Members of ATV and trail riding associations met with the B.C.’s provincial trails manager in March to discuss solutions to conflict surrounding motorized vehicle use on TransCanada Trail rail trails.
The BC Off-Road Motorcycle Association, ATV BC and representatives from Trails BC, including provincial trails managers and the assistant deputy minister, spent eight hours discussing the issues.
“We have agreed to using a respect-based model, where all trail users acknowledge others’ wants for a quality trail experience,” said Peter Sprague, executive director for BCORMA. “A tool kit was developed and we decided on two sections of the Trans Canada Trail to move our model onto the ground.”
John Hawkings, provincial trails manager, announced the development of a provincial steering committee to oversee the implementation of a framework to address the conflict, which will undergo a pilot project in the Naramata and Chute Lake areas of the southeastern Okanagan.
“The first step will be to bring together a working group of local trail use representatives, who will work together with provincial representatives to identify opportunities to resolve the conflict while still meeting needs of the various users,” Hawkings said in an open letter to trail users.
“This will require riders to move from the win/lose conflicts of the past to one where we work to have no losers,” said Sprague. “That means slowing down and not dusting out a bicyclist, stopping and taking off your helmet for an equestrian and not tearing up the hardened surface that touring bikes need.”
For more information visit the BC Offroad Motorcycle Association’s website.
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