Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Ontario Trails - Trailhead Ontario, Trail Counts, Trail Education and more on Ontario Trails!

Equine Guelph to Host Horse Behavior, Safety eWorkshop

Equine Guelph, the horse owners' and care givers' center at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, has announced a second offering of its online horse behavior and safety workshop April 1-14, 2013. This two-week online course is designed for people who would like to learn more about best practices for handling horses safely.

Education is pivotal for prevention. Injuries due to horses are one of the leading causes of animal-related hospitalizations and fatalities, according to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR). A recent study conducted by the University of Kentucky (UK) Healthcare/UK College of Agriculture revealed that 40-60% of equine-related injury patients believed their injuries were preventable and due to rider error.
"The first 'Horse Behavior and Safety eWorkshop' sold out within two hours of announcement," notes Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph. "We are pleased by the interest that horse people are showing in educating themselves about 'why' horses behave the way they do in order to become safer handlers."
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MPP Wants Money for Rural Ontario

Sunday, March 10, 2013 2:23 PMby Bayshore News Staff
Bill Walker calls on Liberals to share gas tax money with rural Ontario.


(Toronto) - Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker on Friday called on the Wynne Liberals to support sharing the provincial gas tax money with rural Ontario.

Walker’s comments came during debate on his PC colleague and MPP John Yakabuski’s private member’s bill, entitled The Gasoline Tax Fairness for All Act. The Bill amends the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act to permit the gas tax to be shared with both urban and rural municipalities. Currently, only about 80 of the 440-plus municipalities in Ontario receive these gas tax transfer payments.

The gas tax is about 31 per cent of the price of gas, which includes an 11 per cent gas surcharge, 8 per cent HST and 13 per cent federal gas tax. 
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Timmins Kayak Challenge and Festival back on the Top 100 list

As expected, the Great Canadian Kayak Challenge and Festival in Timmins has been named among the top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario, according to recent news release. This is the second year in a row for the honour.

The Timmins event is held each August to highlight the history of the Mattagami River as well as to showcase various artists, musicians and others who work to make the three-day festival a successful community celebration.

Festivals and Events Ontario (FEO) is proud to announce the 2013 Top 100 Festivals & Events in Ontario, sponsored by VIA Rail Canada. These Top 100 recipients represent festivals and events that excel within the industry, said the news release. Included in the Top 100 are the Festivals & Events of Distinction, a select group which represent some of the most well known and respected celebrations in the province; celebrations which draw both an international and domestic audience.

Other Northern events listed in the top 100 are the Kapuskasing Lumberjack Festival, the Bon Soo Winter Carnival and Mattawa Voyageur Days.

Submissions from FEO members were received for consideration in the fall of 2012 and were judged by an independent panel of judges. Festivals and events of all kinds from every corner of Ontario were represented in the submissions – from community festivals to internationally recognized events.
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Trailbuilding - March 13-14, 2013
Albion Hills Conservation Authority


Daniel Scott from IMBA writes, "Students will come away with a firm understanding of the fundamentals of trail design for both hard surface and naturally surfaced trails of various user types. A working knowledge of the design process from the planning phase to ground proofing trail alignments will be both discussed and experienced with examples and a field exercise which will include using field measurement equipment and flagging a trail alignment for construction." 



So watch these newsletters and the trails education page on our website for updates!
 
To Book - e-mail courses@ontariotrails.ca Eventbrite : http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4393352636# _________________________________________________________________________________

Trail Counts
 
EVER WONDERED WHO IS USING YOUR TRAIL AND WHEN? LOOKING FOR MORE THAN JUST A STATIC COUNT OF TRAIL ACTIVITY? TELL OTHERS ABOUT WHAT TYPE OF PERSON IS USING YOUR TRAIL, WHAT MAKES YOUR TRAIL A POPULAR DESTINATION...AND MORE!


WE HAVE YOUR ANSWER.
Utilizing smartphone technology trail users can now complete a short survey that:
  • Logs in the trip
  • Single counts individual users
  • Consolidates results for centralized reporting
  • Consultation on survey content.
  • We ask your questions - the facility manager asks what they want to know!
  • Allows for separate trail counting
  • Multi-season operation
  • 24/7collection
  • Identifies quality of trail experiences
  • Provides you feedback loop
Wherever there is a smartphone signal, and YOUR trailhead you could be gathering and collecting additional information that will make for a better trail! Got great trails? Get the feedback that keeps you in the know!
LOW MAINTENANCE
Using weatherproof decals our methods allow users to quickly and easily provide you with information you need to assess, improve, direct, re-direct, or provide information to the user - while on the trail. Our proprietary method has been developed by over 140 trail users and with the input of The City of Thunder Bay and Norfolk County Trail Managers.
LOW COST
$50.00 per trail per year (max 3 trails) includes:
  • Decal design
  • Decal Printing - max 6 sheets, various size decals
  • More decals option (fee charged)
  • Survey Set-up
  • Survey reports
  • All system maintenance
  • Regional Comparisons
  • Seasonal variances
  • Trail differentiations
  • Use patterns

