Ontario Trails News - following our friends conversations on Twitter!

1.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   35Highlands East ‏@highlands_east  Jul 7

   Lost dog found on Dyno Road by West Eels Lake Road. It is a female shepherd mix, no tags or collar. Please share... http://fb.me/6DB5y1S8P 

   7 retweets1 favorite
2.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   53Walk Toronto ‏@Walk_TO  Jul 7

   "Great cities have public toilets. It is an essential element of inclusive urban design." - @picardonhealth http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/an-urgent-matter-more-public-washrooms/article25327995/ …

   24 retweets14 favorites
3.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   61Kawarthas Nrthmbrlnd ‏@perfectwknds  Jul 8

   We had fun at the Kids #Fishing Derby @ElmhirstResort last week - have a look at what we caught: https://www.facebook.com/KawarthasNorthumberland/videos/893198814086501/ … #ricelake #FishKN

   2 retweets3 favorites
4.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   45Kinmount ‏@kinmount  Jul 7

   #OpenMic Session - Pipes and Drums at #Kinmount #HighlandGames Register on http://kinmounthighlandgames.com  #Music #bagpipes #drums #LetTheGamesBegin

   1 retweet0 favorites
5.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   60Algonquin Park ‏@Algonquin_PP  Jul 7

   Next campfire, turn your s'more into a Grasshopper S'more by adding a peppermint patty!

   

   View photo15 retweets15 favorites
6.  Ontario Trails retweeted

   61Invest in Ontario ‏@InvestOntario  Jul 7

   @ontrails Thanks for the RT!

   View conversation1 retweet0 favorites

Ontario Trails Council - Trail News from all over Ontario - Thanks to all for their support of Trailhead Ontario 2013!

Trailhead Ontario - Thanks to All!

June 9-12, 2013 - Peterborough

The OTC wishes to thank all participants, supporters, registrants, presenters and  organizers for enabling 2013 Trailhead Ontario to be a big success! Special thanks to Wayne Daub, Conference Chair.
 

The Ontario Trails Council, and the Trailhead Ontario 2013 planning committee wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport in making this conference happen. We could not have a conference and sustain OTC without their assistance. For this we are grateful.



We wish to thank Assistant Deputy Minister Phil Malcolmson for attending with Anna Ilnyckyj, Director, Policy Branch and Carol Oitment for attending from the MTCS! 

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We wish to thank Robert Orland from Orland Conservation for his insightful Presentations on Land Procurement and Understanding Trails. His presentations broke new ground and provided all trail users and managers present with new material to think about!

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Mapping Panel -
We wish to thank BackRoads Mapbooks, Damian Bradley, Hap Wilson, Faraj Nakhleh from Trak Maps and Cathy Anderson from Advermap for presenting.

 

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Trail Tourist Panel - 
We wish to thank welcome Cyclists, Louisa Mursell, Tim West from the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, John Robb from Ontario Geocachers Association and Bonnie Simpson from OTRA and Mike Pinkerton from Hatfield McCoy Trails for their contributions as panelists to the Trail Tourism Panel.

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International Trail Panel
We wish to thank Author Loreen Niewenhuis for her talk about her experience circumnavigating, on foot - the waterfront trails of the Great Lakes! In 2009, Loreen Niewenhuis walked the perimeter of Lake Michigan and wrote the best selling book, "A 1000-MILE WALK ON THE BEACH".

In 2012, she took another long journey, covering 1000 miles of shoreline touching all five Great Lakes. The book about this latest adventure, "A 1000-MILE GREAT LAKES WALK",explores the entire Great Lakes system.

In her presentation, she took us along the shores of all five Great Lakes and many of the waterways connecting them. In words, photos, and video, she explored the geology, hydrology, and natural history of the largest system of fresh water lakes in the world. She illuminated the threats to this massive ecosystem: invasive species, pollution, destruction of wetlands, and the gradual warming of the lakes.

We thank Lisa Filter of Minnesota Parks and Trails Council and Nancy Krupiarz from Michigan Trails and Greenways Association and Fran Gotscik of Parks and Trails for their presentations and the efforts they made to inform us of how their organizations work and the challenges they face. 

