Ontario Trails News - Trailwise - March 30, 2017

• Trail Management • Trailhead Events • Membership Drive    • Donate to Trails Today • Member News • Activity Updates

Inside Brockville reports on PM's visit to Parks of the St.Lawrence at Landon Bay. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poses with Parks Canada Resource Conservation Manager Sheldon Lambert and his family after they went for a hike at Landon Bay on Tuesday, March 28. In noting the proposed investments in trails and protecting Canada's natural beauty the federal government is making as part of Budget 2017, the prime minister encouraged Canadians to enjoy sites such as Thousand Islands National Park. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hits the trail at Thousand Islands National Park at Landon Bay west of Ivy Lea on Tuesday, March 28. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau complete a 45-minute hike at Landon Bay on Tuesday morning. Landon Bay Centre welcomed a special guest on a somewhat foggy and damp Tuesday morning. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited an area of Thousand Islands National Park. Accompanied by Parks Canada Resource Conservation Manager Sheldon Lambert and his family, the prime minister went for a 45-minute hike on one of the trails at Landon Bay just north of the 1000 Islands Parkway. Trudeau's outdoor trek was aimed at promoting investments the federal government is proposing as part of Budget 2017. In addition to up to $364 million over two years starting in 2018-19 to support Parks Canada's management of national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas, the government has proposed $30 million over five years and starting this fiscal year to complete the Trans Canada Trail. This is in partnership with provinces, territories and indigenous communities. The budget details that the 30 million is being given to Parks Canada to administer in the completion of the TCT. As reported by the Ottawa Citizen. Full article - https://www.insidebrockville.com/news-story/7212833-prime-minister-hits-the-trail-at-thousand-islands-national-park/ Log In Your International Trails Day Event!  International Trails Day is an annual celebration of trails, trail development and the healthy lifestyle they encourage. It is celebrated each year on the first Saturday in June. Started by the American Hiking Society in 1992, trails Day has spread to encompass all forms of recreational trail usage in more than a dozen countries worldwide. It promotes public awareness of and appreciation for trails and the people who build and maintain them. Builds partnerships among trail groups, businesses, and public land managers. Encourages cooperative efforts among different trail users, including hikers, bicyclists, equestrians, walkers, runners. International Trails Day brings together trails enthusiasts, to participate in educational exhibits, trail dedications, gear demonstrations, and instructional workshops and trail work projects. At both Canadian Trails and Ontario Trails we are interested in knowing who is hosting an event as part of this celebration of trails. You only have to log it in once on the national site, OTC monitors this site as part of its voluntary contribution to the national organization so we'll copy it to our inventory if it's based in Ontario! List Your Canadian Event Here The public is encouraged to join in the celebration by attending one of the community events listed at www.internationaltrailsday.com. With content from Leisure Information Network We need your help! In 2015 we secured 101 respondents to our "The Value of Trails - Measuring the Economic Impact of Trails Survey." We've added 12 more to the 2017 updates. We have a ways to go. Below you will see the OTC is presenting to the Canadian Parks and Recreation Conference March 10, and to Parks and Recreation Ontario March 28. On both occasions we are speaking to trails tourism and the economic impact of trails. Click through the screen capture below to access the survey. There are many metrics to measure in determining the economic impact of trails, and tourism in just one factor. In order to accurately represent a closer economic impact of trails we are requesting your speedy response to our Call to Action for Your Input to our Value of Trails 2017 survey. With your help we will make an even stronger case for trails and the supports you require to provide a top notch experience at each of your trail destinations. We are also accepting new responses! Many Thanks! We encourage you to complete our Trails Tourism Survey We continue to work on gathering information in order provide Regional Tourism Organizations with an action plan for integration of trails, tourism, and marketing products, including changes to our award winning OTC Website. In order to make recommendations we need your input. To date we have reached out to over 115 RTO/DMO/DMP partners. Please get back to us. We are trying to complete our analysis and we want your input as opposed to a gap, unfortunately gaps will be noted. Contact Patrick at execdir@ontariotrails.ca or call him 613-484-1140, thanks. Trailhead Hastings - the Dialogue Continues! As requested when we met with MP Mike Bossio Ontario Trails Council through its various inter-linkages  have provided MP Bossio with a briefing note on Trailhead Canada as well as a short fact sheet on Canadian Trails. _____________________________________________________________ There are trails in each Canadian province and territory. Trails are managed or unmanaged. There are 360,521 trails in total. 278,576 are managed.  These are made for: 104,783km of snowmobile 32,334km of ATV/ORM 39,272km Hiking/Running 16,700km Cross Country Skiing 9278km Mountain Biking 5099km Cycling Touring 16,291 Walking Cycling Shared 6788 Equestrian Shared 20,496 Snowmobile Shared 27,536 ATV Shared   Trails are single use, mixed or shared use. Single use means one activity, mixed means motorized (M) with non-motorized (NM), and shared use means shared by a group of M or NM activities.  