Snowmobile trail grants totaling more than $104,000 are being awarded to six private snowmobile clubs and one local government to develop and maintain snowmobile trails in Illinois and to purchase trail grooming equipment, according to Natural Resources Director Brent Manning.

More than $84,000 from the Snowmobile Trail Establishment Fund is earmarked for trail maintenance and signage in McHenry, Lake, Kane, DeKalb, Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson and Ogle Counties. Another $20,000 from the Snowmobile Grant program, administered by the Department of Natural Resources, will be sued to reimburse the city of Savanna a portion of trail construction expenditures.

Grant recipients include:

McHenry County Snowmobile Association, $4,600 to purchase signs and plastic snow fence to better mark the 300 miles of snowmobile trails the organization maintains.

Northeastern Illinois Association of Snowmobile Clubs (Lake County), $3,900 to purchase additional signs to mark the 250 miles of trails the association maintains.

Region 5 Association of Snowmobile Clubs (Kane, DeKalb, Boone, and McHenry counties), $47,000 to purchase a new ASV Track Truck groomer and additional trail marking signs.

Top 0'State Snowmobile Club (Winnebago County), $16,000 to purchase a reconditioned diesel 1993 ASV Track Truck groomer.

Tri-County Snowmobile Alliance (Winnebago, Stephenson and Ogle counties), $7,300 to purchase new snowmobile trail signs, lumber and materials. The Alliance is replacing damaged and stolen signs, and will repair bridges, fence jumpers and gates on the 250 miles of trails it maintains.

Winnebago "Sno" Gliders, $5,200 to purchase a trailer to transport the club's groomer to trail locations throughout the county.

City of Savanna, $20,000 to pay for half the cost of the city's portion of the increase construction costs to develop nearly five miles of trail and a bridge across the Plum River. The city received federal Intermodel Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) funding through the Illinois Department of Transportation for this project.

Application forms for the next round of grants arc available by contacting the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Grant Administration, Room 320, 524 S. Second St., Springfield, IL, 62701-1787 or by calling 217 / 782-7481. The Department's TDD number is 217 / 782-9175.

Applications are accepted January 1 through March 1, with grant recipients usually announced in the fall.