Last season 89,422 trail permits were sold through the state’s point-of-sale machines. There were 1,347 trail permits sold through the mail, there were 55,189 pre printed trail permits distributed and sold through MSA, for a total of 145,958 trails permits sold.
Yes, we did sell more trail permits last year, but we are still well below the number of trail permit sales in 2008, and we may never get those numbers back. During the 2012-13 season 136,033 trail permits were sold. We only sold 124,287 trail permits during the 2011-12 season.
We still need to keep in mind that when MSA worked to get permit increases in place back in 2006, those increases were based on those higher trail permit numbers, and so was the budget for buying equipment, signing, brushing trails, grooming, and maintaining the fleet of groomers!
The legislation put in place in 2006 does allow for a small cost of living increase to be added to trail permit fees beginning in 2015. Now that we believe we have a realistic grasp on our trail permits numbers, we are working hard to put a five-year plan in place.
Know that MSA, the grant sponsors, and volunteers are all working hard to continue and provide great trails in this state. It hasn’t been easy, but we will continue to work hard on your behalf.