PACKAGES
OTC Member? - Take $25.00 off each package!
  • Blue - 4-10 trails:  $300.00 plus HST and registration fees
    • Maximum 20 sheets of decals
  • Green - 10-20 trails: $500.00 plus HST and registration fees
    • Maximum 40 sheets of decals
  • Gold - 20 or more trails: Starting at $1,000 plus HST and registration fees
    • TBD
We've kept the price low - comparible pairs of static counters, that provide no demographic or qualitative information start at @$750.00 a pair, per trail - at OTC we are maintenance free, so operating cost is never an issue! Get information on your rural trails - save on gas, training, maintenance and get better connected to your customer: THE TRAIL USER!


VARIOUS DECAL SIZES TO MEET YOUR NEEDS!
8 decals per sheet - each decal is @4.5" (W) X 1.12" (T) or 11.43cm (W) X 2.8cm (T)
4 decals per sheet - each decal is @ 6" (W) X 1.75" (T) or 15.24cm (W) X 4.44cm (T)
2 decals per sheet - each decal is @ 9" (W) X 2.25" (T) or 22.86cm (W) x 5.72cm (T)



NETWORKED TRAIL TRAFFIC SERVICE - 
Do you have a trail that comes into your area from somewhere else? Is it managed by someone other than you? Ever want to know how much trail traffic was passing through, staying. or going away from your place - on your trail? Trails network and they cross jurisdictions. How much maintenance are you doing for traffic that comes from someone else's trail? We can answer that! Watch this space for our Trillium Trail (C) Decal. It is designed specifically for trail networks
OTHER FACILITIES?
Do you have a trail that comes into park, runs around the arena or pool and you'd like to know more about cross flow and traffic integration? Ontario Trails can offer this same method to integrate additional feedback from your other recreation facilities as well - producing for you a comprehensive report on traffic, quality of experience at your arena, pool or tourism destination - giving you a sense of aggregate operation and our 4 F's - "fit, flow, funding and function."


FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Call Patrick at 877-668-7245
execdir@ontariotrails.ca
*Shipping and handling extra
** Colour print extra

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Trailhead Ontario _________________________________________________________________________________


Trailhead Ontario Website Trailhead Ontario Registration - Early Bird Ends April 1, 2013
Our Plan for 2013 – "From Recreation to Tourism" There are a lot of new trails and trail tourism partnerships in RTO8. The Ontario Trails “Trailhead Ontario 2013″ Committee is  is pleased to announce the Holiday Inn Waterfront Peterborough as the location of our conferencing. Site locations for our trail education program are being determined now.  

 NATURAL/ HISTORIC SITES When you’re entering the region from any direction the noticeable feature that differentiates Peterborough from other Cities or Counties in Ontario is the distinct rolling hills.  These hills, while beautiful when full with fall foliage, have a unique history behind them.  When the last ice age was receding, it left behind large pockets of sediment, which it picked up while proceeding to grow and freeze everything in its path.  These pockets of sediment are what create the rolling hill effect you see now.  The leftover hills are called Drumlins and Peterborough is home to one of the largest Drumlin fields in Canada.  The reason is unknown, however when traveling along the trails or the roads, makes sure you keep an eye out for the next hill and think about how it really was created. Become a Trailhead Ontario Presenter - tell us about yourself!

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Our mobile app voted one of 12 Must Have for Living in Rural Ontario by Ruralist.ca





















Ontario Trail Projects - this page details our work in 32 areas of Ontario.
Ontario Trails Council liaise with the province, and through membership input we conduct a variety of surveys and create reports that guide decision makers at all levels - these include:
  • Trail Priorities
  • Accessibility
  • Land Use Planning
  • Ontario Cycling Route Commentary
  • Use of Maintenance Vehicles on Trails
  • Community Development
  • Event Planning for Trail Groups
  • Safe Trails Manual
  • Regional Tourism Trail Inventory RTO12

And more. We can get you to a significant trails audience.

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Ontario Trail Council Membership

Membership renewals for 2013 started going out December 1st, 2012. Thanks to the 77+ organizations that have renewed so far!

On behalf of OTC we thank you for your support. If there is a group you know that is not a member contact us and we'll send them a note on membership benefits.
 

THANKS! MERCI! 
join otc

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The Ontario Trails Council Appreciates the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation



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