TRAILS in the NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: BACKGROUND

 TRAILS in the NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: BACKGROUND REPORT Submitted to the NWT Recreation and Parks Association by Avens Associates Ltd. i TRAILS in the NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: BACKGROUND REPORT Report to: Geoff Ray Executive Director NWT Recreation and Parks Association Box 841 4908 49th Street, 2nd Floor Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N6 Phone: (867) 669‐8375 Email: [email protected] Submission by: Avens Associates Ltd. Box 1724 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2PE Phone: (867) 873‐5412 e‐mail: [email protected] in conjunction with: EDA Collaborative Inc. 10212 ‐ 111 Street, Edmonton, AB T5K 1K9 T: 780 423 4990 e‐mail: [email protected] Date: August 23, 2012 ii Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................... i ii Executive Summary .............................................................................. v 1. Introduction .................................................................................. 8 2. Trail Classification ....................................................................... 10 3. Existing Trails Inventory ............................................................... 12 3 .1 N at i ona l Tra i l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 3 .2 T e r r it o r ia l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4 3 .3 R eg io na l T ra i l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 3 .4 L oc a l T ra i l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 6 3 .5 W at e r R o u t e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 0 4. Trails Maps ................................................................................. 53 5. Trail Comparisons ........................................................................ 54 5 .1 A l aska . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 5 .2 A lb e rt a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 7 5 .3 B r it i sh C o lumb ia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 8 5 .4 N e wfound land and La bra do r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1 5 .5 N o rth w e st Te r r i t o r ie s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3 6. NWT Issues, Opportunities & Constraints ........................................ 73 6 .1 L eg i s l a t i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3 6 .2 S t rat eg i e s, M a st er Plans, Plans of Ac tion s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3 6 .3 M app ing o f t r a i ls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 5 6 .4 T y p e s of u se r s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 6 .5 Acc e ss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 6 .6 C on n ec t i v ity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 6 .7 S t rat eg i e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 6 6 .8 B e st Practices f o r D e s ign an d M anag e men t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7 6 .9 Fu nd ing Mod e ls and Cost I mp lic at io n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 7 6 .10 R i sk A ss e s sm e n t and L ia b i li t y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9 6 .11 T r a i l U se r Co nf lic t M anagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0 6 .12 P r o mo t io n and Market ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 0 7. Summary: Implication of Findings .................................................. 82 7 .1 Protecting trad it io n…thro ugh u s e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 7 .2 R ec re at i on… an d tou r ism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 7 .3 Fu nd ing constraints r eq u i re lo nge r ‐t e r m p l ann ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 7 .4 D e ve l op and ma int a in a t r a il in ve nt o ry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 7 .5 S ign wha t’ s t h e r e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 3 iii 7 .6 Protect from in app r opr ia te develop ment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4 7 .7 T h e d e st in at ion, th e j ou rn ey …o r both ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4 7 .8 Ac knowledge mu lt iple users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4 7 .9 C on s id e r land and wa te r r ou t e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5 7 .10 On ‐ l in e access t o c on s ist en t and acc urat e in for ma tion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5 7 .11 R equ i re good design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 5 7 .12 P r o mo t e the b en ef it s of t r a il s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 7 .13 Ac knowledge and p l an fo r concern s ab out t ra i ls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 7 .14 D i scu s s and determin e ‘ r espon s ib l e authorities’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 7 .15 L e s s on bu ild ing , mo r e o n maintenance and p ro m ot i on ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6 7 .16 M or e information abou t tou r ist s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7 7 .17 O n e s ma l l st ep f o r p romo t io n: c o m m u n it y web sit e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7 7 .18 C o ‐co o rd in at e GNW T inv o l v e me n t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7 Appendix A: Trails within National Parks, National Landmarks and National Historic Sites Appendix B: Trails within Territorial Parks Appendix C: NWT Tourism Operators/Outfitters Promoting Trails Use Appendix D: Trail promotion on community websites e Appendix E: Trail guides for the NWT Appendix F: Alaskan trail descriptions Appendix G: Construction and Maintenance Information Appendix H: Sources iv Executive Summary Trail development in the Northwest Territories (NWT) is in its formative stages…with thousands of years of history of trail use. Thousands of kilometres of trails integrated into traditional life are now changing. Motorized transportation, recreation, tourism and competitive use, and urbanization are all changing how trails are developed, used and described. The Northwest Territories Recreation and Parks Association (NWTRPA) has been part of the transformation of trails. They implemented a trail building fund from 2004 to 2011. The final report on that trail building program recommends developing a trails strategy to co‐ordinate efforts to develop, use and promote trails. The strategy should “create or help to galvanize an online NWT resource portal for land and water trails that brings together and helps to promote funding opportunities, examples of successful trail projects, solutions and innovations and user resources like trail descriptions, maps and GPS tracks.” This report summarizes the state of trails in the NWT, compares our NWT trails and policy frameworks with other jurisdictions, and makes some recommendations from the findings. A summary of recommendations follows: Protect tradition…through use Trails need to be used to be kept in good shape. This means people need to know about them. Many people fear that traditional sites along trails will be endangered by promoting use of trails. This inherent conflict needs to be addressed in a multi‐scale, multi‐faceted manner. Recreation…and tourism With a low population density and with low tourism number, there is room and need for local recreational use and tourism use. However, tourism used does require some additional planning and design factors. Funding constraints require longer‐term planning As funding becomes tighter, two aspects seem clear: a) be prepared for when federal funding is available; and b) plan for and be clear on long‐term use. Develop and maintain a trail inventory before or in conjunction with a trail strategy A recommended first step is compiling the purpose‐built trails and trails with some public funding. Sign what’s there Before adding new trails, programs could emphasis adding trail head, distance and direction signs to existing public trails. Interpretive signs should be included in any sign funding program. Protect from inappropriate development Legal or policy assistance to communities trying to come to grips with inappropriate development is needed. Taking a couple of communities as case‐studies, would be a recommended approach. v The destination, the journey…or both? Planning needs to more fully consider whether the trail is about the use experience itself or about the destination. This needs to be clearer from the beginning of the development process through to marketing. Acknowledge multiple users The ‘multi‐use reality’ should be made quite clear in tourism promotion of trails, since it is not as common down south. This also needs to be continually part of information about local trails, whether that is through ‘club’ information or local governments. Consider land and water routes In the NWT, these are very linked, so it is recommended that both land and water routes be considered in trail programs and, if developed, a trail strategy. Provide on‐line access to consistent and accurate information The NWT should focus more on on‐line resources that can benefit a wide range of trail users: residents, tourists, businesses, industry, managers, and other land use stakeholders. Require good design Much of good design needs to be done on a case‐by‐case basis because it is so site dependent. However, a graphic description of multiple use trail design for the NWT should be included in a trail strategy. Promote the benefits of trails A trail strategy could more explicitly, and perhaps empirically, pull together information on trail benefits. Then this information could be used to consistently promote trail use to various agencies and users. Acknowledge and plan for concerns about trails A trail strategy should acknowledge the very real concerns that some communities and people have with building trails, such as increased pressure on renewable resources and inappropriate use of cultural sites. A form for trail programs funding through the GNWT should include ways to identify and mitigate concerns. Discuss and determine ‘responsible authorities’ Improving trail promotion requires agreement on the responsible authority. Less on building, more on maintenance and promotion? Consideration to funding maintenance and promotion of trails, rather than construction of trails, should be considered in a trails strategy. More information about tourists Additional information about tourism use and desires could potentially strengthen these programs and increase the funding available for trails. When the GNWT conducts exit surveys of visitors, specific trail information could be solicited, i.e., ‘piggy‐back’ trail information onto an existing survey. vi Improve standard community websites Having a ‘place holder’ to describe trails on the MACA‐formatted community websites would be a simple step to acknowledging trails. Co‐ordinate GNWT involvement Several GNWT departments are involved in trails. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) seems an appropriate lead department because local users within communities are, and will likely be, the primary users of trails. Since trails extend well beyond community boundaries and local users, other involved departments should include Industry, Tourism and Investment; Education Culture and Employment; Environment and Natural Resources; and Transportation. vii 1. Introduction Trails are an important part of culture and recreation in the Northwest Territories and create opportunities for economic growth. Despite the importance of trails, the NWT lacks a comprehensive vision for their trail system. The NWT Recreation and Parks Association (NWTRPA) has as a heart of their mandate the promotion of trails ‐ how to build them and how to use them. As such, the board and staff of NWTRPA wish to undertake strategic discussions with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and regional organizations about the future of NWT trails. This report provides background material for those discussions. The bulk of it is an inventory of trails: ‘where are we’/status information. This involved website and report research, but mainly questionnaires and interviews with numerous communities and regional organizations. Those groups also gave ideas on what they would like to see developed for trails in their community, region, or the NWT as a whole. The inventory is broken into three main sections: national/territorial, regional and local. There is no separating ‘line’ between any of these groups. The Trans‐Canada Trail is national, but any given section can be a very important local trail. However, it does give some indication of the multiple scales that trails can be developed in the NWT. An important note it that the regional and local trails are grouped in the GNWT classification of region: South Slave, Dehcho, North Slave, Sahtu, and Beaufort Delta. This system does not match with land claim agreements or land claim negotiations. Land claim agreements do form a vital part of how we access and use NWT lands, so information on them is are incorporated in ways other than the structure of this document. The report also includes a comparison with other jurisdictions. While our NWT circumstances are different from many other places where there are developed trails in Canada and the US, these comparison can give guidance as to ‘next steps’ in our evolving trail system. As part of the evolution of trails, our relationship with roads is worth noting. Winter roads are used as summer trails…and often winter trails as well. Old ‘roads’ to access former mine site or logging areas are now used as trails. Most obviously though, our highways are often referred to as trails. The GNWT is promoting Highway #3 (from Fort Providence to Yellowknife) as the “Frontier Trail” (sometimes also call the Frontier Highway). The Ingraham Trail is the more common name for Highway #4 (Yellowknife to Tibbett Lake). The GNWT is working on a series of interpretive signs for pull‐offs along Highways 1, 3, 5 and 7: a highway ‘interpretive trail’. This report does not detail highway/winter road/abandoned roads as trails, but it is a consideration in future trail discussions. Though there are some published trail guides for NWT trails, for the most part published material is fairly difficult to come by. Sources listed in the appendix include various regional and community contacts. Some sources can be contradictory, and without on‐site review, it is 8 difficult to determine what source is the most accurate. Contradictions are noted in the text, or more general information (such as ranges/averages) is used. 9 2. Trail Classification A trail according to the NWTRPA definition is “a corridor, on land or in water, with public access for recreation or transportation, and is protected from inappropriate development” (NWT Trails Development Guidebook, 2000) There are thousands of trails in the NWT, many used since time immemorial. “If you're willing to break the trail, you're able to go wherever you want!” (Fort Liard website) That pretty well describes trails in the NWT. To narrow the discussion somewhat, this report discusses mostly ‘formal’ trails, rather than ‘ancestral’ or informal trails, though both are included. Formal trails are considered public trails, and likely have some form of mapping, maintenance or management associated with them. Many formal trails started as ancestral trails, or as part of industrial work (such as seismic cut lines). There is no clear ‘dividing line’ between formal and informal trails. The intent of concentrating on formal trails is to assist in later work by the NWTRPA, since there are the trails mostly likely to be promoted for tourism and recreation purposes. In many jurisdictions, trails within ‘conservation units’ (e.g., National Parks, National Historic Sites, Territorial Parks) are formal trails. This is not always the case in the NWT since many of our ‘conservation units’ are wilderness…and often tundra or mountain areas at that. Funding and promotion of conservation unit trails are generally done as part of the park system. Hence trails within conservation units are listed in appendices for reference, rather than described in more detail in the reports itself. Trails are linear, but after that there are many variations. Perhaps the most obvious way to differentiate trails is by transportation type: walking, biking, ATV, canoe etc. Almost all trails in the NWT are multi‐purpose, except for a few ski club trails or community trails. Purpose is another way (wilderness experience, in‐town transportation, education, competition) or level of use. NWT has the following types of trails, for this purposes of this report defined as follows: A
Multi‐use trail: Any trail not set aside for a specific use. Often used by ATV/quads in the summer, with some mountain biking and hiking; then for snowmobiles in the winter, and perhaps dog sledding and skiing. The most common trail type in the NWT. Though there aren’t any snowmobile‐only trails in the NWT, the Great Slave Trail Riders have done mapping of trails, that includes different classifications, such as ‘well‐
travelled snowmobile trail’ and ‘secondary snowmobile trail (may or may not be open’). This type of hierarchy information isn’t easily available but is useful. 10 B
Wilderness Hiking Trail: Marked or cut; limited facilities; usually rugged and challenging; few users; usually no surfacing (sometimes called backcountry trails). C
Hiking Route: No markings/signs or surfacing. Requires following maps, landscape features, game trails etc. Often wilderness/backcountry, but not necessarily. These often have no management or maintenance system, but are at least promoted as routes. D
Day‐use trail: Usually shorter hikes, closer to communities than wilderness trails; often include surfacing (e.g., boardwalk, gravel) and infrastructure (e.g., benches, bridges). E
Community trail: Walking trail within community; usually highest number of users; usually surface and with some infrastructure. F
Interpretive Trail: A walking/hiking trail with interpretive signs and/or interpretive brochure about the history, nature, culture and traditions of the area (sometimes called ‘nature trails’). G
Cross‐country ski trail: Trail designed specifically for is cross‐country skiing, and whose use in winter is mostly limited to skiing. May be used by bikers and walkers in the summer. H
Water route: Described in a separate section. They are routes for paddling, including explanation of portages as appropriate. Primarily oriented to canoeists, but may also be used for other non‐motorized travel, such as kayaks. 11 3. Existing Trails Inventory 3.1
