Damage to farm property caused by ATVs and snowmobiles trespassing on private land continues to cause concern in the area, says the president of the Wellington Federation of Agriculture (WFA).
Last spring, the WFA sent a resolution to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) expressing concerns about recreational vehicle riders causing damage to crops and even cutting fences on farm property.
The resolution resulted in a letter from OFA president Mark Wales asking Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen to impose stronger deterrents for trespassing.
However, while recent snowfalls haven’t provided enough accumulation for trails to be open, WFA president Gord Flewwelling says local farmers are experiencing problems with snowmobilers on their land.
One local farmer, he says, was in his yard wiping snow off his car when several snowmobilers “drove right down his lane and waved to him as they went by.”
Flewwelling says problems range from damage to crops and fences to snowmobilers “roaring through people’s yards in the middle of the night.”
While he notes local farmers and the WFA have a good relationship with area snowmobile clubs, problems are caused by individual snowmobilers who ignore the trail boundaries.
“They just don’t care,” said Flewwelling. “They see an open field and say I can go 90 miles an hour through here and have a great afternoon.”
Flewwelling feels some ATV and snowmobile riders might not be aware of how much damage they can cause, for example, in a field planted with winter wheat. He points out an acre of farmland can produce two tons of wheat, worth about $170 a ton.
“They can do $350 worth of damage in half an hour,” he noted.
Flewwelling said the WFA passed its resolution last spring as the result of concerns expressed by members, primarily from the Puslinch and Guelph-Eramosa areas.
On March 12, Wales sent a letter to the attorney general’s office asking the province to consider imposing a minimum fine of $500 for trespassing (currently there is only a maximum fine of $2,000) and to allow for damage awards up to $25,000. The $25,000 figure represents the maximum allowable small claims court award and “more accurately reflects the actual amount of damage and costs of remedial work,” according to the OFA.
“Combined with these changes we encourage the province to engage in a public education campaign to enhance public awareness that farmland and other rural property is mostly private and that anyone wishing to access private property must first obtain the permission of the owner. The consequences of trespass should also be conveyed,” the letter states.
Wales’ letter states OFA members “attribute the increase in trespass incidents to the lack of effective deterrents [low fines and little enforcement], combined with a lack of awareness of and respect for private property.”
He also notes members are “frustrated that most trespass incidents are not pursued in a meaningful way by Ontario’s police departments, both municipal and provincial.”
However, Flewwelling said local OPP officials met with WFA members last spring and explained that, while they can’t send someone to every trespassing call, they encourage everyone experiencing problems of this nature to call the police.
“Then they can concentrate on an area where they’re having a lot of problems,” Flewwelling said.
Wellington OPP media relations officer Gary Barnhardt said the police service does send officers out on patrol on snowmobiles, but they generally concentrate on enforcing requirements for trail riders to have permits.
Barnhardt said the OPP does encourage property owners with concerns about trespassers to contact police, providing a description of the snowmobile and rider, but preferably a registration number for the machine.
“If we had that number we would be able to follow it up with the person,” he noted.
Barnhardt said police have not received any complaints about trespassing or damage caused by snowmobilers so far this winter.
Peter Jeffrey, a policy researcher with the OFA, said no action has resulted from the association’s letter.
“There wasn’t really any follow up with ministry staff on the issue,” Jeffrey said.
While noting the issue has been an ongoing one for the OFA, Jeffrey said the level of concern about trespassing by snowmobilers varies from year to year.
“Last year, it was pretty much non-existent as far as snowmobilers were concerned. With the snow that we’ve had lately, we’ll probably see more of it this year as the trails open up,” Jeffrey said.
Gordon Snyder, governor for District 5 of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, says providing groomed trail routes is one way the clubs encourage responsible snowmobiling.
“The approach we take is that we provide a reasonable route through the area and hopefully it will keep snowmobilers on the trails,” he said.
However, Snyder notes, “there’s always an exception to any rule.”
“We do discourage them from going off-trail. We advertise that you do need permission to go on someone’s property.”
While pointing out that snowmobile clubs “have no control” over ATV riders, Snyder said the clubs are often the first group contacted by people complaining about trespassing by ATVs.
“The clubs do get involved and try to help if we can.”
Snyder says it’s not usually the card-carrying snowmobile club members and trail pass purchasers that end up ripping up a farmer’s field.
“Usually, it’s people who aren’t involved, or who aren’t aware.”
“They see a nice trail set up and they say, ‘Okay, I’ll just make my own trail over here.’”
Snyder, a Maryhill-area farmer, says snowmobile clubs do considerable work to contact and set up agreements with landowners when routing a trail.
“All that can be destroyed by one of these wanderers,” he said.
Snyder pointed out that having an agreement to host a trail on their property can be “one of the best protections a farmer can have.”
