Why?

[Preface: Heavy editing in Lightroom (shadows, highlights, dehaze, contrast, probably more) in order to bring out my question]

I don't expect anyone here to be able to answer my question. Not because you aren't intelligent wonderful people, but because I don't think anyone here does fur trapping in Ontario (but who knows, I might be wrong).

Setup: Local trapper has a couple of lines setup on the marsh. You can see two of 'em in the photo, ones about middle (big pile of snow and sticks) and the other is above it and to the right. The closest trap is maybe 10 or so meters from the road.. Between the traps and the road is a large (12x12?) area plowed of snow.

Question: Why the plowed area?

Extra knowledge: This could be used for skating, except: a) skating near active trap lines seems silly, b) it's in the middle of nowhere (Google Maps says it's about 1.2km, as the crow flies, up the driveway) c) it's a positively HUGE area to work on if skinning (and based on what I know, the trappers in this area bring the entire animal back in order to use as much of it as possible (no leaving the meat behind), and d) seriously, it's like... hours and hours from anywhere, with much better skating opportunities between.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see. Maybe I'll find a clue.