Trails4Tomorrow Petition
We, the signatories to this petition, would like to see the following changes to the proposed South Saskatchewan Regional Land Use Plan.
- And end to the Access Management Plans for managing recreational trails on Public Land.
- Access Management Plans require the re-use of existing linear disturbances on the land which were not necessarily engineered as sustainable recreational trails and may not provide the desired experiences of the recreational users.
- The only management tool for government in an Access Management Plan is to declare a particular trail as Open or Closed, meaning that the only available response to Trail problems is Closure.
- Replace Access Management Plans with "Recreation Plans" based on the 5E's
- Experience, Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Evaluation
- Experience – Master Trail Planning which incorporates ecological, social and trail sustainability while providing the Experience Albertan's desire.
- A Master Plan should be developed for each Public Land Use Zone.
- In developing the Master Plan, Recreation Groups should be consulted for input on desired experiences, destinations and favourite activities within each Public Land Use Zone.
- User groups should have the opportunity to participate in the planning process through providing inventories of desired trails and waypoints of favourite destinations.
- Connections to staging areas, transportation corridors, camping facilities and inter-connection between Public Land Use Zones should be well thought out within each PLUZ.
- Engineering – Budget and Implementation capability to create sustainable trails, not just re-use unsustainable disturbances.
- A budget to implement and maintain a trail network as outlined in the Master Plan.
- Implementation responsibility assigned to appropriate government department with milestones for progress and completion.
- Trail built to standards that offer challenges, experiences, and 'Trail Time' such that users do not feel the need to 'Make their own fun'.
- A variety of Trail standards to offer transportation corridors, as well as challenging alternate routes for varying skill levels of users.
- Source of ongoing funding to provide maintenance and repair of heavily used trails.
- 'Adopt a Trail' programs to ensure ownership for clean-up and monitoring of recreational trails.
- Education – to ensure users know what to expect, what to do, and their responsibilities on the trails.
- A consistent set of signage standards, brochures, kiosk information, and rules for all recreation areas.
- Consistent trail descriptions to help users make informed decisions about where to recreate.
- Educate users on trial etiquette and expectations for enjoying the trails.
- A program to partner with recreation clubs to provide training to safely operate your vehicle and its equipment on the trails, and without damaging the trails.
- Enforcement – to ensure compliance with the plan
- Meaningful enforcement regulations for issuing penalties for people misusing the trails.
- Specify minimum staffing levels for enforcement during different seasons to ensure meaningful enforcement presence.
- Program to partner with recreation clubs to provide Trail Volunteers to promote education and proper use of trails.
- Evaluation – to continuously improve the plan.
- Set appropriate Key Performance Indicators for recreational trails in each PLUZ, i.e. # of KM of trails, Destinations, staging areas, User capacity, Compliance, etc.
- Identify appropriate government department with responsibility to provide annual reporting against the Key Performance Indicators.
- Program to partner with recreation clubs ensure user's needs are being met, issues are identified and corrective action is taken when needed.
- Experience – Master Trail Planning which incorporates ecological, social and trail sustainability while providing the Experience Albertan's desire.
- Experience, Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Evaluation
To sign the petition, click here.