The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers, better known as VAST, maintains more than 6,000 miles of snowmobile trails across the state. Today, snowmobiling is one of the top contributors to Vermont’s winter economy. But for a sport so dependent on reliable snow, the future is uncertain.

The majority of VAST trails are on private land. One of those landowners is winning question-asker Barb Huibregtse of Danville, who asks:

“What is the impact of the VAST trail on Vermont’s economy?”

Find the web version of this episode here.

This episode was reported by Howard Weiss-Tisman and produced by Sabine Poux. Editing and additional production from Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Angela Evancie is Brave Little State’s Executive Producer. Our theme music is by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.

Special thanks to Augie Melendez, Brian Henderson, Joan Cwirka, Kevin McDonnell and Zachary Amerling.

As always, our journalism is better when you’re a part of it:

Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network.

Correction: We removed a statistic that said that the number of days with an inch or more of snow in Vermont had dropped 40% since 1960, because we could not verify where it originated. According to data from NOAA, the total days of snow cover greater than one inch in Vermont was actually the same in 1960 and 2016, with variability from year to year. The story has been updated with additional reporting.