March 8 2006; WINCHESTER Ontario--Farmers stop snowmobiles; Riding clubs agree to ban to put pressure on province; Fed up with financial support, farmers have reached an understanding with trail riding clubs prohibiting snowmobiles from crossing farms in Eastern Ontario as another means of applying pressure on the province. The action is being taken despite an announcement, earlier this week from Ontario Agriculture Minister Leona Dombrowsky, providing an addition $125 million to cash-strapped producers. While the snowmobile season is nearing an end, the ban could have a major impact on the rural economy, with restaurants, motels and gas bars depending on that extra business. the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs estimates the recreational activity generates $100 million in annual spinoffs from Napanee east to the Quebec border. Reached at a meeting here this week, the volunteer ban affects 5,000 km of managed trails and members of the 28 clubs who use them. Similar understandings are being struck elsewhere in Ontario. Read this Ontario snowmobile news here...

March 8, 2006; GREEN BAY — Brown County closes its snowmobile trails ; The Brown County Park Department reports that all snowmobile trails in the county will be closed as of today due to insufficient snow. Snowmobilers should be aware that they can be fined for riding on county trails when they are closed. For Brown County trail information, call 920-448-4466 and press option 8. For trail information in other counties, call these numbers: Calumet County 920-849-1494; Outagamie County 920-832-4790; Waupaca County 715-258-6243; and Winnebago County 920-232-1960. more on this news story here...
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Washington; Website aims to educate Americans about Canada; BETH GORHAM ; Canadian Press; — Oh sure, you hear about how everyone plays hockey in Canada, gets to the rink by dogsled and then goes home to an igloo.But many myths about Canadians that circulate in the United States aren't nearly so silly or harmless. Perceptions that Canada is soft on immigration, routinely harbours terrorists and supplies most of the U.S. with marijuana are potentially a lot more unsettling to cross-border ties. That's one reason why the Canadian embassy in Washington is assembling an army of ex-pats as it battles the errors spouted by U.S; Since last July, more than 25,000 people have signed up with Connect2Canada, an Internet site primarily devoted to bringing Canadians together south of the border. The site provides weekly news highlights from home, Canadian positions on top issues, statistics and what U.S. journalists are saying about Canada. Beyond encouraging more local expatriate groups to spring up across the country, embassy officials are hoping those who log on can use the information they provide to spread the word on some common misconceptions. While some U.S. academics who specialize in Canadian issues say they're concerned the project could veer off into inappropriate lobbying efforts on tricky topics like softwood lumber, embassy spokesman Bernard Etzinger said that's not the purpose. “What we've established is a pretty useful source of information for Canadians to pass on to whomever,” he said, “their co-workers, their clients, their families. “We do know that they do take action themselves and, on various issues, they want to be active. They're all very proud of Canada. This is supply and demand.” Read the whole news article here...

March 7, 2006; Wisconsin; Oconto County; DNR Accident Reduction Team Hits the Snowmobile Trails
Snowmobile Patrol Reduces Accidents; By Kathryn Bracho; We're almost to the end of the snowmobile accident reduction team's first winter. The Department of Natural Resources says there was a relatively high number of deaths on the trails this snowmobile season, but despite that, the DNR says the accident reduction team has been a success. "The deployments where they have been, with the ten locations they've been, the numbers show that it is effective when they are out there working in a specific area," DNR conservation warden Joe Paul said. Twenty-eight people died while snowmobiling in Wisconsin so far this season, but in areas where the team was patrolling there were only two deaths during weekends the patrol was there. "The visibility of them, they're always dressed in fluorescent yellow clothing with POLICE on the backs. They talked to a lot of snowmobilers, they stopped a lot of snowmobilers," Paul said. The DNR says the tickets the team can give for driving drunk, going too fast, and having sleds run too loudly has forced riders to think before they get on their snowmobiles. "It makes you be a lot more careful," Joe Krull, a snowmobiler from Luxemburg, said. "You follow the signs, stop for the signs, obey the speed limit. Definitely brings up your awareness, that's for sure." Wisconsin snowmobile news here..