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Local Support - we wish to thank Kawarthas Northumberland and Peterborough Kawarthas Tourism and the Canadian Canoe Museum for their support and planning for this event. We thank all the trail ambassadors the RTO folks found for our session events. Special thanks to Christine Painter, Vanessa Twiddy and Karen Theriault for their unfailing support of our event!
 

       

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Trails Education - Select a Program!

We have updated the program and our 14 module program is here for the using. If you have staff to train, trails to manage or want a session in your area on a particular topic let us know. We'll coordinate a session or series on your behalf.

	DESCRIPTION
COURSE TITLE
Volunteer Management	View PDF
Business Planning and Budgetting	View PDF
Regulation and Legislation	View PDF
Ecosystem and Natural Heritage	View PDF
Wilderness First Aid	View PDF
Food and Nutrition	View PDF
Marketing and Promotion	View PDF
Health and Safety	View PDF
Technology for Trails - Level 1	View PDF
Trail Design (2 days)	View PDF
Trail Risk Management	View PDF
Trail Committee Development	Manual
Trail Steward- On Line Learning	Program
Trail Planning - On Line	Program

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Trails Insurance Program AvailableOnce again, members of the trails community find themselves seeking alternative trails insurance. The volatility and unpredictability of your insurance plan keeping you hopping? Wondering what you are getting, curious if your agent or the underwriter understands trails?
If you want:

• cost stability
• product assurance
• insurance perseverance
• a broker that understands trails

At OTC our mission is "trail preservation." See the note from Intercity Insurance, Mike King, below.

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Further to our recent discussions, I wanted to let you know that we have investigated various markets to get a sense of the appetite that insurers have for coverage associated with trails. Our findings suggest that coverage is available - but from a very limited number of carriers and that the cost of insurance in this class is not heading down anytime soon. The reality is that there have been losses associated with trails in general and that the frequency and severity of claims is on the rise.
 
On the positive side of the issue, we have had several specific discussions of late with our current carriers at Lloyd's of London and we are (collectively) very interested in ramping up our work with OTC to connect with your associates who manage trails. We and the insurers we represent are firm in our commitment to work collaboratively with the OTC trail community to develop a comprehensive risk management strategy that makes sense - and insurance is just one part of that strategy.
 
As for what trail insurance products we have "in the box” right now:
 
a)       Commercial General Liability coverage —premium costs start at $1,000.00 for $2,000,000 coverage.

b)      Directors and Officers liability coverage — premium costs start at $200.00 for $I,000,000 coverage. We find that even the smallest community group is seeing the importance of acquiring D and O coverage.

c)       Accidental Death and Dismemberment coverage - premiums start at $250. 00 to cover the Officers, Directors, employees, members. The limit of coverage is $100,000.

In the near future OTC will be bundling these products as a part of membership services and products.

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Performance Measures - Trail Counts!

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.

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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

Go to Trail Counts! to purchase. Thanks

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Ontario Trails - Your Data Wanted

Since 2007 the Ontario Trails Council has collected trails data, and turned that data into our award winning website, as mandated by the desires of the trails community reflected in the Ontario Trails Strategy. Nearly 1,000,000 people a year turn to this information in order to find you and your trails.
The characteristics we are looking for are:

1.       Measurements

1. Trailhead Longitude
2. Trailhead Latitude
3. Completion Time (hours)
4. Elevation Change (m)
5. Trailhead Elevation (m)
6. Maximum Elevation (m)
7. Cross Slope Average (%)
8. Cross Slope Maximum (%)
9. Minimum Trail Width (m)
10. Average Trail Width (m)
11. Maximum Grade (%)
12. Average Grade (%)
13. Trail Surface
14. Trail Classification (Trail Group/Local Classification/Difficulty/ Rating eg: OFSC Trail Classes)

4.    Prohibited Trail Uses
5.    Trail Hazards (Poison Ivy, Steep Slopes)
6.    Trail Fees (Day Pass, Donation, Parking etc.)
7.    Seasons/Dates of Operation
8.    Trail Amenities (Visitor Centre, Beach, Boat Launch etc.)
9.    Trail Enforcement
10.  Trail Permits
11.  Trail Speed Limit
12.  Trail Signage
13.  Trail Environmental Concerns
14.  Trail Permitted Use (Dogs on Leash)

1. Date of Collection
2. Data Collector
3. Trail sensitivity (high /low) 

So let us know if you are willing to support us by sharing data you already have. execdir@ontariotrails.ca Thanks