N ATIONAL T RAILS 1 Note: this section does not refer to trails in national parks, national historic site or territorial parks (see appendices A and B). Existing Trails Two national trails have sections in the NWT: the Trans Canada Trail and Trans‐Canada Snowmobile Trail: Source: http://www.ccso‐ccom.ca/TCSTtct.gif 23/03/2012 Initiated in 1992, the Trans Canada Trail is volunteer effort to link communities from coast to coast to coast. The trail involves many partners, including communities; businesses; provincial/territorial and federal governments and many individual volunteers and donors. The NWTRPA has been mainly responsible in the NWT for getting sections of the trail built in the NWT. More sections are planned up to 2017, which is the 25th anniversary of the trail and Canada’ 150th birthday. The efforts to build the trail have also resulted in the “Trans Canada Trail Official Guide: Northwest Territories” (Jamie Bastedo 2010). Thus the Trail has been, and continues to be, an excellent way to get trails built and promoted in the NWT. 12 The Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations (CCSO) has a similarly trans‐Canadian snowmobile route. This isn’t as high profile as the Trans Canada Trail in the NWT. Though the CCSO shows part of the route through the NWT, there isn’t a territorial association that is responsible for the route. The organization that is a member of the CCSO in the NWT is the Yellowknife Trail Riders. They aren’t a territorial organization, but as the only snowmobile association in the NWT, they are members. Future Building of sections of the Trans Canada Trail are expected through 2017. The TCT could increase in importance with the promotion associated with Canada’s 150th anniversary. The Yellowknife Trail Riders are interested in developing an association that includes other regions of the NWT, which might help strengthen ties into the national trails program. 13 3.2
T ERRITORIAL Existing Trails The NWT has no official territorial trails; the TCT could be considered the main territorial trail. However, trails have long been integral to aboriginal life of the land. As part of land claims negotiations, land use and occupancy studies were done through the Dene Nation. A major part of that was mapping traditional Dene trails. The information is housed at the Dene Nation, and has also been used by land use planning boards/committees for their work. The information at the Dene Nation is not in a particularly accessible format: unless someone has a GIS program, and the knowledge of how to use is, then the maps can’t be viewed in detail. Future The Dene Nation is discussing what part of their trail information should be more publicly accessible, and how to make that happen. There is an interest in the trail information being more a part of the public consciousness. The Dene Nation realizes that even Dene youth are not aware of the vast area that people traditionally used. The Dene Nation have been talking about overlaying the trail maps on ‘google earth’. There are technical and resource issues associated with being able to do that, as well as determining which trails are appropriate to post. For instance, some communities may be happy to have their trails posted, but only if there are done at a certain scale. Other communities may not want any of their traditional trails posted, yet those trails could well overlap with trails from another community. If that were the case, then there would need to be discussions on which ones could be posted, and in what way. 14 3.3
R EGIONAL T RAILS “Regional trails” refers to trails generally outside of municipal boundaries, but not usually part of the national routes. Much of the work documenting regional trails is associated with the original Dene mapping projects. That work was then uses by regional land use planning organizations to document trails and develop land use plans. Hence most of the information in this section relies on land use planning information. 3.3.1 SOUTH SLAVE2 Existing Trails This is an example of where land claim negotiation boundaries do not meet with the GNWT categories. Much of the GNWT’s South Slave Region is included in ongoing land, resource and governance negotiations involving the Dehcho First Nations. An important part of the Dehcho First Nations work to prepare for those negotiations has been to document their land. Main traditional trails are shown on almost all the maps included in the Dehcho Atlas (e.g., soil landscapes, history of fires, surficial geology, land use permits and surface dispositions etc. have the same background data including major trails). In terms of ‘modern’ trails, there is a multi‐use (biking/hiking/quading) trails between Enterprise and Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park. It’s eight km long, and was funded by ITI Parks. This trail is an example of how more regional connections could be made between destinations (i.e., a community, with community trails, and a park, with its own trail system). Future ITI is considering another trail outside of territorial parks in the Wood Buffalo/Fort Smith area. There are two nesting whooping cranes outside the park; ITI is determining if an interpretive trail could be placed so people can see the birds without disturbing them. An operator to deliver tours would then be encouraged. This is a good example of making use of a ‘new’ destination (i.e., taking advantage of something more than a geographic destination). 3.3.2 DEHCHO3 Existing Trails As noted in the South Slave section, main traditional trails are shown on almost all the maps in the Dehcho Atlas. A traditional trail to the Horn Plateau from Fort Simpson is being re‐invigorated through the GNWT’s Department of Transportation’s Community Access Program (see section 5.5.4 for more on this program). Future No specific regional trail work has been identified. 15 3.3.3 NORTH SLAVE4 Existing Trails 3.3.4 Tlicho Traditional Trails There is no public regional land use planning initiative in the North Slave area. The Tlicho government is developing a land use plan for their settlement lands. The plan is not yet public. The ‘Monfwi Trail’ is likely to be a major part of the plan. This is not a single trail, but a series of traditional trails, mostly along rivers, traditionally used by the Tlicho. Part of the Monfwi system is the Idaa Trail, from Great Slave Lake to Great Bear Lake. This traditional trail is explained and celebrated in English and Dogrib on a through a Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre website www.lessonsfromtheland.ca. The website says “Lessons from the Land will be a collection of online cultural explorations based upon the traditional travel routes of the Northwest Territories’ Aboriginal peoples. This online exhibit will explore the relationship between people and the land and will highlight sites of cultural and historical significance throughout the territory. Our first trail, the Idaa Trail, is now online.” Unfortunately, it appears that ‘our first trail’ will also be ‘the only trail’ for the foreseeable future. According to Mark Heyck, PWNHC, the Lessons from the Land project was launch in 2003. Since then, they have been trying to get funding to put other similar information on line, but have not been able to access funding needed. The Idaa trail project was based on work by PWNHC archaeologist Tom Andrews, and even with his research it took about two years to plan and launch the information on the website. The next section to be added was a journey through the Inuvialuit region. They’ve now changed their focus to smaller on‐line exhibits, and putting up raw research materials. That said, the Idaa trail information is being well used. Mr. Heyck said that it is being used in Tłįchǫ region for northern studies and social studies curriculum. Statistics kept on website use show several thousand page views per month on the Idaa Trail. Though the information is well used for educational purposes, the Idaa trail does not show up in NWT tourism information nor on community websites. The archaeologist and elders were very concerned with preserving the sites along the trail, so they are purposefully vague in descriptions: this could not be considered as a ‘trail guide’. However, even with the vagueness of descriptions, it hasn’t been considered at all for broader promotion. A
Snowmobile Trails The Great Slave Snowmobile Association – Trail Riders has mapped hundreds of kilometres of snowmobile trails around Yellowknife, along the Ingraham Trail, along the North Arm of Great Slave Lake (i.e., east of the City) and west towards the Harding Lake. Mapping includes trails that are consistently open and used, some that are less well used; and others very intermittently used. The maps also include hiking trails along the 16 Ingraham Trail. Creeks and other thin ice areas are noted. These are multi‐use trails, since the Trail Riders have no authority to label any trail as ‘snowmobile’. Example of trail map courtesy of Great Slave Snowmobile Association Most of the trails are old Cat trails that people maintain by mostly simply through use. In the mid‐80s the club actively widened a number of trails. Within the City of Yellowknife, the Trail Riders have put in a couple of new trails because of development. For instance, the access through the old ski club down to Great Slave Lake was changed from public land to private property. In conjunction with the City of Yellowknife, the club moved the trail. They have also done some trails for safety reasons. For instance, the trail between Prosperous and River Lakes had bad overflow, so a new trail away from the overflow was cut. The activities of the Great Slave Snowmobile Association depend a lot on the volunteers involved. For instance, in the 1990s, the Association was mostly people interested in racing. The Trail Riders developed to differentiate themselves from the racers. Now, the Trail Riders are the only ‘part’ of the association that formally exist, now named The Great Slave Snowmobile Association – Trail Riders. Association President Bruce Hewlko noted that compared to the provinces, snowmobiling is fairly unregulated in the NWT. There aren’t issues here, for instance, in riding in highway right of ways. We don’t have issues with crossing rail lines and use of farmers’ fields, typical problems down south. The Trail Riders try to encourage good safety, such as helmets, wearing reflective clothing, and slowing down as conditions and traffic dictate. 17 The Great Slave Snowmobile Association is a member of the Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations (CCSO). They are the only member in the NWT. According to CCSO mandate, members should be provincial or territorial, but since Great Slave Snowmobile Association is only one in the NWT, they are ‘in’. The Association have tried talking with Hay River and Fort Smith about a territorial organization, but thus far it hasn’t been formed. In terms of other users, skiers will often use the same trails. ATVs are hard on the trails, and even harder is use by 4x4s. They have tried to work more with the dog mushers, but haven’t had much response. B
Ingraham Trails Hikes The best‐known and well‐used hiking trail along the Ingraham Trail (Highway #4) is the Cameron Falls Trail, described in Territorial Park Trails (Appendix B). In addition, there are a series of ‘informal’ but well‐used trails, such as Raney Hill and Big Hill Lake Trail. Big Hill Lake is described by Stephanie Yuill, Public Education Specialist, ENR as:  1 ½ ‐ 3 hours one way  good for all seasons  flagged, but not well marked  spring: swampy areas  a lot of different topographies : scrambling, smooth rock, swamp areas, etc.  berries, diverse vegetation; granite; some viewpoints to Madeline lake; informal camping at end  highlights: swimming at Big Hill Lake; viewpoints along the way. Future 
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Determine way to maintain and promote the informal trails along the Ingraham trail The Yellowknife Trail Riders are interested in developing an association that includes other regions of the NWT, i.e., possibly an inter‐regional snowmobile organization 3.3.5 SAHTU5 Existing Trails The most well‐known trail in the Sahtu (and likely in the NWT) is the CANOL trail. All but the first 16 km of the trail are within the Doi T’oh and CANOL Heritage Trail Territorial Park. The trail is described further in the Territorial Park Trails, Appendix B. Alasdair Veitch, Manager Tourism and Park for the Sahtu, was asked by Explore magazine (for their September‐October 2011 issue) the best trails to hike in the fall in the Sahtu. He noted that it was too late in the season for the CANOL, and there are no hiking trails out of Colville Lake. He suggested these day hikes for the other four Sahtu communities:  Bear Rock (for write‐up, see local trails section, Tulita)  Fossil Canyon/Hamar Mountain (see Norman Wells)  Great Bear Lake to Bear River trail (see Déline) 18 
Old Baldy trail network (see Fort Good Hope) A
Sahtu traditional trails A major traditional trail connects Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake. “There are trails from Fort Good Hope to Colville Lake that have been used for hundreds of years.” (Swallow) This trail is shown in The Sahtu Atlas (Sahtu GIS Project, 2005), described as “This walking rail, linking Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake, was used every summer in June by people for Colville Lake. Travelling with dog packs, people would walk to the fort to trade their furs, and would remain in the Good Hope area fishing, taking treaty, and visiting with family, returning to Colville in August. It was used before fur trade times as well. It is known as a very long trail, noted for difficult walking conditions, thick bush, long stretches of wet muskeg, and many mosquitoes. The trail is still used in winter. The last family to walk the trail in summer was the Oudzi family in 1965, however in 1998 a team of people led by Charlie Tobac, walked the trail from Colville to Good Hope with a film crew as part of a cultural revival project.” B
Sahtu Land Use Plan Other traditional trails are mentioned in the draft Sahtu Land Use Plan. The development of a regional land use plan is part of the Sahtu Land Claim Agreement. The draft plan states that “both traditional and scientific knowledge were used in developing the plan. Various mapping projects identified trails and types of land use.” Documenting the cultural heritage of the Sahtu Settlement Area, including the names and locations of trails, is one of the goals of the draft Plan. The trails in the draft Land Use Plan basically follow water bodies, link harvest sites or important cultural areas and navigate between them. The primary source of information was the Dene Nation traditional trails map. The ‘Rakekée Gok’é Godi: Places We Take Care Of’ report is the best other place to identify key trails of heritage value.6 Two trails are specifically mentioned in the draft Land Use Plan. The first is the Coppermine Trail, listed (unfortunately) as a contaminated site under the Federal Contaminated Sites inventory. The other is the Loon River to Fort Anderson Trail. It is documented as follows: “The trail was used for generations as one of the main routes to the barrenlands for summer and fall caribou hunting. Many stories, heritage sites and named places are associated with this trail and occur along its path. “Location and Boundaries The trail begins at the mouth of the Loon River, at its confluence with the Mackenzie River. The trail heads northeast to Loon Lake, on to Rorey Lake, following the west shore, overland to Round Lake (by the west shore), on to Carcajou Lake, Canot Lake, and overland to the Carnwath River. It then follows 19 the bank of the river to Anderson Forks and down the right bank of the Anderson River to Fort Anderson. “A high concentration of documented traditional trails occur throughout the area. 
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“The Rakekée Gok’é Godi: Places We Take Care Of report suggested: Oral history and archaeological research to inventory, document and protect heritage resources; Surface protection of documented sites with commemoration of specific sites; Cultural revival projects (e.g. walking the trail with youth and elders) to recreate trail experience; and Special consideration in the land use planning process.” 
The Loon River to Fort Anderson Trail is zoned as a ‘Special Management Zone’ in the current draft Land Use Plan. Special Management Zones have particular terms and conditions that apply to any development in those zones, along with any general conditions for the whole land use plan. In all Special Management Zones “regulators shall assess the potential impacts from the activity on the values for which the zone was established and ensure that appropriate measures are in place to minimize impacts to the zone values.” Hence the impact of any development on trails would need to be considered if that was part of why the zone was established. A number of other draft Special Management Zone descriptions specifically mention trails:  MACKENZIE RIVER (Dehcho): Traditional trails leading north and south and on the Mackenzie River Islands. 
MARION LAKE: There are a number of outpost camps, documented archaeological sites and traditional trails. 
LITTLE CHICAGO: A strong presence of traditional trails. 
ONTARATUE RIVER: A number of traditional trails use the Ontaratue River to travel from the Mackenzie River into the northern portion of Ts'ude niline Tu'eyeta, Ramparts. 
HARE INDIAN RIVER (the main branch of the Hare Indian River from its confluence with the Mackenzie River to Great Bear Lake): A number of traditional trails lead to the Mackenzie River, Great Bear Lake and to Tunago Lake. 
UNDERGROUND RIVER: A number of Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake traditional trails. 
BLUEFISH CREEK TO TSINTU RIVER /SNAFU CREEK: A number of traditional trails cross this zone going north‐south. 20 Along with Special Management Zones, the draft Plan designates some areas as “Conservation Zones”. Development is very restricted in these zones. The following draft conservation zones specifically mention trails:  FORT ANDERSON TRAIL LAKES (Canot, Carcajou, Rond, Rorey and Loon Lakes, i.e., lakes along the Fort Andersen Trail): A very high concentration of traditional trails crosses all of the lakes. 
TRAVAILLANT UPLANDS (Yeltea L, Manuel L, Boil Betuwe, Onhda L): Traditional trails occur in high concentration across all of the lakes. 
MACKENZIE RIVER ISLANDS: Traditional trails run the length of the river, along the islands. 
The Rakekée Gok’é Godi: Places We Take Care Of report recommended the trail be recognized as follows: o
Oral history and archaeological research to inventory, document and protect heritage resources; o
Surface protection of documented sites with commemoration of specific sites; o
Cultural revival projects (e.g. walking the trail with youth and elders); and o
Special consideration in the land use planning process. 
COLVILLE UPLAND LAKES (Burnt, Long, Stink, Stump and Trout Lakes): A number of trails cross all of the lakes. 
TS’OGA TUE (White Muskeg Lake): A number of trails lead to Ts’oga. 
AUBREY AND DUNEDELATUE LAKES: Traditional trails occur throughout both lakes. 
MAUNOIR DOME/LAC MOUNOIR: A number of traditional trails. 
DENE DI GON’E: Traditional trails exist in high concentration through the zone. 
LAC DES BOIS: A number of traditional trails criss‐cross the lake. 
LAC BELOT: Traditional trails run along the edges of the river and across it including the traditional trail from Fort Good Hope to Colville Lake. 
ANDERSON RIVER: The zone was identified during the planning process as an important local travel corridor, heritage place and subsistence use location. Significant traditional trails follow the length of the zone. 
TUNAGO LAKE: A number of trails cross the zone. 
NE’RAHTEN: The traditional trail from Fort Good Hope to Colville Lake, the “Colville Lake Trail”. 
