Westman trails receive funding boost

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This article was published 12/05/2022 (1602 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pair of trail associations in Westman have received funding to maintain paths for those looking to explore the great outdoors.

The Trans-Canada Trail (TCT) has awarded 166 Trail Care grants — 14 in Manitoba — to fund projects across the country, including in the town of Neepawa and the Rossburn Subdivision Trail Association areas.

Grants range from $1,000 to $2,000 and are to be used to fund the improvement of existing areas, the transition into the spring season and to ensure safe access to pathways, said Kristen Gabora, TCT national manager of infrastructure and connection. Activities being funded by the grants include trail maintenance, improvement projects, community cleanup events and volunteer training.

“Anyone can get out on a trail system, plus it takes people back out into nature, outside, and it allows them to connect and provides that awesome opportunity for communities to pull together on something,” Gabora said.

Trails have become increasingly popular over the past three years, she said. A survey conducted by the organization found trail usage has increased by around 50 per cent in Canada across all age groups and 95 per cent of Canadians use trails to enhance their mental health. She said these numbers are expected to continue to grow as the pandemic comes to an end.

“Through the pandemic, trails were one of those activities that you could still take part in,” Gabora said.

The TCT Trail Care grant helps to ensure trails remain accessible and safe for community members, Gabora said. The grant allows groups to maintain trails, especially as usage continues to grow, and the grants are unique as associations are not required to provide matching funds.

TRT saw this need to maintain infrastructure, especially as areas of the country transition between seasons. The Trail Care grants allow volunteers to get out, freshen their trails for the new season and appreciate those volunteers who keep trails maintained.

The grants were officially awarded in March, just in time for spring. The funding is released during the transition of seasons to get groups thinking about what activities they would like to see on trails and any necessary maintenance across Canada.

“That’s the beauty of Trans-Canada Trail — that connection. That network of groups across Canada are undertaking projects … and connecting Canadians,” Gabora said. “It’s connecting people in Manitoba with people in the Yukon … it’s very exciting.”

Neepawa received a $1,000 grant that will help with the spring cleanup of trails in the area, said Nicole Cooper, director of recreational services. The funds will aid in trail maintenance along with the purchase of special shirts for volunteers.

A spring cleanup is planned for early June to check on the tails and ensure the spaces have no sticks, garbage or debris that could create trail hazards. With the amount of snow seen in the region, there may be a need in certain areas to refill pathways or replace rocks.

“It’s just to ensure the user’s safety is taken care of before our busy season starts,” Cooper said.

The TRC grant helps promote the trail system in Neepawa, Cooper said, while encouraging people to become more engaged with outdoor spaces.

“It gets them more involved in taking part and also just keeps them clean,” Cooper said. “The more people use them and like them the more they’re going to explore them more.”

She expects volunteers will have their work cut out for them, as the area was hammered by snow in April and users will be eager to get outside after the difficult winter.

People have a new appreciation for the outdoors, and there has been a noticeable increase in users over the last couple of years. This boon in usership was brought on largely by the pandemic, Cooper said, as exploring the trails was a safe, unstructured activity that allowed people to get out of the house.

The town is working to expand available pathways and provide more trails in the future to meet rising public interests. In the last two years alone, Neepawa has added a loop around the town’s HyLife back 40 multi-use trail park.

The goal in Neepawa is to create trails that connect recreation, essential services and economic areas of town by promoting the pathways as a general transportation hub.

“We get comments all the time on how beautifully our trails are maintained during the summer. Our public works team regularly groom, maintain and cut them as well,” Cooper said. “They’re never overgrown or [have] hazards on them.”

The Rossburn Subdivision Trail Association received a $1,000 grant to serve the association’s 176-kilometre trail.

The association has a maintenance program that includes a dedicated worker who drives along the trail twice a year to replace missing signs and complete a trail audit. The audit is used by the association to understand trail needs.

In the spring after the first audit, volunteers better understand the impact of winter weather on local trails, and it can be hard to predict how much maintenance will be needed, said secretary-treasurer Ilse Ketelsen.

Volunteers have their fingers crossed for the 2022 season, she said, as they wait for the snow to melt and unveil the current state of the trail system. Flooding also remains a concern given the spring weather; some areas had snowdrifts as tall as 10 feet in late April.

The group is grateful to TCT, Trails Manitoba and surrounding municipalities as the support they provide will be essential in helping prepare trails for the spring season.

“We couldn’t do it without them,” Ketelsen said.

For those looking to explore the Rossburn trail system, Ketelsen encouraged people “to just go out and do it.”

Trail use has been up in the area since the start of the pandemic, she said, and they created a website and social media to engage with potential hikers. Cycling is especially popular in the Rossburn area and volunteers have seen many mountain bike trails that allow people to explore from Neepawa to Russell.

“There are more people interested, there are more questions coming. It’s nice to see,” Ketelsen said.

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