Golden Off Road Motorcycle Club (GORMA) has been working hard to bring off road enthusiasts the best they can for many years.
Over the winter, the Golden Snowmobile Club kept donation containers at their trail kiosks, and gathered funds from snowmobilers for GORMA.
Donations like this allow GORMA to continue providing moto track upgrades, trail work, and expansions in the area. The club works entirely from donations and grant funding. People can donate to GORMA if they would like to help out, or become a member of GORMA.
In April, GORMA received the news that it was successful in grant applications exceeding $150,000 for the development of a recreation site, staging area, and green and blue trails, funded by the Columbia Basin Trust, the Province of B.C. Rural Dividends Grant, and from Rec Sites and Trails BC.
“The approval right now is for 15-kilometres of intermediate trail,” explained Magi Scallion.
GORMA has funding from Recreation Sites and Trails BC, and some of the funding will go toward conducting an environmental assessment so the club can get approval for the recreation site that will allow camping.
The area GORMA plans to develop is at the lower parking lot for the Gorman Lake snowmobile staging area, not far from the Golden Golf Club. The club wants to access a polygon area, so they can build trails all throughout that area.
“You just get approval for the whole area so there’s more flexibility,” Scallion explained.
The grant funding is available to the club over the next two years, which means the project must reach completion by March 2021.
“This summer and next summer is when the work is getting done,” Scallion said. “The 15-kilometre trail will be in by the end of this summer.”
GORMA incorporated as a society in 2015 with hopes of getting this project in the works. Now, they also manage the moto track near Reflection Lake. It has taken a few years for the club to plan the recreation site and trails and to secure the funding, but volunteers are ready to begin the dirty work.
“It’s all volunteer, nobody is on payroll,” said GORMA president Alexander Schmidt.
The donation from the Golden Snowmobile Club is being put toward offsetting the cost of insurance for the moto track, Schmidt explained. Insurance is one of the biggest costs, and GORMA is always accepting donations to keep the track active.