Ts’ude niline Tu’eyeta (Ramparts River and Wetlands) is proposed as a National Wildlife Area. The area includes a number of traditional trails leading into the Ramparts Wetlands. 21 The Keele River is also a traditionally important trail. This area is covered by the Shutagotine Nene Conservation Zone. Other key rivers with major trails are the Mountain and the Great Bear. Future Items noted about trails in the draft Sahtu Land Use Plan: 1. The Tulita community has expressed interest in having the Kelly Lake heritage trail identified so that people can hike it and use it for cultural programs. 2. The Coppermine Trail is identified as a contaminated site. A goal of the draft Land Use Plan is to remediate current contaminated and waste sites. 3. Trails between the Sahtu and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region will be further investigated when the Board looks at transboundary planning. The Horton Lake area is a key focus, along with the Anderson River. There may be increased recognition of trails through the publication of Sahtu LUP. Increased development of the CANOL trail is expected by ITI through the Park Management Plan. The plan states in part: “The vision for the Doi T’oh Territorial Park and CANOL Heritage Trail is that of a nationally and internationally known wilderness recreation area providing a wide range of visitor experiences, which capitalize on the varied natural qualities, beauty, and challenges presented by this remarkable landscape... Goals [include]:  to expand the range of visitor types possible within the wilderness recreation market sector  to focus on the wilderness experience and natural attributes of the park  to increase tourism in the region and its contribution to the local economy  to educate visitors about the traditional use of the area and the CANOL project in the context of the natural landscape… “[T]rails, campsites, salt licks, hot springs and corrals, all of which were used by the Mountain Dene for centuries prior to the arrival of non‐Dene people. These areas must be clearly identified and preserved.”1 The land has not been transferred from the federal government to the territorial government. Until that transfer, development aspects such as investigating river crossing will not be undertaken. However, the first 16 km of the trail are within municipal boundaries, so not covered by the Sahtu Land Use Plan. To ensure that the CANOL trail is not ‘stranded’, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is doing consultations on setting up another territorial park, contiguous with the existing reserve, within the municipal block land transfer. See also Appendix B Territorial Parks B.5 Sahtu. 1
Doi T’oh Territorial Park and CANOL Heritage Trail Management Plan Originally Prepared by: Bruce K. Downie, PRP Parks: Research & Planning Inc. And Amended by: The Doi T’oh Territorial Park Committee (Danny Yakeleya, Ruby L. McDonald, Leon Andrew, Charlie Gaudet, Michael Sanagan, and Larry Adamson) with the assistance of Deni Gaccione, Michael Morse and Richard I. Hardy January 2007 22 3.3.6 BEAUFORT/DELTA REGION7 Existing Trails “Along the Dempster Highway, the Richardson Mountains offer great hiking on treeless tundra. Start from the highway or fly in to hike. In midsummer you can hike for miles in round‐the‐clock daylight.” (Spectacular NWT) A
Gwich’in Land Use Plan The Gwich’in Settlement Area has a settled land claim agreement that includes a chapter on land use planning. In August 2003, the regional land use plan was approved for the Gwich’in Settlement Area. According to legislation, the plan is reviewed every five years. There is now a draft revised plan which is expected to go for approvals (through Gwich’in Tribal Council, the GNWT and the federal government) starting this summer. The two plans are quite similar in their description and treatment of trails, with somewhat more emphasis in the revised version. Trails are an important heritage resource for the Gwich’in. Travelling on the rivers, towards the mountains, to the Sahtu, to good hunting areas, to fish camps, to celebrations…and so forth…travelling was integral to Gwich’in life. In developing the land use plan trails were considered in:  The plan’s objectives  setting out conservation zones  determining how special management zones are managed, and  the work plan for implementing the land use plan An objective of the plan (and revised plan), based on the land claim agreement, is to promote continued use of traditional trains and transportation corridors. If trails are in Special Management Zones, permit applicants are expected to assess the impact of their proposed activities on the heritage resources (including trails) of that area. Groups to work on conditions for development include the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute and the appropriate Renewable Resource Council and the Designated Gwich’in Organization. Trails are not mapped by the Gwich’in Planning Board, though the board does have the Dene mapping project information digitally. The planner with the Board, Sue McKenzie, noted that to find any specific trail would take a lot of sifting through data. “There is a lot of data, but not a lot of information, about trails.” Ms McKenzie also noted that she does not have maps of the GNWT Department of Transportation’s Community Access Program funded trail from Fort McPherson to Husky Lakes. The Travaillant Lake, Mackenzie/Tree River Conservation Zone has the greatest concentration of trails most often used by the Gwich’in for traditional uses. Trails specifically noted (though again, not mapped) in the Land Use Plan (both versions) are: 1. Stoney Creek traditional trail (into the Richardson Mountains) 23 
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the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute have been trying to get information for a Teetl’it Gwich’in book. This trail would likely be included in such a book. this trail is used to go to Old Crow on the organized ‘Johnny Charlie memorial’ snowmobile trips. last time this trip was done, a Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board employee went on the trip and took photos; so at the board has winter trail photos. maybe when they do the trip next, someone could arrange to take a GPS readings so that the trail can be accurately located and mapped 2. traditional trail between Campbell Lake and Sitidgi Lake along Campbell Creek  this trail is still in use 3. old time trail between the Cranswick and Arctic Red Rivers  the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute has been doing some research in the headwaters of the Arctic Red River. The Dene mapping trails are sparse in the headwaters. This was a joint use area with the Sahtu. 4. a major trail to the mountains beginning at Hehnjuu deetl’yan tshik (Bernard Creek) The revised version of the land use plan includes a description of the Trans‐Canada Trail: “A portion of the Trans Canada trail that travels south from the trail head at Tuktoyaktuk passes through the Gwich’in Settlement Area. It is a water route along the Mackenzie River as the trail heads towards the Alberta border. Branching off at Inuvik where the east channel of the Mackenzie River passes by the town, an overland route follows the Dempster Highway to the Yukon border. This national trail project is overseen by the Trans Canada Trail Board (founded by Dr. Pierre Camu and William Pratt). Individual segments of the trail network are developed and managed by partner groups across Canada; in the Northwest Territories this is the Northwest Territories Recreation and Parks Association, a non‐profit organisation.” Inuvialuit Trails The Inuvialuit do not have a regional land use plan, and not part of the Dene mapping project. Therefore there isn’t any readily available compiled trail information. The Anderson River area is the only one described in the ‘people and places’ section of the Inuvialuit “living history” website. Each community in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region has a ‘community conservation plan’. Traditional trails are not mentioned in the plans. The Paulatuk community conservation plan does note “There is concern about the proposed establishment of an ATV trail between the community of Paulatuk and the mouth of the Hornaday River, as this will increase access and this in turn may lead to increased fishing pressure.” 24 Areas such as Husky (Eskimo) Lakes are “very important for a variety of traditional activities, including fishing, hunting, trapping and travelling”8. While references or maps to specific trails could not be found, this is not an indication that traditional trails are not an important part of Inuvialuit culture. Future The revised version of the Gwich’in land use plan note that the Board wants to support the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute and Aklavik elders in mapping historic dog‐team trails. Once mapped, the Board would do further work to determine appropriate zoning and policy for those trails (and other potential Heritage Conservation Zones) over the next five years. The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute (GSCI) and elders are the best resources for mapping historic trails. The GSCI have background on the context for trail use, and which elders to interview for accurately identifying trails. The GSCI did a book about the Gwichya Gwich’in. It includes a map and description of trails in the chapter “Travelling in the Mountains”. It also maps and describes several trails in the Khaii luk (Travaillant Lake) area. An interesting map (pg 162) shows trail heads, fish camps and major sites. Rather than detailed routes, the trails are shown by arrows between the trail heads and major sites. A similar book about the Teelit Gwich’in is being planned. 25 3.4
L OCAL T RAILS This section describes the types of formal trails in and around NWT communities. As noted, there is no clear dividing line between national/regional/local trails. However, the trails in this section are usually within the municipal boundaries. They are primarily used by residents of that community, but can certainly have tourism use as well. Trails that are between communities or longer than day‐trips are generally described in the ‘regional trails’ section. Local trails tend to be better described than the regional trails. Hence this ‘snap‐shot’ of local trails includes a description by location, length, and features. Notes on infrastructure, responsible authority and other points such as future plans may be included. This information should be useful in building a more comprehensive, comparable inventory or trails and in promotion of trails. Location (e.g., from A to B) is often better shown on a map than described, but it give a general sense of where the trail is. Often there aren’t maps available to show the trails. Some of the better available maps have been included as examples of what might be possible. Length usually is given in kilometres. Changes were made from yards or miles if that was the unit given in source materials. Sometimes length has been estimated from maps, or is simply given as number of hours if maps and length information was not available. The length section also describes one‐way or loop. On one‐way trails users uses same trail to get to location and return to trailhead (two way traffic). Looped trails allow users to begin and end in the same location without back‐tracking (these may encourage one‐way traffic). Other layouts are possible from these two (stacked loop, spoken wheel, partial loops) so some comment on the layout may be given. Features gives a description of the ‘highlights’ of the trail. In some cases, there are detailed descriptions of trails; in others, the information is very general and gleaned from several sources. Infrastructure describes built structures associated with the trail, such as bridges, picnic areas and signs. Responsible authority is used to describe what community organization(s) takes responsibility for building, maintaining and/or managing the trail. It is not meant as a legal term. Often it is unknown, so not given. 3.4.1 SOUTH SLAVE A
Fort Smith9 Bell Rock Trail  Location: from below Rapids of the Drowned in town site to Bell Rock/Salt River Reserve  Length: 27 km 26 
Features: historic route Desnedhe Trail/Slave River Rapids Portage  Location: from below Rapids of the Drowned in town site to Fort Fitzgerald  Length: 32 km  Features: historic portage around the Slave River rapids  Other: ITI, Fort Smith and Dehcho Travel Connection partners are helping to fund interpretive signs along the trail  Dehcho Travel Connection has 28 community members and other partners such as Travel Alberta North, NWT Tourism, Northern Lights Tourism. They all work together on developing and promoting travel along Northern Alberta, Highway #1, Liard Highway, Northern BC.  Dehcho Travel Connection also investing in a paddle festival in Fort Smith Thebacha Trail  Location: starts at Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park and goes most of length of the town (town portion of the Bell Rock/Desnedhe Trails)  Length: 5.6 km  Features: interpretive signs (about 12‐13) and 2‐3 maps of town; mostly along roads; portion along boardwalk;  Infrastructure: portion boardwalk; portion paved; connects to staircase going to Rapid of the Drowned  Responsible authority: Territorial Parks responsible for about a kilometre connecting Territorial Park with main trail; Town of Fort Smith  Other: funding through NWTRPA, Town and ITI  plans to redo some of the signs and sign pavilion over next couple of years Historical Walk  museum was funded by ITI to do a historical walk through the town Ski Club Trails  Trail location: 4 km east of town on Highway 5 (actually in Alberta)  Length: main trail is series of loops, about 7.5 km total  about 15 km of classical trails along the river towards Ft. Fitzgerald (loop)  the Club grooms portage (28 km) from Fort Fitzgerald to Fort Smith each March for the Fitz‐Smith Loppett  Map: no updated map; had a satellite map  Features: views to Slave River  Infrastructure: clubhouse; skating + classical set tracks  also full biathalon range (10 range)  Club or other contact: Fort Smith Ski Club (NWT Ski Division member club) 27 
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Other: plans to light the biathalon range and ½ km loop around the stadium this year (2012) plans for more trails: looking for another km or two summer 2012 takes a lot of volunteers to get things done trail system in Alberta so will deal w/ Government of AB lease on stadium area; different license for the trails Lutselk’e10 Stark Lake Rapids/ Habi Sheth Trail  Length: 4 km Sheth La Summit Trail  Length: 2.5 km  Features: close to the community, easy walk up to a dramatic view over the East Arm  Trail brochure available at band office  A tourism draw (perhaps 5‐10% of its use) General  Responsible authority is the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation  No infrastructure on either trail  Sheth La Summit Trail built and maintained by community staff and volunteers  Main activity is spring clean‐up  Key benefit is that the trails are spiritually soothing C
Fort Resolution11 
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some interest in a walking trail on Mission Island; ITI willing to help fund if of tourism value also interest in a trail to Big Eddie/Nagel Channel on Slave River 3.4.2 DEHCHO A
Enterprise12 Running Creek Trail  Location: along the creek from the borrow pit in south running north in Enterprise  Length: 2 km  Infrastructure: gravel over filter cloth (full trail); three bridges; benches; public washroom (borrow pit); fire pit; drainage pipes  Responsible authority: Hamlet of Enterprise 28 Photo from Enterprise questionnaire, May Enterprise Nature Trail  Location: parallel to Birch Street and around the ball diamond in Enterprise  Length: 1.63 km  Features: interpretive signs  Infrastructure: gravel over filter cloth (full trail); one bridge; benches; public washroom (ball diamond); drainage pipes  Responsible authority: Hamlet of Enterprise Trail to Escarpment Creek  See Dehcho Regional Trails General  Trails are maintained by Enterprise’s public works staff and summer students. Duties include garbage collection, brushing and grass cutting. Hamlet recreation staff may also help with garbage and other debris, and report damaged areas to the public works staff. Individual volunteers remove garbage as seen. A challenge to maintenance is the erosion of banks and need for re‐surfacing.  Trails are used to promote healthy and active living for residents of Enterprise. They are not used for transportation; tourism use is unknown.  Since 2006, the Hamlet received $50,000 a year for trails. The SAO notes “The audit report of 2010 states we spent $155,759.00 opening statement on trails. This past year we also received $9,000.00 for infrastructure signs and benches etc. The community had used some additional funds for beautification from the capacity building fund to provide the clearing of the creek to a maximum of 50,000.00” Trail funding came from the NWTRPA and community council funds. It was used for labour, materials, equipment and infrastructure associated with the trails (e.g., benches, signs)  There has been some motorized users on the trails.  The trails are promoted by word of mouth, in the tourism and visitor guide, and with bill boards for information along the trail and in the community. The Hamlet plans to add the trails to the community website in the near future.  The hamlet would like to develop the trail to the Fossil Pit for tourism in the next two years. The Hamlet is in the process of land transfer and this land will be a parcel requested so they can build the trail and develop the fossil area. The hamlet will also look at developing the seismic trails and skidoo trails when they develop the industrial area and get land transfer completed. They would also like to chip seal or pave the existing trails. B
Fort Liard13 Hay Lake Trail  Location: Hay Lake Campground (one kilometre from Fort Liard)  Length: about 4 km (look)  Features: hiking trail around Hay Lake; 29 
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Infrastructure: three bridges, some wood chip surfacing, trail head sign, benches; picnic tables and washroom at trailhead Responsible Authority: Hamlet of Fort Liard Chevy Lookout Trail  Location: Fort Liard  Length: about 1 km (one‐way)  Features: view of the Petitot River, Mount Coty, and the Liard and Kotaneelee Ranges;  Infrastructure: benches at end of trail (i.e., at outlook above the Petitot River)  Responsible authority: unknown Fire Tower Trail  Location: across the river from Fort Liard  Length: 18 km (round trip)  Features: leads to the top of Mount Coty and the fire tower there. “On a clear day you can see Fort Liard, the Liard Valley, British Columbia, the mountain range that marks the NWT/Yukon border, and even the famous Nahanni Butte.”  Responsible authority: GNWT Forest Management Waterfall Trail  Location: Km 72 of the Liard Highway, about thirty minutes drive north of Fort Liard.  Length: “about 40 minutes one way”  Features: route to waterfall on Liard River. “The trail is nearly always wet, and you are bound to get wet up to your knees, but it is always worth the trip. The trail also grows over quite quickly, but it is still easy to find your way.”  Responsible authority: none ATV Trails  “There are a number of excellent cutlines and trails that you can take in the Liard Valley….The Chevron Road is privately maintained road that is available for public use. The Chevron Road follows the Liard Range and eventually it ascends into the mountains. Another interesting ATV trip, if you have river transportation is to Nine Mile, where you can take the old winter road towards Fisherman Lake and Pointed Mountain. “In the east side of the Liard River, there are a number of cutlines and winter roads that you can explore. Most of these are not maintained. There is a trail to nearby Bovie Lake that provides an excellent view of an untamed forest wilderness that seems to go on forever.” (Fort Liard website) 30 Snowmobiling  “Riding around on a snow machine is one of Fort Liard's most popular sports. Ask about great places to travel around the area. Two popular places to go are Fisherman Lake or Bovie Lake.” (Fort Liard website) General  trails are not managed due to a shortage of employees. Individuals often remove branches and other debris. They are maintained fairly well just by foot/quad/snowmobile use  trails are for everyone’s use, i.e., owned by community members.  less than 1% tourism use, about 1‐5% use for transportation  key benefits: lots of use for walking, X‐C skiing & snowshoeing, quads, snowmobiles. Easy access to ‘wilderness’  Challenges: lack of resources for building new trails  funding through NWTRPA to help build Hay Lake trail, but no other funding for construction or maintenance  no plans for new trails C
Fort Providence14 Mackenzie River Trail  Location: between the Mackenzie River and the highway into Fort Providence, from the Big River Gas station through the community  Length: 3 km from the Territorial campground into the community  Features: views of Mackenzie River; natural and cultural heritage  Infrastructure: none  Other: plans to upgrade trail, and include interpretive signs along the river boardwalk in town Horn River Trail  Location: access to areas north and west of community  Length: unknown  Features: to traditional hunting grounds  Funding: CAP D
Fort Simpson15 Community Trail  Location: around the perimeter of Simpson Island  Features: views to Mackenzie River and the snye; links several historic sites, the golf course and the Territorial Park and Campground  Infrastructure: trail in the bush is actually on the snye side; otherwise along the Mackenzie pretty well along the road or old road  Responsible Authority: 31 Trail to Horn Plateau  Features: access to lands for hunting and other traditional activities and for tourism  Funding: CAP E
