Ontario Trails News - March 16, 2017

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

Ontario Trails presents on Trails at Canadian Parks and Recreation Conference   It was a pleasure to speak on the Value of Trails at the Canadian Parks and Recreation Conference in Banff on March 10th. I talked to several important facts about trails: Need for a National Trails Policy Need for a Canadian Trails Act 360,000 km of trails in Canada 260,000 km of managed trails in Canada 13,200 in Urban Areas (4.8%) 37.6% of trails in Canada are for snowmobiling 11.6% are for ATV Nearly 50% of all trails are motorized. We need CPRA and CPRA Member support to get trails made in Canada Trans Canada Trail is 21/360, or .05% of all Trail I express my sincere gratitude to Paul Ronan, Jack de Wit, Linda Strong Watson, the OTC, CTF and many others for making this trip possible. You can see my full presentation here: Canadian Parks and Recreation Presentation 2017   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!On March 14th, Patrick Connor from OTC and David Naulls from Trailhead Hastings met with Mike Bossio MP and we discussed the development of a Hastings County Master Plan, as well as federal support for trails nationally. We thanks Mike for all his support and we look forward to enacting many positive outcomes, for Hastings and Canada into the future. We had a fantastic turn out for Trailhead Hastings, over 40 people were there. Thanks to Jack de Wit, OTC President for attending, and to Carol Oitment, Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport, Mark Schmidt from Parks Canada, Louisa Mursell from Ontario By Bike, Kacey Rogerson from Hastings County, Robert Orland from Orland Conservation for their presentations! And a special thanks to Catherine Trimble from North Hastings Economic Development Committee, Tanya Hill from Hastings Prince Edward Health Unit, and David Naulls, Councillor Wollaston Township for assisting with planning. Brantford Bike Park - Urban link to Trails Use! The OTC wishes to congratulate the City of Brantford and Councillor Rick Weaver for all the hard work moving this project forward. Urban parks like these lead to mountain bike trail use in the future! More from Grand Valley Trailhead North Nipigon!Join us in Nipigon as we present another symposium with enriched and regional content geared to the north! 2017 Program Wednesday  Topic 8:30 – 9:00 AM  Coffee Served 9:00-9:30 AM Welcome 9:30-10:15 AM Trails Act & What it means for Northern Regional Trails 10:15-10:30 AM Break 10:30-11:15 AM Parks Canada’s Trails Program & Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area 11:15-11:45 PM Implementing the Parks Canada Trail Classification on Local Trails 11:45-12:00 PM Implementing Trail Education Program With North Shore Network 12:00-1:00 PM Luncheon 1:00 – 2:30 PM First Nation’s Trail Development 1:00 – 2:30 PM First Nation’s Eco Tourism – Lac Seul 2:30-2:45 PM Break 2:45-3:15 PM First Nation’s Employment Training 3:15-3:45 PM Implementing Trail Training Program 3:45-4:15 PM Future Trail Research 4:15-4:30 PM Networking 5:00-6:00 PM Cash Bar 6:00 – 9:00 PM Trails, the Outdoors & Climate Change (7:30 PM) Auction development! Thursday    8:30 – 9:00 AM Coffee Served 9:00-9:15 AM Welcome 9:15-9:45 AM Nipigon’s Trails 9:45-10:15 AM Lessons Learned – Setting Up A Guiding Business 10:15-10:45 AM A Guide To Northwestern Ontario’s Best Kept Secret 9:45-10:45 AM Tourism Excellence North Program 10:45-11:00 AM Sponsored by Lakehead University 11:00-Noon Fat Bikes & Winter Trails Noon-1:00 PM Luncheon 1:00-1:45 PM Canadian Trails Federation & Trailhead Canada 1:45-2:30 PM Trails Tourism Strategies – Lessons Learned from Central Counties 2:30-3:00 PM Implementing The Lighthouse Trail – Connecting 4 Light stations on Lake Superior 3:00-4:00 PM North of Superior Trails – Getting Organized 4:00-5:00 PM Rob Swainson, Hike Leader As at 3/8/2017 Program content subject to change based on availability. Trailhead Headwaters in Development - May 2017! Trailhead Mountain Bike - in development!   Ontario Trails E.D. Presenting at PRO Conference PRO Educational Forum and Trade Show March 28 - 31, 2017        SPONSORSHIP, ADVERTISING & EXHIBITOR OPPORTUNITIES Parks and Recreation Ontario is delighted to invite sponsors, advertisers and trade show exhibitors to the PRO Educational Forum and Trade Show at Deerhurst Conference Centre from March 28 - 31, 2017. Come to introduce your product/service, increase visibility for your brand, and engage with more than 600 parks and recreation professionals from across Ontario and beyond. Please complete our Value of Trails 2017 Survey by March 1 - your input will shape our CPRA and PRO Presentations Trailhead Canada - Topics Listed On-Line!Below you'll see our first poster for the event. Click through to the main website to find 7 pages of topics we are planning to explore over the event. 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