Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Over the last several days, Western New York has been impacted by a pair of separate lake effect snowstorms that has buried portions of the region in several inches and feet of snow.
Last winter during the Christmas Weekend blizzard, snowmobilers across Western New York did their part to help those in need during and after the storm.
However, one local snowmobile group leader, Rich McNamara, told WBEN following the storm he's been trying to get a more formalized plan in place for some time to partner with Erie County in assisting to storm response when called upon.
Then in August, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said via social media he wanted to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with snowmobile clubs to access vehicles in the event of another major storm.
In the wake of the back-to-back lake effect snow events, McNamara says progress continues to be made with an MOU with Erie County, but nothing has been finalized yet.
"It's in the lawyers' hands with our insurance company and the State Federation of Snowmobile clubs. It's in their hands right now, because that's where our insurance comes from," said McNamara, who serves as the treasurer of the Erie County Snowmobile Federation. "This is our second draft, and I think we got it about a week or two weeks before Christmas. I'm hoping we'll get something probably this week or next week. We're hoping."
Since the snow first started falling Saturday, McNamara says they have had no communications of being asked to help with anything at the county level.
"We are part of their system, we are still working on an MOU with them. That's still a process, hopefully we'll get that done soon. But in the past few days, a week or so with the storms, we had no call ups at all," McNamara said with WBEN. "On a local level, Clarence and Akron, we communicate with them all the time. But same thing, no need for help."
Like last year, McNamara says the first thing local riders can do in snowstorms that debilitate a portion of the region is assist in any rescue response.
"Rescue people that are stranded out in their vehicles for a long period of time, maybe their gasoline is running out and the heat is out of the vehicle. We can pick them up, and take them to a warming building, wherever they need to go - fire halls, police stations, wherever we can take them," McNamara said.
While the call for assistance has not yet come and may not be needed at this time, the hope for local snowmobile riders is this recent snowfall will allow the chance for many to finally hit the trails and enjoy some time trekking the region.
"We're very happy," McNamara said. "I'm on my way out right now to go out with about a dozen guys with our groomers to hit the trails. We have a lot of fallen trees from the windstorm that we had a few days ago, so we're going out with some groomers and chainsaws, and some sleds and manpower to get hopefully get all the trails opened up tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock. That's our game plan."
Snowmobile trails in Western New York don't open until the day after hunting season, which is usually Jan. 1. Last year, the snow fell for the Christmas Weekend blizzard, but then never consistently fell enough to maintain the trails long enough for riders.
If you are planning on heading out for some fun on the snowmobile trails at any point in the coming days, McNamara just asks for riders to be safe and take it easy.
"There's a lot of water out there. Remember last week, we had rain coming in before the snow and it freezes up. So there's a lot of water, some deep water," he said. "Be cautious, a lot of downed trees, keep it slow. Go out and enjoy yourself, but let's not have an incident that we have to come out and help somebody."
In addition, many riders will be getting their sleds out for the first time in nearly two years, likely never having gone out on the trails since the 2022 season. McNamara recommends that if it's been a while since your last ride, before you go out for a ride, go over your sled with a fine-tooth comb to ensure all is in check.
"Check your plugs, check your belts, just go over the whole sled and double check everything," McNamara said. "You might remember something from two years ago, and then two years later, you forget about it until you're out there."