Hay River/Katlodeeche Reserve General: The town of Hay River website, under “Our Attractions”, lists “Hiking”, with maps, photos, and excellent descriptions. There are links to “Local Campgrounds”: Hay River Territorial Park trail maps and Twin Falls Territorial Park descriptions of trails. Katlodeeche Reserve Trails  ITI helped the Band fund a trail to Sandy Lake trail at the edge of the reserve. The band is now looking at developing some cabins, and an interpretive lodge. Historical Walking Trail  ITI funded the museum to do a historical walk through Hay River Ski Trails16  Trail location: about 5 km south of Hay River, joint with Golf Course  Length: about 20 km?  Map: available on website  Features: “arguably the longest lit trail system in North America”; clubhouse (joint with Golf Club); tracks and skating trails; biathalon  Club or other contact: Hay River Ski Club (NWT Ski Division member club) F
Jean Marie River17 Pickerel Falls Trail:  Location: from the Mackenzie upstream along the Jean Marie River  Length: 2 km  Features: goes to a good fishing spot with a campground and picnic area at rapids  Infrastructure: there was supposed to be a bridge, but it hasn’t been completed  Responsible authority: Jean Marie River First Nation Red Willow Trail  Location: from the Jean Marie River Access road to Kelly Lake  Length: about 25 km  Features: follows the traditional winter route to Kelly Lake; widened to allow snowmobiles and quads to use  Infrastructure: a few signs from NWTRPA  Responsible authority: Jean Marie River First Nation 32 
Funding: NWT Recreation and Parks and CHAP (hunters and trappers funding, possibly through Dehcho First Nations) General  Maintenance of trails is informal: whoever is using it will help keep it clean. One reason for the Red Willow trail was so that the school could to use it for ‘take a kid trapping’ days. There was a section of the trail that was so dense that they couldn’t get through when doing most of the trail; last year the Band was able to get some money through the CHAP (hunters and trappers funds) to help cut that really dense section. The community would like to continue working on the traditional trail along the northern edge of Kelly Lake.  Eventually they would like to increase the trails for tourism use. They are working with the Protected Areas Strategy group on having the five lakes as a Cultural Conservation Area. There are three traditional trails that go to Kelly Lake…the Red Willow trail is the shortest of the three so they started there. There’s another one on the east side of Kelly Lake, which was the summer trail. They’d like to create a loop and somewhere down the line, think about putting cabins so that people can hike in the series of trails. G
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Recreation co‐ordinator vacant; no previous contacts from NWTRPA; Community website lists “extensive network of cross‐country ski trails” Tom Colosimo (ITI Parks) noted that the Ka’a’gee Tu Band has a series of trails from the Kakisa to Tathlina Lake; this year they will be doing trail improvements such as little bridged, signage and markers. about 30 km or so when done, but will work at it over several years section from Kakisa to Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park is ‘sort of‘ marked; plans to improve summer 2012 also trail from community to mouth of river tourism interest part of their interest in developing the area as a protected area Nahanni Butte18 Yohin Lake trail  Location: from Nahanni Butte to Yohin Lake  Length: 25 km  Features: fish including lake trout, brown trout and whitefish  Funding: CAP Nahanni Butte Firebreak Trail Connector  Nahanni Butte Dene Band cleared the majority of the proposed 2 km upgrade and trail extension project. Signage and infrastructure elements remain incomplete. (NWTRPA Trails Final Report ) 33 Nahanni Butte Ski Trails  Beyond the clearing of 5km of new ski trails, 2km of existing trail was leveled and widened. Signs, benches and picnic tables were built and installed by students. (NWTRPA Trails Final Report) I
Wrigley19 River Trail  Length: 3 km  Features: connects Jones Landing (boat launch) on the Mackenzie River, and the Mackenzie Highway; two rest spots with outhouses and picnic tables  Responsible authority: Pehdzeh Ki First Nation; also portion of TCT Staircase to Mackenzie River, with lookout: Photo by Shawn Alli (FFR) Smith Creek Falls trail  Length: 8 km  Features: route to the swimming hole at the falls  Responsible Authority: Pehdzeh Ki First Nation Skiing Website reference to “wonderful ski trails” 3.4.3 NORTH SLAVE A
Dettah20 Dettah Cemetery Trail  Location: from ‘sewage road’ just north of Dettah to the cemetery  Length: 600 metre  Features: walking trail  Infrastructure: 90% of trail is on exposed rock; three boardwalks and one bridge  Responsible Authority: Yellowknives Dene youth built; Yellowknives Dene First Nation Pubic Works manages and maintains  Funding: NWTRPA; YKDFN Public Works Program  NOTE: The Dettah Old Cemetery Trail is not promoted Trail to B. Dene Ventures Tourism Camp  Location: from Dettah to tourism camp  Length: 500 metre  Features: walking trail 34 
Responsible Authority: B. Dene Ventures General  The Yellowknives Dene First Nation have no plans for new trails in the next couple of years. They note that lack of resources and funding are the main challenges to building and maintaining trails. B
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Recreation co‐ordinator vacant; no previous contacts from NWTRPA; no trails listed Whati21 Community trail to portage  Length: 11 km  Features: traditional walking trail to a portage site upgraded to allow ATV access  Responsible authority: Community Government of Whati  NOTE: CAP shows funding for ‘trail to Lac La Marte Falls’ from 1996‐97 to 2005‐
06, which sounds like same trail. However, it also seems to be a road, not a trail. Lac La Martre Falls Portage Trail  Length: 2 km  Features: skidoo and ATV trail to the mouth of the Lac La Martre River.  Responsible authority: Community Government of Whati D
Wekweetì22 Trail to rapids  Unclear if a trail or road. CAP funding $263K Interpretive Nature Trail  Location: links community to area called “second beach”  Length: unknown  Features: swimming area, Kwegweti Lake  Funding: CAP E
Yellowknife23 Frame Lake Trail  Length: 9.1 km 35 
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Features: interpretive trail circling Frame Lake with extensions to Bristol Monument, Lakeview Cemetery and Jackfish Lake; trail maps at intersections; partly paved; some gravel; some boardwalk; some rugged hiking Responsibly Authority: City of Yellowknife, Department of Community Services Niven Lake Trail  Length: 2 km  Features: interpretive trail around a birding ‘hot spot’; various access points to surrounding housing; close to Visitor Centre; good chance of spotting a muskrat or beaver  Responsibly Authority: City of Yellowknife, Department of Community Services Range Lake Trail  Length: 1.2 km  Features: between a residential area and Range Lake Trail  Responsibly Authority: City of Yellowknife, Department of Community Services Baker Creek Trail  Features: interpretive trail  Responsible Authority: Federal Government (part of contaminated site clean‐
up)  Funding: City of Yellowknife, Environment Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ecology North, Fly Kids Foundation, Matrix Engineering, NAPEGG Snowmobile Trails  Most of the trails are described in the North Slave region section, since the trails are well past the City of Yellowknife. However, the Great Slave Snowmobile Association – Trail Riders groomed, for the first time in the winter of 2011/12, main local trails (i.e., trails within City limits). With money the club raised over several years, and a City of Yellowknife grant of $10,000, the club purchased the trail groomer. The groomer will be maintained through club fees and fundraising (e.g. raffles). Because trails haven’t been groomed before, this is the starting point, and the club may add others to the route. The City of Yellowknife provided regulatory and directional signs (stop/yield/multi‐use/ speed limits). These were purchased as official snowmobile signs from a supplier in Ontario. The speed limit for snowmobiles in the City of Yellowknife is 70 km/hour outside of the built‐up area. Within the built‐up area, snowmobiles can go on most roads except those in the downtown core. Yellowknife Cross‐country Ski Club trails  “Choose from an easy jaunt around the 2 km Snowflake Trail or a more challenging 10 km route. You'll see Great Slave Lake, and you could encounter rabbits, foxes, squirrels, wolves or lynx in this part of the forest. The trails can be accessed from the clubhouse, only a few km out of town on Highway 3; the 36 turn‐off is well marked. There are also connections from the Niven Lake Trail. A day‐use fee of $5 can be paid at the clubhouse. Trail Length: 14 km” Volunteers at the club do the maintenance on the trails. Since the trails have been in place for many years, this club provides a good example of the type of maintenance needed to keep ski trails in good shape. The basic brush cutting of those 14 km of trails is around 200 hours per year of volunteer time. Then, every couple of years there is other trail improvement / maintenance, such as: cutting larger trees, filling holes, blasting or moving rocks, widening trails, trenching/culverts, etc. Yellowknife Multi‐sport Club Routes  With assistance from the NWTRPA, the Club have developed “The Yellowknife Distances
Map”, to help runners, walkers and cyclists calculate the distance of their workouts. The
map is mostly road-oriented, but includes some City trails as well. 
The Club has mapped out distances for ski routes around Yellowknife using GPS track logs. 37 Map courtesy of Damian Panayi 38 Future:  The Yellowknife Harbour Plan (May 2012) includes these trails recommendations: o Develop three primary trails: Mine to Mine, Harbour Trail, and Yellowknife Bay Trail. o Develop key connecting trails to link the lakes, the Harbour Trail, and the Mine‐to‐Mine Trail. o Develop a comprehensive trail wayfinding/signage strategy. o Establish an operating budget to ensure trails are well maintained. Develop three primary trails  Dave Hurley, Facilities Manager, City of Yellowknife notes that the City is designing a new trail behind the Niven Lake subdivision and possibly on Twin Pine Hill. 3.4.4 SAHTU A
Déline24 Grey Goose Trail  Location: between Great Bear Lake and Grey Goose Lake  Length: 1 km (loop)  Features: planning for interpretive signs (flora/fauna)  Infrastructure: gravel trail and boardwalk; log bridge; trail head, directional and safety/instructional signs (e.g., pick up garbage); picnic tables; benches; cultural area (tepee)  Responsible Authority: Déline Land Corporation  Funding: NWTRPA, RInC, National Trails Coalition K’atu traditional trail/Taitu Road  Location: Déline northwest to Willow Lake (K’atu) (also Khatu)  Length: 25 km (one way)  Features: access for wood harvesting, hunting, fishing, trapping and recreational activities.  Responsible Authority: Déline Land Corporation  Funding: CAP  NOTE: unclear. June CAP information (see section 5.5.5) shows Khatu Traditional Trail and Trail to Willow Lake as separate. Conversation with Leroy Andre implied K’atu was name for willow, and this was one trail. Great Bear Trail  Location: from the Grey Goose Trail to the Great Bear River  Length: 10 km (one way) 39 
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Features: access to traditional fishing grounds, wood harvesting, heritage sites, camping sites and cabins, fire rings, drying racks, and burial site along the trail and on the banks of the Great Bear River Infrastructure: surfacing in ‘problem’ areas and log bridges over creeks; trail head and directional signs Responsible Authority: Déline Land Corporation Funding: CAP (May information) NOTE: not shown in CAP June information. See above, unclear. General  “Within recorded history, the Sahtú Dene travelled the long shoreline of Sahtú with the seasons, hunting, fishing and gathering the resources of the land. Their dogsled trails still thread the sparse forest on Great Bear’s north shore. They traveled to the Barrens for caribou, fished rivers, creeks and the big lake itself, hunted moose and snared rabbits in the forest.” ( http://www.deline.ca/culture‐
and‐community/our‐history/)  trails are multi‐use, generally enhanced from traditional trails  Déline Land Corporation built trails through a combination of hiring of crews and hiring of contractors  Déline Land Corporation continues to manage and maintain trails  tourist use of Grey Goose and Great Bear trails estimated at over 20% of users since they are visible from and an easy walking distance from the lodge  benefits listed as excellent recreation  challenges to building and maintaining is funding  Grey Goose Lodge website is under construction but will include information on the Grey Goose and Great Bear River trails  The NWTRPA Trails Final Report noted the Grey Goose trail as one of four exemplary projects; the Déline Lane Corporation “took the necessary time to consult with the community on intended trail use, infrastructure needs and trail layout. A dedicated project manager leveraged 3rd party funding, kept NWTRPA abreast of design or workplan changes and ensured the continuity of the project through each phase” B
Fort Good Hope25 Hareskin River and Old Baldy Hills Trail  Location: trail starts at the northern end of the community, then splits off to go to either destination  Length: about 2.5 km (one way)  Features: Old Baldy: highpoint of a long esker  Infrastructure: none; 1.5 m wide  Responsible Authority: Chartered Community of K’asho Got’ine Council  Funding: Community Access Program ($50K) 40 Rapids Trail or Bluefish Creek Trail  Location: downstream of community along the bank of the Mackenzie River to Tsintu River (aka Bluefish Creek)  Length: 20 km (one way)  Features: traditional route; access to hunting and firewood  Infrastructure: none  Responsible Authority: Chartered Community of K’asho Got’ine Council  Funding: Community Access Program; possibly a road.  Note from CAP, May 8/2012: “The Hareskin and Rapids Trail will be utilized to promote tourism and the culture of the K’asho Gotine Dene, as a walking trail for local residents, and to promote safe and healthy exercise and activities including hunting and harvesting of firewood . The Rapids Trail was the main focus of construction in FY 2011‐2012 with an additional 2 km constructed towards the Ramparts Cliffs.”  Additional notes from CAP June 25 call this a road to Bluefish Creek; unclear if this is a trail from the road; no funding listed for this project in the June report. Fred Kelly Express Ski Trail  Location: winter road access/beside fire guard  Length: 2 km  Features: skiing and walking trail  Infrastructure: none  Responsible Authority: Chartered Community of K’asho Got’ine Council  Funding: NWTRPA Notes from Trail Coordinator Report – Fort Good Hope, August 11‐13, 2008  “The K’asho Gotine Charter Community should consider passing a resolution to recognize the Fred Kelly Express Ski Trail (i.e. network of trails) as a recreational area. Such a land use designation would protect this valuable recreation and harvesting area from industrial or residential development.” General  Trail Coordinator Report – Fort Good Hope, August 11‐13, 2008: Fort Good Hope “boasts an amazing network of community trails, many of which were used at the time of the Coordinator’s visit for berry picking and by ATVs; reports confirm their extensive winter use by snowmachines, snowshoers and skiers. As such, there appears to be little need for cutting new trails in the vicinity of FGH. On the other hand, there is tremendous potential to encourage trail use by residents and tourists.”  “efforts will be required to map a number of community trails. The Sahtu Land and Water Board has state of‐the‐art mapping capabilities and has shown itself to be interested in supporting this trail initiative”. The Land and WaterBoard was contacted. They don’t have GIS mapping capabilities; this is with Sahtu 41 
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Land Use Planning Board. The Planning Board GIS staff person is now located in Calgary, so this type of mapping effort is not terribly practical right now. trails are managed by community recreation staff though tourism use is touted, there wasn’t any estimate of tourism use Challenges: lack of committed volunteers to build trails and funds to maintain trails promotion through word of mouth and school programmes stated vision is to recruit new volunteer members Norman Wells26 Trans Canada Trail  Location: along Mackenzie Drive and other community roads, then a gravel trail about 2 km to the beginning of the ski trails at Seepage Lake  Length: 8 km (partial loop)  NWTRPA Trails Final Report: “Clearing and applying crushed gravel to this 1.9km loop extended the existing Trans Canada Trail in Norman Wells” Hamar Mountain Trail  Location: access via Jackfish Lake road; extends north‐east of community into Discovery Ridge  Length: about 6 km one way  Features: high point on Hamar Mountain 967 metres; views of Mackenzie Valley, Mackenzie Mountains; dramatic escarpment on the north side of Hamar Mountain with views to Kelly and Lennie Lakes; Schooner Creek Falls about 1/3 of the way up; goes through Fossil Canyon  Infrastructure: none  Funding: none Fossil Canyon  Location: access via Jackfish Lake road; appears to be part of other trails (e.g. Hamar Mountain) but also described separately (e.g., TCT Official Guide, Stephanie Yuill, Public Education Specialist, ENR)  Length: Yuill notes “couple of hour hike”  Features: Yuill notes beautiful cliffs; tiny corals very evident; crosses some wetlands  Infrastructure: some signs for the ‘Goat Trail’ and ‘Rope Trail’ on Jackfish Lake road Ridge Trail “quad trail”  Location: access via Jackfish Lake road; heading northwest; parallels the Valley View & Kee Scarp Trails, then continues further northwest  Length: 8.4 km (one‐way)  Features: to Bosworth Falls 42 
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Infrastructure: wider trail than the Valley View/Kee Scarp Trails NOTE: referenced in Trans Canada Trail Official Guide Valley View & Kee Scarp Trails “hiking & mountain biking”  Location: access via Jackfish Lake road; heading northwest; parallels the Valley View & Kee Scarp Trails  Length: 3.8 km (loop of the Valley View and Kee Scarp trails combined)  Features: views to Mackenzie River  Infrastructure: picnic table at trailhead and picnic area on Valley View trail; originally made for mountain biking  NOTE: not referenced in Trans Canada Trail Official Guide Photo from Norman Wells Historical Centre brochure Norman Wells Cross‐Country Ski Club  Alasdair Veitch, President supplied trail map http://www.normanwellsmuseum.com/ “There are several kilometers of groomed cross‐country trails in the Norman Wells area, and there’s an active ski club to welcome you.” 43 D
Tulita27 Bear Rock  Location: across the Bear River from Tulita, starting at a campground and going to the top of Bear Rock  Length: “2‐3 hours”  Features: Bear Rock is one of the most sacred sites to aboriginal people of the Northwest Territories with the connection to Yamoria; spectacular views of Mackenzie and Great Bear Rivers  Infrastructure: campground has picnic tables, grill, outhouse and water reservoir; top of hill has a shelter, grill and water reservoir  Funding: Community Tourism Infrastructure Contribution Trail to Mackenzie River  Funding: CAP Trail to Willow Lake  Length: 7‐8 km  Funding: CAP Trail to Trout Lake  Funding: CAP 44 3.4.5 BEAUFORT/DELTA REGION A
Aklavik28 James McDonald Trail  “Phase 1 of an ambitious 5km walking trail loop saw approximately 1000m of the route flagged and cleared by the Hamlet.” (TFP)  Location: 
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Length: 1.5 km winter; 2 km summer Responsible authority: Hamlet of Aklavik; Hamlet recreation staff and Hamlet Public Works staff do management/maintenance . Maintenance includes clearing and cutting of willows, picking garbage and setting ski trails. Construction: no surfacing except for some mud fill at the beginning of the trail and other spots needing fill. The trail needs a bridge but community has no funding for that Use: <1% tourism use. Used for walking, skiing, snowmobiling, berry picking Funding: NWTRPA for construction; no funding for maintenance 45 
Other: Hamlet plans to make ski trails this coming fall/winter/spring. No other plans for new trails but would like to get funding for maintenance and upkeep of current trails, and funding for signage and improvements ATV Trail to Richardson Mountains  Location: to foothills of Richardson Mountains  Length: 16 km  Funding: CAP B
Inuvik Jimmy Adams Peace Park Trail (aka Boot Lake Trail)  Location: around Boot Lake  Features: Boot Lake is ideal habitat for waterfowl  Part of TCT  Responsible authority: Inuvik Public Works Department Twin Lake Trail  Location: between Twin Lakes and Mackenzie River East Channel  Responsible authority: Inuvik Public Works Department Aninjvik Viewpoint/ Hidden Lake  Location: unclear information. Also possibly called the Old Baldy Trail Or Treeline/Tundra trail  Responsible authority: Inuvik Public Works Department Inuvik Ski Club29  “Home of Canada’s Olympic cross‐country skiers, Sharon and Shirley Firth Located on Loucheux Road behind the Midnight Sun Recreation Center. The Ski Club has 4 well‐groomed trails, including a lit trail.” Responsible authority: Inuvik Ski Club C
Ft. McPherson30 Hamlet boardwalk  Length: 200 m  Features: boardwalk to allow pedestrians access to the wetlands in the centre of the hamlet. It is used extensively as a commuter trail to avoid the roadway  Responsible authority: Hamlet of Ft. McPherson (photo in Trans Canada Trail Official Guide) Tetlit Zheh Traditional Trail( 46 
