Since 1996, the Curry Ridge Riders have provided trail grooming services to the Upper Susitna Valley, with a focus on snowmachining. The group is a local non-profit organization that relies on SnoTRAC funding from the State. That funding comes from snowmachine registrations, according to Curry Ridge Riders Board Treasurer Michelle LaRose. She says they also receive some funding from “Frontier Roads,” which is through the State Transportation Improvement Program, a federal supplement program with more stringent requirements.
The group needs to relocate their equipment, which consists of four Snowcats, machines they use to groom the trails. The group has their eye on a parcel of land for sale along the Parks Highway at the junction with Petersville Road, the access to snowmachining hotspots.
The parcel of land has a large unused hangar, which could be used as a shop, as well as some parking. LaRose indicated during the group’s meeting this week that they were most interested in having a heated space to work on equipment during the season. With an urgent need to move their equipment, LaRose nominated the project for the Mat-Su Borough’s Capital Improvement Program. Projects nominated through the program are reviewed by a committee and a small number are suggested to the Assembly for consideration. But the Assembly can choose any projects from the nomination list.
The Borough offered a temporary solution for the Curry Ridge Riders, but LaRose says it would be an inadequate space to work on equipment. The Borough would only allow portable structures to be used on their land.
Should the project be accepted in the CIP program and the land purchased, it would be owned by the Borough with permission granted to the Curry Ridge Riders to use it for their work. But that process takes months and the group won’t know the outcome until next year’s budget process in spring.
For now, the group is looking forward to the season with hopes they find a new home for their equipment before the snow flies.
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