Canadian Trail activities include:  all-terrain vehicle, off road motorized vehicle, hiking, walking, motorcycle (dirt bike), road cycling, mountain biking, assisted electric vehicle, e-bike, snowmobiling, sight-seeing, bird-watching, snow-shoeing, climbing, bouldering, ice climbing, cross country skiing, dog sledding, skijoring, equestrian, carriage, active transportation (bike or walking), running, canoe, kayaking, geo-caching. There are trails in urban, suburban, town and country, remote and wilderness areas. Trails are managed by parks, municipalities, conservation areas, heritage sites, tourism offices, economic development, private lands, first nations, recreation departments, crown land managers, and use groups. 13,290km of trails are in urban areas, focused largely on non-motorized use. Over 347,231km of trail are in sub-urban, rural and wilderness areas. For every dollar invested in trails, trails return a $1: $9 from tourism For every dollar invested in trails, trails return a $1: $4 from healthcare savings. Please join us at Trailhead Canada, so we can develop policies and best practices at the national level to support trails in your riding. Thank-you. Trailhead North Nipigon! Trail Training and Hike Leader Training added to ProgramJoin us in Nipigon as we present another symposium with enriched and regional content geared to the north! 2017 Program As at 3/8/2017 Program content subject to change based on availability. Trailhead Headwaters May 10, 2017! Since the New Year OTC has been working with Shirley Boxem of Headwaters in Action to bring forward Trailhead Headwaters! We are well into the planning process for the Trails Summit and striving to form an optimum agenda. We appreciate the Town of Mono who have secured have secured Monora Park for the day as a donation from the Town of Mono! OTC has been working with the community members of the CHATT, Headwaters Communities in Action’s Citizens of Headwaters for Active Transportation Team in planning the event. Yesterday Dufferin County came on board with funding support for the symposium. Thanks to Scott Burns P.Eng. for his support and kind remarks! Preliminary topic list includes: Rail Trail Development  Dufferin County Trails Master-plan Regional Trail Committee Discussion  Economic Impact of Trail Development Developing Interpretive Signage Headwaters Trails Connectivity  We will post all links to sites and registration as they go live. For now keep May 10 open as if you are in the area you may want to present or participate! Thanks Trailhead Mountain Bike - in development! Event notice: Ride the GART Ride the Goderich-Auburn Rail Trail on June 4th to celebrate Trails Week in Ontario; meet at the trailhead on Harbour Street, Goderich at 1 p.m. for a leisurely ride. Sponsored by Active Transportation Goderich, and the Maitland Trail Association. More information - Ride the Gart Trailhead Canada - Topics Listed On-Line!Below you'll see page 3 of topics open for discussion at the event. Click through to the main website to find 7 pages of topics we are planning to explore over the event. Check the site for presenter applications you can download or complete on-line. Thanks. Be sure to check out the 7 pages of topics up for presentation. https://trailheadcanada.com/topics/ Remember to Donate! Membership Renewals - Thank-you for your Support!We wish to thank the organizations that have already completed their membership for 2017. We couldn't do our work without your continued support. Many thanks!  "The OTC provides us with the ability to communicate and collaborate with industry stakeholders, professionals and advocates. It also provides us with the tools to develop our own capacities, skills and networks. As well, it is important to back to the OTC and trail communities in our province. Being an OTC member allows us to benefit from the knowledge of other members through education and professional development opportunities such as the Trailhead Ontario conference, and through professional networking. The OTC is the influential body that will help guide and shape the political, professional and physical landscape of trails in Ontario. Joining the OTC provides an opportunity to be part of this process: to both contribute and gain knowledge in a community of passionate, like-minded individuals and organizations."  - Damian Bradley, Cycling advocate and Developer Guelph Regional Trails Council Membership Benefits INFORMATION AND FUNDING OTC Trails and Event page representation Representation on OTC trails maps Social Media represents you to 60,000+ people Fund Development through grant writing, grant support ACCESS AND INFLUENCE Connectivity to the Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport Leadership at the Ontario Trails Coordinating Committee Office services and networking support BEST PRACTICES Partnership Support and Knowledge exchange Access to Professional Development sessions Tourism Practices, Trails Tort Reform, Trail Workshops TRAIL IMPROVEMENTS Access to Trail Insurance Broker Option on registration in Trillium Trail Network Local, regional or provincial User conflict resolution 2017 MEMBERSHIP FORM - PDF     2017 MEMBERSHIP FORM - WORD DOC CATEGORIES Become a "Friend of Trails" Savings on conference/seminar registration Monthly e-bulletins Access to OTC trails database Great gift price! Savings on trail literature/maps $26.52 + $3.45 = $29.97 (includes 13% HST) Benefits to Student Editions of the OTC newsletter Trailwise Access to OTC trails information Conference and selected literature savings * must provide student verification $21.21 + $2.75 = $23.96 (includes 13% HST) Our members include municipalities, conservation authorities, parks, trail management groups, trail clubs, trail user groups, health units and other trail-related supporting organizations. Base HST Total Small Non-profit, Small Organizations $109.27 $14.20 $123.47 Conservation Authorities, Medium Municipalities, Counties, Regional Tourism Organizations $273.18 $35.51 $308.69 Municipalities, Provincial Level Organizations >5000 users $819.54 $106.54 $926.0