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Length: 5 km Features: walking, skiing and traditional trail Responsible Authority: Tetlit Gwich’in Council River Walking Trail  Length: unknown (within community)  Features: “walking trail behind the church parallels the Peel. Nice views to the river and floodplain” (Trans Canada Trail Official Guide)  Responsible authority: ?Hamlet of Ft McPherson? ATV Trail to Head of the Rat River Area  Location: from the Dempster Highway via Husky Lake area to Rat River  Length: 55 km  Features: access to hunting, trapping, fishing, and wood harvesting as well as facilitating recreational activities  Funding: CAP Trail to Healing Lodge  Location: to Tl’oondhih Healing Lodge  Length: 25 km  Features: lodge used for local events and programs  Funding: CAP Arctic Nordic Ski/Community Trail31  Trail location: starts on the edge of town, goes west (no map; Mike Mitchell started on a map but not completed)  Length: 7.5 km (one‐way)  Features: at the very end there is a lake; not wide enough for skate skiing  Club or other contact: Fort McPherson Arctic Nordic Ski Club  NWT Ski Division member club  Other: have asked the hamlet to hire students to widen the trail this summer (improvements needed particularly on hills)  most of work is volunteer effort by Hanthorn family; ask others to pack down the trail to allow them to track‐set; hamlet helped once this winter by opening up the trail with a skidoo to flatten it out  got new track‐setter this year, which is much better  often just go skiing on skidoo trails 47 D
Paulatuk32 Local Trails  Trails are mostly worn paths to favourite places to picnic and fish. People go to an area near the ball diamond, to Freshwater Lake; further along coast to Belise (sp?) Creek and Flounder Creek; and to the point. There aren’t any signs.  “What would be most helpful would be to have picnic sites, with grills and picnic tables, in a few places. This would benefit the local people and tourists. The community would be happy to know about any funding possibilities for helping them with this.” ATV trail to Hornaday River  Length: 8.5 km  Funding: CAP  NOTE: concern listed in the Paulatuk community conservation plan regarding increased fishing pressure on fishing resources if this trail constructed. Follow‐
up to initial concerns would be good, for future planning work E
Sachs Harbour33 Ice House Point Trail  Location: to the point east of the community  Length: 1 km  Features: picnic table and fire rings  Responsible authority: Hamlet Recreation Department Picnic Lake Trail  Location: to the lake above the airport  Length: 2‐5 km  Features: picnic tables and fire rings  Responsible authority: Hamlet Recreation Department Notes:  Hamlet recreation department check once a year; “the Picnic Lake area doesn’t really get dirty as people clean up on their own”  used NWTRPA funding for both trails  no signs; “didn’t get around to it; Mike was going to help with that”  tourists do use the trails; probably mostly the Ice House Point  having dedicated areas for fires and picnicking has help keep the rest of the beach clean  interesting challenges: some typical “picnic tables get vandalized; once in awhile they put garbage in the fire pits; lazy” one atypical: “two years ago a fox decided to den in the fire pit over the winter the Ice Point area” so the are couldn’t be used for picnicking…but it was interesting. When fire rings are too close to the ocean they rust easily 48 
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would like to develop an area call Mary Sachs, about 10 km out of town; old ship and old buildings from Stefansson in area (Doreen mentioned she was looking into GNWT Heritage Sites funding; let her know that though program for designation still exists, funding is no longer available); would like to have bear proof area for garbage; have a large bonfire pit (so not all over the place), tables, other fire pits Tsiigehtchic 
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Trail location: beside community Length: 5 km Features: multi‐use snowmobile and ski trails Club or other contact: “a fledgling Tsiigehtchic ski club” (NWTRPA Trails Final Report ) Five kilometers of trails were widened with the intention of creating multi‐use skidoo and ski trails for a fledgling Tsiigehtchic ski club. (NWTRPA Trails Final Report ) 49 3.5 W ATER R OUTES 34 Existing Trails Travel by water was clearly a vital part of traditional cultures and in the early economic development in the NWT. After the traditional use, explorers, and economic use, came the adventure travellers. They have shared many stories, orally and in written form, about travel on NWT rivers. The Ladies, the Gwich'in, and the Rat: Travels on the Athabasca, Mackenzie, Rat, Porcupine and Yukon Rivers in 1926 (Clara Vyvyan, I.S. MacLaren and Lisa LaFramboise) is an example of ‘early tourism’, and Ed Struzik’s “Ten Rivers: Adventure Stories from the Arctic” is a more recent example. These can’t really be considered guides, but do give a broader appreciation of water travel than most guidebooks can give. The Mackenzie River is clearly the backbone of rivers in the NWT. Most of the NWT is part of the Mackenzie River drainage basin; only parts of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region are significantly in other drainage basins. Michelle Swallow’s 2011 “The Mackenzie River Guide: A Paddler’s Guide to Canada’s Longest River” treads between a story and a guide book. For a shorter description of this 1,480 km trip, the NWT’s tourism site, www.spectacularnwt.ca has a 7 page guide that includes lists of the required maps. The same website includes trip reports for nine other ‘top pick’ river routes in the NWT:  Anderson River  Arctic Red River  Coppermine River  Horton River  Natla‐Keele River  Mountain River  Ogilvie & Peel Rivers  Slave River  South Nahanni River  Thelon River  Yellowknife River These same rivers and others are described in other guide books and on‐line resources about paddling in the north. In general, NWT’s water routes are better described than our land routes. However, there is less information on the small river systems that are more oriented to local recreational travel. In the North Slave, for example, there are a series of canoe brochures about trips that are a few days long. Luke Coady, ITI North Slave, described these as being recently re‐
published, but using old information. There was a significant forest fire in the area about a decade ago; fall‐down from trees killed is still occurring, so portages are no longer well marked or well cut. These routes are promoted at the Northern Frontier Visitor Centre. They are used by the ‘visiting friends and relatives’ category of tourist, but most canoeists are looking for longer and more special routes than those available just around Yellowknife. 50 Future: A goal for North Slave ITI tourism would be to have the portages marked by GPS; wilderness campsites identified to focus the impact; and a reservation system set up for campsite use.
51 Map of Water Routes (as Shown in the 2009 Northwest Territories Outdoor Adventure Guide) Map Source: 2009 Northwest Territories Outdoor Adventure Guide: www.spectacularnwt.com 4. Trails Maps During the course of this study it was very difficult to find mapping, whether digital or hard copy, of land routes in the Northwest Territories. The exception to this are the territorial land and water trail posted online by the Trans Canada Trail Association and the SpectacularNWT website. Trails for local level mapping was often not digitized or published unless a local organization had access to personnel with digital mapping capabilities as was the case with Norman Wells, which has good ski trail maps (see Section 3.4, Norman Wells), and the Yellowknife multi‐sport club, which has ski routes outside of town which were mapped with GPS (see Section 3.4, Yellowknife). A few hand‐drawn maps are available with the GNWT’s Community Access Program funded trails. This example is from a Paulatuk funding submission for an ATV trail to the Hornaday River. 53 5. Trail Comparisons This section compares several jurisdictions in terms of legislation, strategies, funding, design and promotion. An overall point is that trails in the NWT are quite different from other Canadian jurisdictions. This table, from the National Trails Coalition study in 2010, is a snapshot comparing trail types. While the information was gathered using online resources and accuracy and comprehensiveness is not guaranteed, it does show how different the NWT is. We have more water routes than all other jurisdictions combined, have very little managed trails (only Nunavut is lower), and very little single‐use trails. Provinces and Territories TRAIL TYPE AB BC MB NB NL NT NS NU ON PE QC SK YK Single Use Non‐
11,440 11,697 2,138 1,496 1,602 30 1,217 0 13,438 325 19,429 3,627 856 Motorized (Km) Single Use Motorized 19,614 17,754 15,166 9,901 4,600 0 2,600 0 36,204 605 48,927 9,500 0 (Km) Shared Use Non‐
2,743 6,064 331 306 152 0 192 0 5,703 98 943 1,564 300 Motorized (Km) Shared Use 1,499 4,560 295 697 1,086 505 3,868 143 3,650 354 700 210 965 Motorized (Km) Total Managed 35,296 40,066 17,930 12,400 7,440 535 7,877 143 58,995 1,382 69,999 14,901 2,121 Trails (Km) % 13.1% 14.9% 6.7% 4.6% 2.8% 0.2% 2.9% 0.1% 21.9% 0.5% 26.0% 5.5% 0.8 Managed Water Routes 2,239 263 0 294 0 150 351 0 830 0 0 94 0 (Km) Trail Linkages 200 1,269 705 0 0 574 89 0 2,869 62 2,765 220 1,269 on Roads (Km) Total (Km) 36,326 41,335 18,635 12,494 7,440 3,348 8,229 143 62,158 1,444 72,914 15,472 3,390 Trails per capita 54 Source: National Trails Coalition “Canadian Trails Study: A Comprehensive Analysis of Managed Trails and Trail Uses” November 2010. Thus the comparisons are more a starting point for discussion, rather than any set recommendation. 55 5.1
A LASKA 5.1.1 Legislation and Regulations 
Alaska Statutes Section 34.17.05535 Provides landowners immunity from personal injuries or death arising from recreational use of their land. 5.1.2 Strategies, Master Plans, Plans of Actions 
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Alaska Recreational Trails Plan Guidelines for Snowmobile Trail Signing and Placement 5.1.3 Best Practices for Design and Management The Alaska Trails System consists of both land and water‐based trails recognized by the Trails and Recreational Access for Alaska Citizens Advisory Board for their recreational, scenic, and historic value. The unified system promotes the development of an interconnected system, consistently identifies trails, assures consistent maintenance standards, and enhances health and educational opportunities36. The Alaska Recreational Trails Plan recommends evaluating the potential for creating “Regional Trail Rehabilitation Teams” who would layout, construct and maintain trails. The Plan also recommends establishing an “Adopt‐a Trail” program to assist with light maintenance (removal of refuse, patrolling, brush removal, grooming, etc.)37. 5.1.4 Funding Models and Cost Implications The highest priority for funding state‐wide should include: maintenance of existing trails, resolving issue of trespassing, preventing loss of trail access points/corridors, the creation of trailheads, winter trail creation and maintenance, completing trail connections, creating rural trails that would be important for transportation. Potential funding sources may include endowments, trusts and public sector initiatives as well as federal programs and source funding38. 5.1.5 Risk Assessment and Liability Private land owners can who allow a recreational easement on their land can obtain immunity from liability39. 56 5.1.6 Trail User Conflict Management The Alaska Recreational Trails Plan recommends adhering to established planning, design, maintenance, and marketing standards and practices to reduce trail conflict in addition to public education, stakeholder involvement and proper management40. 5.1.7 Promotion and Marketing The Alaska Recreational Trails Plan recommends having “easy access to good and usable information” not only for the benefit of trail managers but also for trail users. It is recommended that this information be generated and maintained electronically and made at public information centres and the internet41. 5.2
A LBERTA 5.2.1 Legislation and Regulations42 
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Occupiers’ Liability (Recreational Users) Amendment Act Reduces liability of landowners / occupiers. Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2003 Bill 6 raises the fine for petty trespassing from $2000 from $100. Forest and Prairie Protection Amendment Act Outlines liability in the case of fire. 5.2.2 Strategies, Master Plans, Plans of Actions 
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Alberta Recreation Corridor & Trails Classification System Alberta Recreation Corridors Legislative Review: Report to the Minister of Community Development 5.2.3 Best Practices for Design and Management43 
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Confirm land requirements with land manager prior to the commencement of trail planning. Minimize damage to the environment by avoiding stream/water crossing wherever possible, abiding by special design considerations when trails are located in sensitive areas and not traversing soils with high potential for erosion. Avoid dangerous situations including unstable soils, steep slopes, crossing roads or railways without proper sightlines and uncontrolled high traffic roads, areas where heavy equipment is operated without proper barricades. Install signage and/or barriers where avoidance is not possible. 57 
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Consider the experience of the trail user when laying out the trail by passing points of interest such as scenic viewpoints and historic sites. A stacked loop trail system is preferred to allow users to choose the appropriate distance for them. The Alberta Recreation Corridor and Trails Classification System Report classifies trails both use and level of development (primitive, semi‐developed and developed). Recommendations are made within the aforementioned report specifically related to the design and maintenance of each level of trail development 5.2.4 Funding Models and Cost Implications 
Information not found. 5.2.5 Risk Assessment and Liability44 
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Bill 208 of the Occupier’s Liability (Recreational Users) Amendment Act limits the liability of landowners and occupiers by placing the onus on the trail user. Landowner / occupiers are not liable for general trail use; however they remain liable for death or injury that is a result of careless or wilful conduct on their behalf. This bill increases willingness of landowners / occupiers to allow recreational use on their land as well as lowers insurance premiums for trail operators. In the event of a fire, reimbursement may be sought from any or all person found to be responsible directly or indirectly for the fire. Signage limiting fires may reduce liability to landowners by demonstrating that permission was note given for the fire. 5.2.6 Trail User Conflict Management 
Information not found. 5.2.7 Promotion and Marketing45 
5.3
The Government of Alberta is in the process of developing a series of maps detailing approved (under the Alberta Recreation Trails Program) recreational trails in the province. In addition to location, the maps will indicate permitted uses as well as associated activities. The maps and database are intended to benefit trail users, residents, tourists, businesses, industry, landowners and managers, and other land use stakeholders. B RITISH C OLUMBIA 5.3.1 Legislation and Regulations46 
Ministry of Tourism Sports and the Arts  Forest and Range Practices Act  Land Act  Heritage Conservation Act 58 
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 Motor Vehicle (All Terrain) Act Ministry of the Environment  Park Act  Wildlife Act Regional Districts and Municipalities  Local Government Act Other  Occupier's Liability Act  Ministry of Transportation  BC Hydro  Ocean and water‐based routes or trails 5.3.2 Strategies, Master Plans, Plans of Actions 
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Draft Trails Strategy for British Columbia Recreational Manual 5.3.3 Best Practices for Design and Management A
Criteria for Development of Sustainable Recreation Trail Network47 Eleven “Key Success Factors” are required to be present in order for the province to develop and manage a sustainable recreation Trail network. The success factors are: 
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B
Collaboration with Stakeholders Conflict Resolution Creating Economic and Health Benefits Environmental Stewardship, Conservation and Protection Liability Management, Safety and Policing Effective Governance: Legislation and Policing Recreation Opportunity and Quality of Experience Strategic Approach to Planning Sustainable Resources: Staff and Funding Education, Information, and Communication Trail Inventory Approvals Recreation Regional Manager and District Recreation Officer must provide consent to develop or maintain a trail on crown land. Construction and maintenance can only occur on site listed in Forest and Range Practices Act, in locations with stewardship agreements, or where permission has been granted as per the Forest Range Practices Act. 59 C
Development of Recreation Sites, Trails and Facilities48 Recreation Manual details procedures for the layout, clearing and construction of trails and their associated amenities. The manual also describes considerations and standards related to planning and design. D
Maintenance49 Safety is the first priority. Unsafe conditions are addressed using established standards. Other priorities include unsanitary conditions posing a potential health risk and the correction and prevention of environmental damage. User convenience is also considered. Frequency and scope of routine maintenance depends on type of infrastructure, environmental conditions and level of use. Recreation Manual provides check lists of typical maintenance of features found at recreational facilities. 5.3.4 Funding Models and Cost Implications50 Develop a reliable and diverse funding model that includes base funding as well as public and private partnership and volunteers. Stable sources of funding may be augmented through accessing funding from various levels of government, private donation (e.g. recreation equipment manufacturers), companies with interest in trail right of ways (i.e. fibre optics and transmission lines), and in kind contributions from volunteers. Develop an updated list of potential funding sources that can support trail development 5.3.5 Risk Assessment and Liability51 The Draft Trails Strategy for British Columbia recognizes the importance of lowering risk to government, private landowners, trail stewards and users; access to more attainable and affordable insurance; as well as encouraging landowners and trail proponents to become participate in projects. To address this, in the short term the Strategy recommends reviewing the occupiers’ liability Act seeking ways to reduce liability to landowners and trail operators, and increasing the accountability of trail users. In the long term, it is recommended that a new “inherent risk” legislation be examined. 5.3.6 Trail User Conflict Management52 The Draft Trails Strategy for British Columbia recommends the development of a “communication and education strategy to inform trail users, land owners and managers about the existing governance framework”. The purpose of this recommendation is to inform trail users, landowners, and managers of the benefits of legislations, promote compliance, and enhance sustainable trail use. In addition, the report recommends action to “improve legislation, regulations and policy to manage motorized use and enhance opportunities for motorized trail users”. The intent of the recommendation is to maximize the benefits or motorized trail use while minimizing the impact to the environment and other users, reduce user conflicts, improve safety and to better define 60 off road vehicles. Currently BC’s Motor Vehicle (All Terrain) Act applies solely to snowmobiles to the exclusion of other forms of motorized use such as all‐terrain vehicles, off road motorcycles and segway™ type devices. 5.3.7 Promotion and Marketing53 The Draft Trails Strategy for British Columbia recommends the development and maintenance of a trail inventory which documents trail location, type, management and approved uses. The trail inventory could then be used for the planning of future trails, the conveying of information regarding usage to potential users in an effort to reduce user conflict, the marketing of trails, and provide information to other organization and people who use or are considering using the land on which a trail is situated. The Strategy also recommends conducting a user survey to seek knowledge of amount of use, user preferences and expenditures. The information could then be used to promote the benefits in investing in trails to businesses, assist managers in targeting priorities for investment, and to establish baseline information for future trend comparisons. Supporting the marketing of trails where there is support from community and trail groups in an effort to identify trails that can handle additional use, offer certain experiences and the identification of trail linkages that required improvements to support the overall trail network and tourism. 5.4
N EWFOUNDLAND AND L ABRADOR 5.4.1 Legislation and Regulations54 
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Environmental Protection Act Registration is required for any trails longer than 10 kilometres in length and may be required near sensitive areas. Water Resources Act A permit is required to construct within 15 meters of a waterbody / wetland or for work within a Protected Water Supply Area. Lands Act All trails situated on crown land require a Licence to Occupy. 