 

Friday, March 3rd, Quebec City; ICE HOTEL : LIGHTS ON ICE; We are happy and proud to announce you, friends of the Ice Hotel, the very lastest news concerning this beautiful winter attraction in Quebec City. DISTINGUISHED GUESTS ;AT THE ICE HOTEL! The Ice Hotel had the honour of receiving several cinematic and political personalities last weekend. The prime minister of Quebec, Jean Charest, accompanied by the former Prime Minister of France, Jeans-Pierres Raffarin visited the Ice Hotel on Saturday morning. The Quebec movie festival "Vue sur Bond 007" also permitted Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Roger Moore to discover the only Ice Hotel in North America. All were delighted with their visit and impressed by this 6th edition of the Ice Hotel, more spectacular than ever! AN ELECTRIFYING PARTY IN THE N'ICE CLUB;, the N'Ice Club in the Ice Hotel will host for the first time Dr. Draw. This artist of Russian origin, who lives in Canada since 9 years of age, is a master of the violin. An experience at the Ice Hotel will be all the more magical if visitors combine their visit with one of the activities given by our partners: Aventure Inukshuk (dog sledding), Kamoutik Aventure (snowmobiling), Catshalac (ice fishing) and Duchesnay (cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, ice skating, etc). more activities at the ice hotel here...
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(March 2, 2006) WALDO COUNTY; MAINE; Lack of snow serious blow to snowmobile industry; The lack of snow in the lower half of Maine has devastated the state’s once-booming snowmobile industry, prompting some people to call for a federal disaster declaration. “A disaster is usually a blizzard, a hurricane, an ice storm — not that it’s 50 degrees and sunny in February,” acknowledged Bob Meyer, president of the Maine Snowmobile Association. “But business in some of these small towns is off 50 to 60 percent. Business owners do need help. A lot of jobs are at stake.” Read all the news story here...
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Feb. 25 — WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont;, West Yellowstone Journal; Gone! Snowmobile Herds and Tourists; Snowmobiles once owned this town in the winter. Thousands of people came from across the country to roar through the natural wonderland that is Yellowstone, driving past herds of snow-dusted bison, hot turquoise pools and a skyrocketing Old Faithful. Anne Sherwood for The New York Times West Y ellowstone, Mont., has fewer snowmobiles and fewer tourists as a result of new park rules. Randy Roberson, owner of Yellowstone Vacations, hopes snow coaches will bring back lost business. But in spite of the largest snowfall in many years, the number of snowmobilers is down because of rules that went into effect last year that create what many consider a tamer experience, and confusion over whether the park is open to snowmobiles at all. The use of more environmentally friendly snow coaches, resembling buses on skis or rubber tracks, has grown, along with cross-country skiing, but not enough to make up for the loss of snowmobilers and the money they bring to local businesses. read the whole thing here...

Feb 22 2006; Ottawa,Ontario,Canada; Fitzroy Harbour; CBC News; River search continues for missing snowmobiler; Divers are still searching the Ottawa River for a missing snowmobile driver who went through the ice on Sunday night. David Parker, 36, of Constance Bay was trying to cross the river near the dam at Fitzroy Harbour when the snowmobile fell through thin ice, sending him and his passenger into the frigid water. FROM FEB. 20, 2006: Police search for snowmobile driver in icy river. The passenger, also 36, made it to shore and pull himself out of the river. It was the second time in eight days that a snowmobile went through ice near Fitzroy Harbour. The first incident happened on Feb. 12 and involved Kanata's Brendan Nash, who died in the incident. That same weekend, another snowmobile driver died in a crash. more on this snowmobile news story here...
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Feb 22 2006; WY; G&F RELEASES FINAL GRIZZLY BEAR HABITAT OCCUPANCY PLAN; CHEYENNE - After evaluating extensive public input received during a 4-month process, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department has released its final plan for grizzly bear occupancy in Wyoming.; The plan, "Final Draft Grizzly Bear Occupancy Management Proposal Following Delisting as a Threatened Species," outlines areas considered suitable for grizzly bear occupancy. It is the final piece in the state's overall plan for managing grizzly bears once they are removed from the endangered species list. "The comments ranged widely from those who want grizzly bears confined to Yellowstone Park to those who would like to see bears in every corner of the state," said G&F Director Terry Cleveland. "We have been working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure our grizzly bear occupancy proposal will meet federal requirements for delisting. The result is a plan that addresses as much of the public concern as possible while still meeting minimum requirements for removal of bears from the endangered species list." Read more about this news item here...

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February 14, 2006; Montréal, Bombardier Delivers 337 Aircraft For Fiscal Year 2005/006; Third consecutive year increase in deliveries; Industry-leading growth in business aircraft deliveries; Bombardier announced today that it had delivered 337 aircraft for its fiscal year ended January 31, 2006. This compares to 329 aircraft deliveries in the previous fiscal year 2004/05 (year ending January 31, 2005). In the business aircraft segment, an impressive 186 units were delivered compared to 128 for the same period last year, an increase of 45 per cent. Ninety of the business aircraft delivered this fiscal year were of the latest Bombardier business jets: the Global Express XRS, Bombardier Global 5000, Challenger 300 and Learjet 40 XR. read the rest of this snowmobile news release here...