16 Jan 2012

Brian Wood

Click the attachment below to view a summary of survey respondents provided by ORC.

Some good news - The trail groups in BC showed more enthusiasm for the National Trails Roundtable Survey than any of the other Provinces and Territories! In addition, as seen in the Trail Use Summary below, there is a far greater number of responses from the non-motorized groups than the motorized groups. For example, ignoring “mixed use” and “other“ due to ambiguity, the sum of respondents of the motorized trail users (MTU) is 143, whereas the sum of respondents of  the terrestrial non-motorized trail users (NMTU), including equestrian but excluding canoe/kayak,  is 283, which is almost twice the motorized group. There are some problems relating to the survey and this summary, particularly for differentiating between some MTU and NMTU, and relative numbers of responses from individuals versus responses from organizations, but in general there is a much stronger showing of non-motorized users.

More good news - A limited amount of additional trail funding for the National Trails Coalition (NTC) MIGHT be included in the federal budget in February. ORC feels that the ratio for dividing the funding is likely to be similar to the 2009 NTC funding i.e. one third each to Summer Motorized, Winter Motorized and Non-Motorized Recreation. Based on my breakdown of the responses to the NTR survey, one could argue that the 2009 ratio should no longer apply to the funding division, and that more funds should go to non-motorized recreation, but do not hold your breath on that one!. As before, matching funds would also be required, so let us start NOW to get organized to find projects and matching funding so we might be able to apply in time, as no doubt the deadlines will be short.