Historic Resources Act Plans for new trails or upgrades to existing trails that have not had prior approval from the Provincial Archaeology Office required to be reviewed by the Provincial Archaeology Office. The Office is also required to review Licence to Occupy applications. 61 5.4.2 Strategies, Master Plans, Plans of Actions Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Trail Development Information for Project Sponsors 5.4.3 Best Practices for Design and Management55 “Fingerboard” signs are permitted and issued through the provincial government’s Transportation and Works department. The signs direct people to trailheads. The annual cost for the sign is $131.25 which includes the manufacturing, installation and maintenance of the sign. Provincial trail standards do not exist therefore it is recommended that trail organizations retain the services of a professional to guide the planning, design and construction of proposed trails. Trails developed as a tourism product should consider:  A commitment to ownership, planning and long‐term maintenance  Regional and/or local visitor information (for example, trail maps)  Trailhead facilities (parking, trail and route information, washrooms)  Safety services and communications (local emergency contacts)  Regular inspections (risk assessment plans) 5.4.4 Funding Models and Cost Implications Some non‐profit organizations, e.g., the Blow Me Down Trails charge for the use of their trails. In the case of Blow Me Down trails their trails cater to recreational and competitive skiers. They have a lodge with amenities that is open during the winter months. There is no charge for the use of their trail in the summer as the lodge is closed. Trail passes for snowmobile trails are mandatory in Labrador. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has legislated mandatory trail passes for riders in Labrador. The revenue from these passes is used for the maintenance and operations of the trail system. The cost of the trail pass is $100.00 (+HST) per sled for the central and western areas of Labrador. The South Coast and Straits trail pass is $80.00(+HST) 5.4.5 Risk Assessment and Liability56 "…organization or committee is responsible for issues related to any trails [they] construct or enhance. Municipally owned trails have liability insurance however most unincorporated towns and non profit groups who manage trails do not. It is recommended that trail owners / managers assess their trails and consider their responsibility to the public before promoting the trail(s)." 5.4.6 Trail User Conflict Management Information not found. 62 5.4.7 Promotion and Marketing General Newfoundland and Labrador’s branding focuses on the province’s unique seascape and landscape, their culture and history, and their “genuine” people. “An arresting and compelling destination because of the blend of our unique offerings – exclusive products, dramatic seascape and landscape, significant history, distinct culture and genuine people”. The report: A Special Place a Special People: The Future for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism examines the marketing potential of various features throughout the province. The report notes that the “key elements of the province’s tourism experiences includes those things that make it special – its unique selling propositions.” Among the unique selling features identified are natural features and attractions, parks, and outdoor attraction. More specifically, hiking is identified as having unique appeal and character with marketing potential. Three types of trails are identified as having market potential: destination hiking trail (tourist generators), regional and community trails (supporting trails used by tourist more generally) and special purpose trail (i.e. snowmobile). Printed Material Trails are noted/described but not shown in the 2012 Traveller’s Lost and Found Brochure (also available on website). Website Hiking and walking are listed as an activity on the provincial website. Some trails and their locations are described; however there are no maps specifically for trails. Trails in Labrador our marketed differently from those in Newfoundland due to the relative remoteness. Trail in Labrador are promoted as “the Ultimate Trek” for their wilderness experience and remote locations. There are two main trails running through the province – the East Coast Trail and the International Appalachian Trail. The East Coast Trail has a guide book that is for sale at select tourism locales/shops. It is unknown whether the same is true for the Appalachian Trail. 5.5
N ORTHWEST T ERRITORIES 5.5.1 Legislation and Regulations Land Access:  Need to consider current rights, and rights under negotiation  Inuvialuit, Gwich’in (Beaufort/Delta area), Tlicho (North Slave area) and Sahtu claims are final, so land access clearer in those areas…but there can still be some ‘competing’ access rights to consider 63 Crown Land:  under care and control of federal government (generally AANDC, but could be Transportation, DND….)  86% of the land in the NWT Aboriginal owned lands/Settlement Lands:  Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, Tlicho and Sahtu claims are final  within each claim, the beneficiaries own and control certain portions of the land  permission in claims for access through settlement lands  14% of land in the NWT Commissioner’s Land:  under care and control of Territorial Government  .02% of land in NWT  devolution should result in large increase in percentage of Commissioner’s Land  private lands held within Commissioner’s Land (e.g., Yellowknife, Hay River, Norman Wells): Fee simple lands; not usually used for trails in the NWT Community Access  need for some action by the community to protect the trails from encroachment within community came up in NWTRPA Trails Final Report for Behchoko  NWTRPA Trails Final Report: “The K’asho Gotine Charter Community should consider passing a resolution to recognize the Fred Kelly Express Ski Trail (i.e. network of trails) as a recreational area. Such a land use designation would protect this valuable recreation and harvesting area from industrial or residential development.” Territorial Parks Act  legislation changes have allowed Parks to ban off‐road vehicles from parks  now can permit quad users: for those that want to drive in campground, Parks staff can sell a permit  Tom Colosimo, ITI South Slave noted that controlling use of off‐road vehicles requires educating the public and providing options. At Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park, there is a designated gravel area across the road from the park where ATV users are directed 5.5.2 Strategies, Master Plans, Plans of Actions The NWTRPA’s final report recommends developing a trails strategy to co‐ordinate efforts to develop, use and promote trails. The strategy should “create or help to galvanize an online NWT resource portal for land and water trails that brings together and helps to promote funding 64 opportunities, examples of successful trail projects, solutions and innovations and user resources like trail descriptions, maps and GPS tracks.” 5.5.3 Best Practices for Design and Management57 Section 5, Planning and Designing the Trail includes:  Safety & security  Zone of influence  Restoration  Aesthetic Qualities  Wildlife and Vegetation  Water  Terrain and Slope  Trail design  Site Review Section 8 is Trail Management and Maintenance. There is a section on trail signage, listing three basic types of signs: directional/regulatory; markers; and information/interpretive. The NWTRPA has tried to make it easier for communities to at least mark their trails by providing some standard trail markers, though communities have often preferred to develop their own. Tom Colosimo, ITI South Slave, noted that they have started using a different sign construction method. Previously they used a baked enamel sign face, which theoretically have a long life‐
span. However, if someone shoots the sign, it is ruined. Hence, they are now using vinyl on aluminium or silkscreening on aluminium. They are much cheaper to replace, and the back of the sign can simply be used for a ‘re‐print’ if the sign is faded or otherwise needs updating. 5.5.4 Funding Models and Cost Implications58 Summary of Funding Programs There have been three main funds dedicated to trail building in the NWT over the last decade or so: Trans Canada Trail; NWTRPA Community Trail Building Fund; and GNWT Department of Transportation Community Access Program. Other territorial and national funds have helped with trail building, but most are not specifically focused on trails. Most funds are for construction; only the Community Access Program (CAP) allows for maintenance funding. The North and South Slave Correctional Centres have had inmates work on trail building and maintenance. While not ‘funding’ per se, the labour from the centres has been and can be very helpful in trail construction and maintenance. 65 TCT funding has been supported by the NWTRPA. The Trails Final Report (Mitchell, 2012) described how the NWTRPA funds were used. More details on other programs follows. Community Access Program The Department of Transportation Community Access Program (CAP) started in about 1990. It includes community roads and trails, and more tends to be spent on roads. The program is continuing this fiscal year. Summary: 
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Fund Type: construction and maintenance Funder: GNWT Department of Transportation Purpose: trails or roads to local boating facilities in support of local recreation and subsistence harvesting activities and for winter road access to granular resources. Focus: remote and rural communities Co‐funding requirements: unknown Allocation: typically $40‐70K per project annually 66 5.5.5 Table: Communities/trails funded by CAP Community Trail ATV Trail to the foothills of the Richardson Mountains (16 km) Dates 1995/96 to 2004/05 (except 2001/02) Amount
$309 K (lowest year $3K Highest year $74 K) Khatu Traditional Trail Trail to Willow Lake Trail to Hareskin and Old Baldy Hills Trail to Healing Lodge (25 km) 2010/11 $75K
2004/05 ($50K)
2010/11 ($66K) 2010/11 $116K
2003/04 – 2004/05 And 20010/11 $109K
Aklavik Déline Fort Good Hope Fort McPherson Fort Providence 2001/02 – 2005/06 67 $50K
Provide a reliable, safe, cost effective means of transportation between the Tl’oondih Healing Lodge and the existing Ft. McPherson road system. The site is used for local events and programs $240K
To increase potential for
($40K per tourism, hunting and fishing, year) and other recreation Both trails note a benefit of perseverance of education of culture and traditional knowledge ‐ additional social programs and field trips $126K
Trail extensively used for
(low $21K; community members to high access points further north $33K) and west into traditional hunting grounds, etc… Trail to Rat River 2005/06‐2010‐
via Husky Lakes (55 11 km) Horn River Trail Improvements Comment
Benefits listed as: Increased safety in travel Improved accessibility to traditional lands for hunting and other traditional activities Promotion of tourism Local employment and training Work for local contractor(s) Community Trail Trail to Horn Plateau Dates 2010/11 Amount
$20K
Yohin Lake Trail 2010/11 $46K
ATV trail to Hornaday River (8.5 km) 1998/99 to 2010/11 $509K
(low $2K; high $90K) Trail to Mackenzie River Maintenance of the trail to Trout Lake Brushing and clearing Willow Lake trail (7‐ 8 km) 2008/09 $40K
2007/08 $38K
2009/10 ($33K)
2010/11 ($75K) $108K
2001/02 to 2003/04 ($178K) and 2010/11 ($85K) $263K
Fort Simpson Nahanni Butte Paulatuk Tulita Trail to Rapids Wekweti Interpretive Nature 1999/2000 Trail $30K
68 Comment
Increased safety in travel Promotion of tourism Improved accessibility to lands for hunting and other traditional activities Local employment and training Work for local contractor(s) Benefits listed as: Increased safety in travel Promotion of tourism Improved accessibility to lands for hunting, gathering, fishing and other traditional activities Local employment and training trail in order for community members to continue with traditions of trapping, hunting and fishing and also with tourism services Labelled as a trail in May info and road in June info; likely road as engineers were involved Benefits: Increased safety Work for local contractor(s) and local employment Improved accessibility to recreational areas a trail that is safe, accessible and educational ‐ the trail is intended to link the community to a beach and swimming area (“second beach”) and onto Kwegweti Lake with the intention of encouraging recreation Community Trail Trail to Lac La Matre Falls Dates 1996/97 to 2005/06 Amount
$452K
(low $20K, high $73K) Whati Comment
Seems to be a road, not a trail Aiding in enhancing and developing leisure facilities Increased safety and reduced wear and tear on vehicles Improved accessibility to hunting, wood harvesting, and recreational areas Work for local contractor(s) NOTE: other communities applied but did not receive funds. These communities may have applied in other years, but did not necessarily receive or spend funds. (Based on funds spent, rather than approved) The GNWT Department of Transportation says CAP “provides funding and technical assistance to rural and remote communities for the construction and maintenance of community access roads and local boating facilities in support of local recreation and subsistence harvesting activities and for winter road access to granular resources. Community access roads include public roads or trails offering all‐weather or seasonal access, connecting communities to nearby public locations such as recreational sites, camps, archaeological sites, local resources, and access to fishing, hunting and tourism opportunities. “The expansion of the program in 2010/11 resulted in a greater range, scope, and an increase in the number of projects funded each year. In 2010/11, the Community Access Program was fully subscribed with projects undertaken in every region of the NWT. Since 1995, the GNWT has contributed a total of $7.85 million in project support across all communities in the NWT. “The program is application‐based and funding is allocated to communities based on the merit of the project proposals and level of community support. The Department works to maximize the total number of communities and the number of rural and remote communities receiving contributions. Community involvement, community benefit, cost, and mitigation of potential environ‐mental impacts are considered within the evaluation of the project.” 5.5.6 Community Infrastructure Tourism Funding This funding is through the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The Community Tourism Infrastructure Contribution (CTIC) Program allows community governments and non‐
government organizations to apply for funding to support new and innovative infrastructure projects.  Fund Type: planning; capital projects; communications & information technology  Funder: GNWT Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment  Purpose: support tourism in communities and promote visitation to nearby parks and natural attractions; increase attractiveness of NWT to visitors; increase use of communication technology; enhance tourism operations 69 
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Focus: only for non‐profit organizations that works to benefit the tourism industry and community economy Co‐funding requirements: 25‐50% must come from other funding partners Allocation: maximum $50,000 ITI will consider applications for trails that fit the CTIC project criteria. 2011/12 was the first year of the CTIC program. That year, the one project that included a trail was the Tulita Land Corporation’s work on the Bear Rock campground/ hiking trail. 5.5.7 Natural Resources Conservation Trust Fund This funding is through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. A trust fund was set up under the Natural Resources Conservation Trust Act to promote through education, research and demonstration the wise use of renewable resources; awareness, enhancement and protection of the environment; and use of the most efficient and most effective methods of trapping wildlife. There have been no projects funding over the last couple of years. Evan Walz, Director, Policy and Strategic Planning, Environment and Natural Resources, explained that “typical projects from the past have included things like Outdoor Skills Camps, Youth Ecology Camps, Trapper Training programs, Trail clearing programs, etc.” From a conversation with Mr Walz, the most recent trail project was in the Sahtu. The fund is being reviewed. 5.5.8 Past Funding Programs The Recreation Infrastructure Canada (RInC) website describes this program as “an infrastructure fund that is investing $500 million in recreational facilities across Canada over a two‐year period. This national initiative will provide a temporary economic stimulus that will help reduce the impact of the global recession while renewing, upgrading and expanding recreational infrastructure in Canadian communities.” It does not list any projects in NWT, but Trails Final report says Déline got funding for the Grey Goose Trail through this program. The National Trails Coalition received $25 million in Economic Action Plan funding for trail building across Canada in 2009. Only provincial‐territorial trails organizations affiliated with one of the founding NTC partners (Canadian Trails Federation, Canadian Off‐Highway Vehicle Distributors’ Council or the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada or the ATV & Quad Council of Canada, Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations) were eligible. The fund supported the Deline Grey Goose Trail. 5.5.9 Correction Centre Program The North and South Slave Correction Centres inmates can provide labour for non‐profit organizations. To date, the work they have done on trails centres on Territorial Park Trails. The South Slave Correction Centre has been particularly helpful with Territorial Park trails in the South Slave region (see also Appendix B). 70 5.5.10 Risk Assessment and Liability59 The NWT Association of Communities runs the Northern Communities Insurance Program. The program provides insurance services to member Community Governments. Currently there are 23 NWT Community Governments and the NWT Association of Communities covered by the insurance. The program provides broad liability and property insurance. The NWT Ski Division members get their insurance coverage through their association with Cross Country Canada.60 5.5.11 Trail User Conflict Management 
