $90,000 the county has been allocated from state snowmobile registration and gasoline tax funds. They've also used up $75,000 in supplemental funds the county hopes to get from the state as well as $12,000 for grooming the tri-county corridor. $30,000 in funds raised locally have also been spoken for.

Meanwhile the Alliance must make payments on a $80,000 loan for a groomer and spend $50,000 in equipment maintenance, not to mention $10,000 for insurance that is due this summer.

"We used all of the $90,000 by the third week in January. We've been operating on supplemental ever since," Orner said.

Orner said the alliance had used all the projected supplemental funding they dared. Supplemental funds are distributed among applying counties on a prorated basis. He said this year so many counties would likely apply for the limited funds that well under 50 percent of the funds requested would likely be reimbursed.

Orner said although the state snowmobile council would likely make some funds available from dollars earmarked for capital improvements like bridges, such a diversion of funds would have to be approved by the legislature's joint finance committee.

In the meantime, Orner said, the Alliance had no choice but to halt grooming operations as of Sunday night.

The snowmobile trail grooming season normally ends any time between mid February and the end of March. This year promises to be a long season, but the trails will deteriorate rapidly unless they are groomed, Orner said.

A bill in the state legislature would increase funding for trail grooming by increasing resident and non-resident fees, and contributions from state gas tax funding, but this bill won't take effect until at least the 2002 season, even though it has the support by the DNR. There is a similar proposal in the Governor's budget, but this too would do nothing to help the situation this winter.

Meanwhile, Bayfield County Tourism Director and ATV-Snowmobile Coordinator Pat Thornton has wasted no time in seeking emergency assistance from the state.

Thornton noted that Snowmobiling has a $30 million impact on the County's economy.

"After three years of no snow we finally got our wish for more snow. It's a marvelous season for all winter sports. I'm not willing to give it up yet," she said.

Thornton has authored a letter to new Department of Natural Resources Secretary Darrell Bazzell, with copies sent to Tourism Secretary Richard "Moose" Speros and Governor Scott McCallum pleading for additional funds to allow grooming to continue.

"Snowmobiling to Bayfield County is big business," she said. "It's like the Apple Festival on trails."

The request for additional emergency funds is not unprecedented. A similar request was made in 1995, with Speros successfully lobbying Governor Tommy Thompson to get additional grooming funds for northwest Wisconsin's trail system.

Thornton's request is likely to be echoed in many northern Wisconsin counties where snowmobiling is a major part of the winter tourism industry. Several counties have run into the same situation caused by inadequate funds to keep trails groomed through the rest of the Winter.

In Ashland County, the situation is perhaps even more grim than in Bayfield County, said Bill Chandler, Ashland County Trail Coordinator.

"We are $15,200 in the hole, and we still have claims for February and March to deal with."

Chandler said Ashland County trails could finish the season $75,000 in the red, with the prospect of getting only 25 percent of that back in supplemental funds.

Nevertheless, he said, a reduced schedule of grooming was continuing.

"We are still grooming as needed, at least once a week," he said.

This is a far cry from earlier in the season when all of the trails were groomed daily.

"We get sufficient funding to groom once a week and make it through the season, but given the type of snow we have had and the number of riders, we've had to groom every day. We can groom and get 200 riders and then it looks like we weren't even there," he said.

With five groomers making double passes over the trails, Chandler said earlier this season Ashland County trails were in the best shape they had ever been in the history of the trail program.

He noted the $9 million snowmobile tourism brings to the Ashland County economy.

"The money we get has been well spent," he said.

Both Chandler and Orner agreed the best solution to underfunded trail maintainence budgets was an increase in revenues from registration of snowmobiles and out-of-state permits.

"If we had that, there would be enough to operate the program," said Chandler, who asserted the increase in fees would not be opposed by trail riders who would have to foot the bill with higher fees.

"If you are willing to pay $7,000 for a snowmobile, you should be willing to pay a little more for a good trail," he said.