New Trails Act: giving recreational groups too much autonomy, or just enough?
Recreational volunteer groups will get more authority to manage and maintain trails on public lands under Bill 79, the Trails Act, introduced in the Alberta legislature on Nov, 2, 2021. Recreational trails have seen a major increase over the last 40 years, and with it came the introduction of off-highway vehicles (OHVs); something not everyone is happy about. Bill 79 offers a chance to find a balance between conservation, recreation, economic use, and the needs of communities and indigenous people. According to the province, this bill ensures the sustainability of trails so they can be enjoyed for years to come.
Bill 79 allows for the designation of trails for specific uses, such as hiking, equestrian use, or riding an OHV. It will also promote a bigger role for partners in trail maintenance, which is something that some environmental groups are worried about.
“Through this bill’s trail manager and trail agreement provisions, Minister Nixon will give himself the power to make any person, including corporations, responsible for managing all aspects of trails on public lands,” said Devon Earl, Alberta Wilderness Association (AWA) conservation specialist. “This invites the privatization of public lands belonging to all Albertans.”
Privatization is dangerous because in a lot of areas the density of trails is already above the threshold where it could impact valued ecosystem components, such as water quality or endangered fish habitat and wildlife, Earl said. Removal of trails is necessary in some areas, not the addition, she added. Instead, AWA wants to see the completion of the regional and sub- regional plans under Alberta’s Land Use Framework, taking into consideration the cumulative impact of recreation and industry to determine appropriate areas for trails. “That takes sustainable recreation into consideration and that would allow us to better plan where trails should go and how they should be managed. With that in place, I don’t see any need for this Trails Act,” Earl said.
AWA’s main worry is the use of OHVs on unmanaged trails, which may go through creeks and streams and damage fish habitat. If public areas are managed by third-party organizations, they can designate trails and manage them however they see fit, not necessarily based on science, Earl said. She noted that OHV usage in the McLean Creek area is already an issue with many trails being used despite not being part of the designated trail system. There isn’t enough enforcement in place to keep people off those unofficial trails, Earl said.
Miranda Rosin, MLA of Banff – Kananaskis, acknowledged the issue in the McLean Creek area and said the Trails Act will actually help manage the area by identifying and maintaining official trails, adding better signage, and directing recreationists to stay on the designated trails. “We will work with [volunteer] groups to determine which trails should be protected and maintained in the best interest of the environment,” she said.
Rosin said land won’t be privatized, and if the government were to find any of their trail management partners mistreating the land, the partnership would be revoked. The purpose of Bill 79 is to protect the trail work done by volunteer groups for decades and to give them the autonomy to take care of the environment, she added.
Conrad Schiebel, president of Bragg Creek Trails (BCT), thinks the Trails Act has the potential to be a good playbook for managing trails in Alberta and developing collaborations between the government and trail groups. BCT is a group of community members who built and manage 170 km of trail in the West Bragg Creek trail system.
“[The Trails Act] would actually probably provide a better trail user experience than if it were just left to either one of the two entities, either the government or solely the trails operator,” Schiebel said. Trails by BCT were developed in conjunction with government staff and followed all land use recommendations for the area, including different environmental legislation. “Every time we build a trail we have to go through a process where they go through the various stakeholder groups to make sure everybody has buy-in and all concerns are dealt with,” Schiebel explained. He noted that if BCT doesn’t keep up their work, other groups or individuals will come in and build trails and make improvements themselves. This could be avoided if the Trails Act designated the area to organizations like BCT. However, giving volunteer organizations full responsibility for trail building and management is too much to expect without a financial contribution from the government, he added. BCT provided their feedback for the Trails Act and their two main issues were the lack of clear direction on who has authority over the area and proper funding for ongoing maintenance.
Rosin explained that Bill 79 allows volunteer groups to complete projects more quickly and efficiently. Currently, volunteers have to apply for each new project, which then goes through a rigorous regulatory process that can sometimes take months before approval is received to get shovels in the ground.
“These trails groups have proven over decades that they are better stewards of the land than the government, bureaucrat, or any government employee could be, because they know the local area and are committed to the local area and they are true environmentalists themselves,” Rosin said.
For the first time ever, the Trails Act will instate trail systems as crown land assets, protecting them from other land users such as the forestry industry. Forestry companies can currently harvest across a trail system under their forest management plan with no obligation to reclaim trails, but Bill 79 changes that. Other land users of a designated trails system on public land will have a legal obligation to protect and maintain those trails, and if they can’t do so they have a legal obligation to relocate them, Rosin said.
If passed, the Trails Act will take effect upon proclamation, except for the Trail Management Plan requirement which will take effect May 2022.
Masha Scheele, HCN Staff
media@highcountrynews.ca