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Trails not usually associated with land owners as down south (e.g., farmers vs snowmobilers) High speeds of snowmobiles mixed with skiers can be difficult. Snowmobilers manage to kill pedestrians all too regularly in the NWT. dog mushers and snowmobilers can be in conflict ATVs and snowmobilers can be in conflict camping on portages creates trail use conflict 5.5.12 Promotion and Marketing It is remarkable how little trail information is on community websites (see Appendix E), even for communities that have had funding for trails. The NWT tourism website www.spectacularnwt.ca has the following: “Day Hikes: In larger Northwest Territories communities, walking trails are often marked and signed. Our local trails lead to favorite [sic] picnic spots, often by a lake, with a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape. For information on trails in and around our communities see Where to Explore, ask at a visitor center [sic] or at a community or band office. It's always good idea to let someone know your plans and when you'll be back.” This seems rather bold given the general lack of trail information that seems to be readily available. Stephanie Yuill, Public Education Specialist, ENR, was interviewed in the summer of 2011 on favourite day trips around the NWT. The interviews were introduced as a way to get ‘out on the land, away from the hustle and bustle of day‐to‐day life”. Meant as promotion to NWT listeners, it is a good example of how little our theoretically known by word‐of‐mouth trails are not that well known. Ms Yuill went through eight trails; unfortunately CBC only posted information on four of the trails (http://www.cbc.ca/thetrailbreaker/nwthikes/2011/08/) The NWT does not seem to be effectively linking into International Trails Day, the first Saturday in June. In January 2012, the Canadian Trails Federation said they wanted to discuss “promotion of the event can be coordinated in the most effective way possible.” This national forum for focussing attention on trails could perhaps be better used. 71 With the Trans Canada Trail’s 25th anniversary in 2017 (i.e., Canada’s 150th) there is an opportunity to build on national promotion of trails. The June 27th edition of the Yellowknifer newspaper included a one page ad “Welcome to Yellowknife: Hiker’s Heaven”. The Frame Lake, Niven and Prospector’s Trail are described, along with some safety tips. Unfortunately Prospector’s Trail is closed due to construction of the realignment of the Ingraham Trail. Better promotion co‐ordination is needed. (The ad appears to have GNWT funding, as it is accompanied by two ‘mini‐ads’ for GNWT arts and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. It is GNWT Department of Transportation responsible for the Ingraham Trail re‐alignment, affecting the closure of the Prospector’s Trail). 72 6. NWT Issues, Opportunities & Constraints This section analyses the information gathered according to the same categories used in the comparison. 6.1
L EGISLATION Common themes for legislation related to trails are type of access, protection of resource, and concerns with liability. At this point, there doesn’t seem to be a need for legislation related to liability (see section below). Access is usually multi‐use, so not generally in need of legislation. Access and protection of the trail however can be an issue at a local/community level. As the NWTRPA definition notes, a trail should be “protected from inappropriate development”. Random and inappropriate use seems to be more of an issue in communities (and in some instances, Territorial Parks) than most trails. For instance, using a trail as access to build a shed, or tying up a dog team. Rather than territorial legislation, such issues seem better suited to control through local by‐laws. 6.2
S TRATEGIES , M ASTER P LANS , P LANS OF A CTIONS Generally all the interviewees showed great interest in trails, and expressed the need for more trails, better mapping, better signage (directional and interpretive) and better recognition of trails. Recognizing the importance of trails Tom Colosimo, ITI Parks, Hay River, cited an Alberta exit survey regarding parks. Cleanliness/type of bathrooms was the #1 concern, followed by trails. Hence he has been working very hard on developing more interpretive trails in South Slave parks, as well as the communities and region as a whole. This type of recognition of the importance tourists place on trails seems lacking elsewhere in the NWT. The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute has worked with Gwich’in communities to gain Territorial Historic Site recognition for a number of cultural areas in the Gwich’in Settlement Area. This gives a celebration and awareness/educational aspect to areas which otherwise might not get talked about and would not be publicly documented. Pursuing Territorial Historic Site designation for traditional trails could similarly bring more awareness and recognition to those trails. 73 Opportunities for new trails In some ways, there are so many opportunities for trails in the NWT that is hard to know where to start. Few if any places on the planet provide the opportunities for being immersed in the variety of landscapes and cultures as the NWT. The scale of possibilities in the NWT makes the ‘scale’ of trails somewhat difficult to comprehend: from a 200 m long community boardwalk, to the over 350 km CANOL trail, to paddling one of the longest rivers in the world. Opportunities for trails exist at a very local level, regional, and territorial level. While this report begins to identify use and demand, it doesn’t purport to be give an accurate picture. Pretty well everyone would like ‘more’ in terms of trails, and this report can only give early indications of how to focus demand. A more detailed survey system or other means may be needed to give more accurate user/demand information. Because most communities don’t have a good walkway system, in‐town boardwalks and trails take on greater importance for basic pedestrian transportation. While certainly well‐used, these ‘trails’ don’t really have recreation use or particular tourism appeal. It may be better to consider these as ‘sidewalks’ rather than trails. While some territorial funding would go towards developing such basic systems, they shouldn’t really be considered ‘trails’, and no territorial efforts are needed to map them. This is certainly not to deny the very real importance of walking as part of healthy living, quite the opposite! Also, community trails that have interpretive signs and views to natural or cultural features are very important recreationally, and likely also to tourism. Having an inventory of such trails is worthwhile. Day‐hiking trails are available in some communities, and seem popular with resident recreationists and tourists. Examples are trails around Old Baldy in Fort Good Hope and trails such as Big Hill Lake along the Ingraham Trail. Several trails in conservation units are good day‐
hiking trails. Officially marking or developing these types of trails would seem a good focus. Longer hiking trails for overnight routes are not common, though there is access to hiking routes. The openness of some of the NWTs landscapes poses different opportunities and constraints compared to most jurisdictions, and compared to the southern and lower elevation parts of the NWT. Tundra, salt plains, upper mountain slopes, other open landscapes can be easy to find your way…though also easy to get lost. With such open landscapes, it is also more difficult to direct people away from hazards (either to themselves or the environment). Hiking route guides being developed by Parks Canada for their northern parks could be used as examples of providing more hiking route information in open landscapes. In the treed areas of the NWT, though there is a desire for ‘more trails’, trails often exist that aren’t well known. Communities are ‘rediscovering’ and re‐opening some of their traditional trails. These can be long, inter‐regional trails. How much these are publicized can be controversial due to cultural concerns such as access to culturally sensitive areas. 74 6.3
M APPING OF TRAILS Mapping the multiplicity of types and lengths of trails is generally very poor throughout the NWT. Mapping trails at a variety of scales would help give a better ‘picture’ of the trail situation in the NWT. However, there are a number of associated issues. What should be mapped is the first question: should it include trails that evolved simply as common routes between destinations within a community, trails on seismic lines or old roads, traditional trails, purpose‐built trails? It might seem obvious that purpose‐built, or publicly funded, trails would at least be mapped, but this is not the case. However, it would give a good starting point. Traditional trails have been mapped as part of the Dene mapping project. Daniel T’Seleie, Lands Manager, Dene Nation, notes there is interest in improving access to mapping. This should be followed up. Mapping format and who can do the mapping is another question or issue. In Norman Wells there are some excellent trail maps done through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). For many years the Sahtu GIS project, which worked on the Sahtu Atlas, was housed in Norman Wells. Whether as part of their work, or as volunteer efforts, good trail maps were developed. One report said that the Sahtu Land and Water Board did GIS work, so could help Fort Good Hope with their trail mapping. However, the Sahtu Land and Water Board don’t have anyone doing GIS; GIS work is done by the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board, but at this point their GIS specialist is in Calgary. In Yellowknife, where people are employed as GIS specialists with companies and government, there has been good mapping done for snowmobile trails. But overall in the NWT, there aren’t many good regional or community contacts for doing GIS mapping. Sensitivity around mapping of trails is a third issue. The Community Access Program notes that some traditional trails might go to culturally sensitive areas, so they should not be mapped, and should not be promoted outside of the community. However, some of the trails are also listed as being built to encourage tourism use. It is counter‐productive to build trails for tourism and not let tourists know where they are. If communities are concerned that people will go on trails by themselves, rather than use a guide, the scale of mapping can be done to virtually prevent this. A map can give an indication of where a trail is, and the features of the trails, without giving enough detail that people could go out on it by themselves. Mapping is also related to safety. Will better maps mean more people who are inexperienced go out and ‘get themselves lost’ or otherwise in trouble? Or will better maps generally help with safety, allowing users to stay away from dangers, know the limits, be aware of alternative and other safety helps? At this point, it seems there is so little mapping done of trails that we are a long way from having inexperienced people misuse maps. However, it is an issue that should be taken into account. Mapping also relates to funding: if a community wants funding for a trail, how is there assurance that there aren’t already similar trails in place? An approach would be getting agreement on how to consistent identify trails, e.g., degree of difficulty, type of use, cultural sensitivity, safety concerns etc. 75 6.4
T YPES OF USERS In most jurisdictions, separation of motorized from non‐motorized users is very important due to higher degree of use (hence reducing user conflicts and safety concerns) and the need to minimize environmental impact. While those are clearly concerns in the NWT, for the most part they are not major issues except within communities and conservation units. Therefore, the current system of mostly multi‐use trails seems appropriate for most trails. 6.5
A CCESS Trails are often destination oriented, such as going to a favourite local fishing area, lookout or cultural site. Improvements at the destination itself (e.g., water, tables) could be more valuable than trail improvements. This is particularly true in open landscapes. Opening up access to previously less accessible areas by developing trailsis generally put in a positive light, but can have consequences beyond the recreational and cultural experience for which it was intended. Are hazards now more likely to be encountered? Are environmentally or culturally sensitive areas now open to disturbance or destruction? Could a trail provide unintended access to restricted/unauthorized areas? 6.6
C ONNECTIVITY A hierarchy of types of trails is the basis for most trail systems, with connections between trails of different lengths and degrees of difficulty. Historically trails were all about connectivity: getting from one community to the next, from a summer hunting area to a winter area, from a fishing area to a hunting area. Both these senses of connectivity are lacking in the current system. Even the City of Yellowknife struggles to connect various trails, to get beyond a ‘drive to walk’ experience. 6.7
S TRATEGIES The Alaska strategy says “The unified system promotes the development of an interconnected system, consistently identifies trails, assures consistent maintenance standards, and enhances health and educational opportunities.” While other strategies provide some good background and comparisons, the any initial strategy in the NWT should be kept much more modest. We don’t have a comparable population base, nor a comparable tourism base, to other jurisdictions. Interconnectivity of formal trails, for instance, doesn’t seem a reasonable aspiration except on a fairly local scale. Even within conservation units there can be difficulty keeping up good maintenance of trails, and from a Yellowknife perspective, maintaining internal community trails is still difficult. However, helping 76 groups connect with each other (rather than the trails connecting), and gaining consistency in mapping and promotion, appears a good first step. 6.8
B EST P RACTICES FOR D ESIGN AND M ANAGEMENT The NWTRPA Trails Development Guidebook (2000) gives ideas, though not in great detail, for trail planning, design and maintenance. Communities were not specifically asked about the utility of the report, and there were no comments given about it. Alberta has a May 2009 guide Alberta Recreation Corridor and Trails Classification System that includes good information about standards for different types of trails. However, since NWT trails will likely continue to be multi‐use, issues of trail design don’t seem to be a particular issue. Those trails that are single‐
purpose tend to be ski trails, and there is reasonable information available on what is needed for classic and skating trails. Neither the NWT nor Alberta guide deals in particular with open landscapes. This is one area where there could be some additional guidance developed (example: Parks Canada guides) Design and management is likely most hampered by the lack of continuity in staff and trail volunteers. Generally there is high turnover in staff within organizations, and within communities themselves. Low levels of project documentation exacerbate this problem. Hence each new staff tends to have new concepts for trails, and projects can change considerably from their initial concept. The changes themselves are not necessarily an issue, but this does show a need for more emphasis on the planning stages of a project (not usually a stage that communities are particularly interested in). Without getting too complex, there is a need to define a few minimum trail standards that are applicable to the NWT. Formal trails, as are being discussed in this report, require at least minimal signage – some trailhead or similar sign and directional signs along the trail. NWTRPA has tried to make this easier by providing some standard directional sign, but ‘finishing’ a trail, rather than just brushing it, continues to be an issue. Some form of management…even just appropriate and consistent promotion of a trail, should be a factor in minimal standards, not just the built standards. The snowmobile club in Yellowknife noted a maintenance issue that is likely repeated elsewhere: dealing with snow berms created as a result of ploughing the roads. This requires interaction between volunteer groups and the local municipality, for instance to build snow ramps and clear paths though snow dump areas to trails. This type of management/maintenance issue seems mostly one to deal with at a local level, though maintenance standards may warrant additional investigation. 6.9
F UNDING M ODELS AND C OST I MPLICATIONS In general, trails have relatively low capital and maintenance costs in terms of recreation/health/tourism facilities. There aren’t many facilities that for, say $50,000 capital 77 and mostly volunteer maintenance can provide transportation, spiritual, tourism, traditional, recreational, educational and health benefits. That said, trails are not ‘free’. The largest issue related to funding (beside perennial ‘not enough’) is that there is not enough attention to funding to keep up maintenance standards. As with any facility, recreational trails need to be maintained. The Community Access Program does allow for maintenance funding, but the Trail Building Fund did not. For the most part, it is incumbent on communities to include a trail maintenance budget in the annual operating budget for their community trails. This is inconsistent across the NWT. Volunteer organizations seem better at acknowledging the need for maintenance, as they are direct trail users. In terms of trail building funds, the GNWT is continuing with the Community Access Program funding, but will not likely have money through Municipal and Community Affairs for trail work until at least 2014. The CAP funding and the NWTRPA funding haven’t been well co‐ordinated. One NWTRPA trail report notes “In Nahanni Butte, there was even a gentleman working on a trail that followed the bank of the river for several kilometres, but which was a project totally separate from the RPA’s.” NWTRPA’s attempts for additional co‐ordination have not met with success. The contractor did get some information about the CAP programme, but only from the past fiscal year…yet the programme has been running since 1990. It seems there should be more assurance that the programme is building trails that are needed and used, not simply cutting lines through the woods to provide work. Rosalie Blair, Outside Crew Officer, North Slave Correction Centre, noted that trail work could be done for a non‐profit such as NWTRPA. There is no funding application form. A request is made by e‐mail of what is needed and then the Outside Crew Officer works on scheduling. NWTRPA would be required to give a donation to the inmate welfare fund and supply materials (e.g., for boardwalk, signs). This appears to be an opportunity worth pursuing for upgrading non‐
territorial park trails such as Big Hill Lake. There is an issue of using public funds for trails related to tourism, yet no requirement that those trails be publicized at all. This appears to be an inconsistency in the funding programme. Alaska notes that funding should be available for “maintenance of existing trails, resolving issue of trespassing, preventing loss of trail access points/corridors, the creation of trailheads, winter trail creation and maintenance, completing trail connections, creating rural trails that would be important for transportation.” While an overly ambitious list for the NWT, this does give ideas of setting a more strategic direction related to our NWT trail funding. Territorial Historic Site designation is no longer a funded programme, but communities or regions can still, under their own, pursue this designation. The NWTRPA’s final trail report recommended an improved comprehensive trail funding delivery model that:  should include personalized support during all phases of trail building 78 
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put increased emphasis on pre‐planning, including having users involved at the beginning of projects have dedicated project managers within the community include trail maintenance as an allowable expense include trail within and without municipal corporate boundaries include rigorous evaluation criteria The report recommends a transparent Trails Committee comprised of regionally and culturally diverse trails stakeholders to play a major role in defining proposal scoring criteria, project evaluation and funding allocation. Appendix G includes some information regarding trail construction and maintenance considerations and costs. In general a well‐ constructed trail will be less costly to maintain. This generality needs to be balanced by the realization that large trail infrastructure such as staircases and bridges are expensive to build and to maintain. Caution is needed that well‐
constructed does not become equated with large infrastructure. But proper use of infrastructure such as a bridge can minimize environmental damage and long‐term maintenance issues. Each situation must be carefully evaluated on its own merits. 6.10 R ISK A SSESSMENT AND L IABILITY The NWT does not have the same risk and liability issues as many jurisdictions. Using farmers’ fields, crossing rail lines, and in riding in highway right of ways aren’t issues here as they are down south. Since most trails are multi‐use and variations on traditional trails, there don’t seem to be issues with one organization being ‘pinned’ with liability associated with a trail. Single use trails such as the ski clubs do have liability insurance and waivers. How much these multi‐use trails should be promoted though may be a liability question. In terms of general safety on trails, most information about the NWT does stress the wilderness experience, the need for travelling with a buddy, letting people know where you are going, and similar standard safety items for backcountry use…even if it is a day hike. Safety equipment and practices for motorized users is being promoted by the Trail Riders (e.g., helmets, wearing reflective clothing, and slowing down as conditions and traffic dictate). The use of safety equipment is not one the NWT government seems to want to deal with. They had a difficult time passing ‘no cell phone use while driving’ legislation; dealing with something more controversial as helmet use is unlikely to be at the top of the legislative agenda. How much signage and good maps would promote safety is worthy of greater discussion. It seems there is plenty of ‘room’ for improving signage and mapping, and hence improving safety…but this needs to be considered against encouraging use by unprepared and inexperienced trail users. In Fort Liard, the Chevron Road is a privately maintained road available for public use (Fort Liard website). It is unknown if there are specific liability insurance or issues related to this. 79 6.11 T RAIL U SER C ONFLICT M ANAGEMENT Given most trails don’t have a huge number of users, the fact most are multi‐use hasn’t led to a lot of trail user conflicts. Snowmobile use of ski trails is one perennial problem: one pass by a skidoo can ruin the track‐setting done by a volunteer. Even in Colville Lake, a small community where one would think the communication of ‘please keep off this trail’ would be relatively simple, the teachers have to re‐track the ski trails pretty well daily. Whether education of conflicts at a more territorial level would help could be an item for discussion. There are ongoing concerns about trails impacting cultural use or sites. For use, if a tourist is using a trail, does this take away from the trail being used by community members? The conflict can be one of perception, rather than actual different in activity. Regarding sites, as trails are developed and promoted, some people fear that traditional sites along trails will be endangered. Other people can see the same trail as a way to celebrate and show off their traditional culture. There are definitely examples world‐wide of archaeological sites being destroyed by looters. Given that most NWT aboriginal cultures are land‐based, not built‐based, this is perhaps less of an issue. Yet visitors can inadvertently disturb a site by what one culture would call inappropriate use (e.g., camping) and the visitor perceive as respectful. No simple ‘yes or no’ exists to such conflicts. This is a multi‐scale, multi‐faceted issue, with much discussion needed. 6.12 P ROMOTION AND M ARKETING It is difficult to promote trails when there are virtually no maps of trails. At the community level, Fort Liard is an example of a good community website with description of trails. Most community websites have no or very poor trail descriptions. The standard template for community websites (Local Government Administrators of the NWT LGANT websites) have a section for Parks and Playground, but nothing about Trails. This oversight seems worthy of attempting to rectify. At the territorial level, Spectacular NWT has virtually no maps on line. Their print information doesn’t have much in terms of hiking. They do have a description of ten canoeing routes. Traditional trails have been held as proprietary knowledge by First Nations. This appears to be ‘turning around’ somewhat, with some communities wanting to promote traditional trails as part of tourism. If trails were to obtain territorial historic site designations, promotions would likely be more effective. NWTRPA says “Promotion of trails, how to build them and how to use them speak to the heart of the NWTRPA’s mandate”. However, on the organizations website, there is nothing about trails for anyone visiting…or people moving to a community. The Norman Wells Historical Centre said “It would be great if Recreation & Parks had a section on their website with the hiking trails in the NWT listed, with further links to info & maps of the trails. I do get a lot of requests from hikers from around the country and world for maps (especially the Canol Heritage 80 Trail); it would be great if I could direct them to one website where all the info & maps are shown.” Some form of online portal to profile and promote NWT trails, whether by NWTRPA or others, would be worthwhile. 81 7. Summary: Implication of Findings 7.1
P ROTECTING TRADITION … THROUGH USE The largest impediment to developing a comprehensive trails strategy for the NWT seems to be the conflict between protection and use. Trails were integral to NWT cultures, and unless trails are used, they grow in – resulting in a loss not only of trails, but loss of culture. This is counterbalanced by the fear that traditional sites along trails will be endangered by promoting use of trails. ‘Protection’ of sites is also sometimes taken as ‘very restricted use’ of sites. Yet it is the very use of a trail that keeps it as a trail: an inherent conflict in perception. Added to this conflict is how trails are perceived from an economic perspective. The development opportunity of trails sometimes is very narrow focus: simply as an opportunity for temporary summer trail brushing jobs. Moving trails into broader economic development through tourism requires addressing the intersection of protecting traditional values with the use and promotion of trails. The conflict between ‘use’ and ‘protection’ isn’t one that can be resolved per se. However, having frank, broad based discussions are needed to get past an ‘either or’ vision of use and protection. 7.2
R ECREATION … AND TOURISM With a low population density and with low tourism number, there shouldn’t be a question of local recreational use or tourism use, but how both can be appropriately accommodated. Even what could be call “destination hiking trails” which are tourist generators, such as the CANOL trail, will also have a high level of ‘local’ (meaning in this case, NWT resident) use. Basics of design and maintenance are the same whether a trail is intended for local or tourism use. However, trails being developed as a tourism product need to consider some ‘extras’. Factors such as the following need to be incorporated at the early planning stages:  Is there a commitment to long‐term use, maintenance and inspections?  Where will the trail be promoted, and how? (word of mouth is not enough)  What trailhead facilities are planned? (usually parking, trail and route information, washrooms)  Are safety/emergency services clearly understood and communicated? (do people known who is responsible for acting on emergency calls? Do tourists know who to contact, or are aware no emergency services are available?) 82 7.3
F UNDING CONSTRAINTS REQUIRE LONGER ‐ TERM PLANNING Tourism or local use? In community or outside community? Traditional trails or competitive use trails? Funding pots to date have tended to specialize in one or two aspects, but there have been overlaps. As funding becomes tighter, two aspects seem clear: a) don’t rely on federal funds, but be prepared for when federal funding is available. Those communities or organizations that have a ‘trail project in their back pocket’ are ready to leap when new federal funding becomes, unpredictably, available. b) plan for and be clear on long‐term use. There are plenty of real trail projects, whether that involves surfacing, signing, mapping etc., without ‘making up’ trail brushing projects to provide employment. 7.4
D EVELOP AND MAINTAIN A TRAIL INVENTORY Trail inventories aare sometimes a recommendation from a trail strategy, done as part of a trail strategy, or compiled before a trail strategy. Since this document is a start to an inventory, it is recommended that the inventory be done before or with a strategy, rather than afterwards. A trail inventory is a basis for planning: planning funding, planning construction and maintenance, planning promotion. It can be used by multiple organizations as reference when considering trail projects. It is not a marketing tool itself, but should have consistent information to be the basis of trail promotion. This report gives some basic ideas for what can be included in an inventory. Since we have so many trails, a recommended first step is compiling the purpose‐built trails and trails supported by public funding. Then, add in other trails that volunteers or First Nations are willing to have promoted. Finally, the inventory can include other trails that won’t necessarily be part of promotion. However, it is important to have those compiled as part of the trail record, to reduce conflicts and assist long‐term planning. 7.5
S IGN WHAT ’ S THERE Before adding new trails, programs could emphasis signing existing trails. Traditionally ‘signs’ weren’t words or symbols on a stick. The use of a trail, and the stories that went with place names, were all that was needed for indicating safe use. Unfortunately many of the traditional places names, stories, and even use are nearly hidden. So, basic trail markers marking trail heads, distance and direction should be part of public trails. Interpretive signs can add greatly to the trail experience, can encourage appropriate use and respect for the trail and environment. They can also give some understanding of local culture. Hence it is recommended to include interpretive signs in any sign funding program. 83 7.6
P ROTECT FROM INAPPROPRIATE DEVELOPMENT The definition used by the NWTRPA includes protection from inappropriate development. This isn’t necessarily easy in a territory where access to the majority of the land is extremely unencumbered from a legal perspective, and ‘squatting’ is a way of life inside and outside communities. Legal or policy assistance to communities trying to come to grips with inappropriate development is needed. Taking a couple of communities as case‐studies would be a recommended approach. 7.7
T HE DESTINATION , THE JOURNEY … OR BOTH ? The CANOL trail is an example of a trail being the destination. It isn’t ‘going’ anywhere, the draw is the trail itself. The same could be said for most river trips: paddling the Mountain River isn’t about getting to the end of the river, it is the experience of river itself. Most club ski trails are similarly ‘the experience.’ That said, many trails are ‘all about’ the destination: climbing to a particular peak, hiking to a waterfall, or snowmobiling to a good fishing spot. Planning needs to more fully consider whether the trail is about the use experience itself or about the destination. This needs to be clearer from the beginning of the development process through to marketing. Cultural destinations and journeys need to be fully considered, not just ‘geological’ destinations and journeys. Then how much effort to developing and promoting the destination vs the trail itself can be more accurately judged. 7.8
A CKNOWLEDGE MULTIPLE USERS In some ways, the NWT has ‘skipped’ some of the issues related to trail building in southern Canada. Other jurisdictions are trying to move toward more multi‐use trails. Here, by necessity, the majority of our trails are already multiple use. The ‘multi‐use reality’ should be made quite clear in tourism promotion of trails, since it is not as common down south. This also needs to be continually part of information about local trails, whether that is through ‘club’ information or local governments. NOTE: This is not meant to say that some single use trails should not be developed and respected. For example, the ongoing success of NWT skiers and biathletes require that they have safe, single‐use (in winter) of their trails. 84 7.9
C ONSIDER LAND AND WATER ROUTES A basic question of a trail strategy is whether it should include land and water routes. In the NWT, these are very linked, so it is recommended that both land and water routes be considered in trail programs and, if developed, a trail strategy. 7.10 O N ‐ LINE ACCESS TO CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE INFORMATION Rather than relying on word‐of‐mouth, or the relatively few printed resources, the NWT should focus more on on‐line resources. Sorting out how to make on‐line trail information consistent and accurate should be a focus of discussion. On‐line sources should have maps and databases that can benefit a wide range of trail users: residents, tourists, businesses, industry, managers, and other land use stakeholders. 7.11 R EQUIRE GOOD DESIGN Funded trails require good trail design. Good design should:  Minimize environmental damage  Minimize cultural damage…while maximizing cultural benefits  Minimize hazards/safety concerns  Be appropriate for the use: generally speaking multiple use. Much of good design needs to be done on a case‐by‐case basis because it is so site dependent. Several standard manuals exists for specific trail types (e.g. equestrian, skiing, two‐wheeled motorized vehicles). These can be combined for multiple use, with the trail requiring the most ‘stringent’ measures (e.g., width, gradient) setting the basis for trail use. A graphic description of multiple use trail design for the NWT should be included in a trail strategy. Sketches from Alberta Recreation Corridor and Trails Classification System, Government of Alberta 85 7.12 P ROMOTE THE BENEFITS OF TRAILS We have evidence that trails are valued and valuable in the NWT. Traditional trail use tells us so from a cultural perspective. The fact that many tourism operators in the NWT include trails in their promotion (see Appendix F) points to their economic value. Tom Colosimo, South Slave Region Park, noted that after washrooms, trails are the most important aspect of a visitor’s park experience. Certainly the people contacted in developing this report, mostly recreation oriented, were almost all very enthusiastic about the benefits of trail, and increasing the use of trails. Trail use for competition is mostly for skiing, biathlon, and to some extent snowshoeing. International success of NWT athletes points couldn’t happen without some dedicated trails (among other factors like good coaching!) A trail strategy could more explicitly, and perhaps empirically, pull together information on trail benefits. Then this information could be used to consistently promote trail use to various agencies and users. 7.13 A CKNOWLEDGE AND PLAN FOR CONCERNS ABOUT TRAILS A trail strategy should acknowledge the very real concerns that some communities and people have with building trails. Improving access to hunting, fishing and berry picking areas can put pressure on those renewable resources that is unsustainable. This type of access is often discussed in terms of new roads, but can be an issue with trails as well. Worries about inappropriate use of cultural sites is a real concern, with examples internationally of disturbance of cultural sites. Beyond the trail strategy, planning for trails needs to take these types of concerns into consideration. The Trans Canada Trail concept form does ‘force’ trail planners to take many of these factors into consideration. While the TCT forms are perhaps overdone for some kinds of trails, they do help counterbalance the immediate enthusiasm for a trail with some long‐term planning realities. The TCT form could be modified for trail programs funding through the GNWT, no matter which department. 7.14 D ISCUSS AND DETERMINE ‘ RESPONSIBLE AUTHORITIES ’ Improving trail promotion requires agreement on the responsible authority. An example is the Big Hill Lake trail outside of Yellowknife. It is mostly known through word of mouth and as published in Blue Lake and Rocky Shore. But there is no one with authority to mark the trail head, or to check/improve trail markings. 7.15 L ESS ON BUILDING , MORE ON MAINTENANCE AND PROMOTION ? Trails need to be used to be kept viable. The simple act of using a trail helps maintain it. However, maintenance is needed to keep them in good shape. Funding to date concentrates on construction of trails. In addition, trails are often poorly promoted except by word‐of‐mouth. Consideration to funding maintenance and promotion of trails, rather than construction of trails, should be considered in a trails strategy. 86 7.16 M ORE INFORMATION ABOUT TOURISTS The Department of Transportation’s Community Access Program and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment Community Infrastructure Tourism Program factor in trails for tourism. Additional information about tourism use and desires could potentially strengthen these programs and increase the funding available for trails. When the GNWT conducts exit surveys of visitors, specific trail information could be solicited, i.e., ‘piggy‐back’ trail information onto an existing survey. 7.17 O NE SMALL STEP FOR PROMOTION : COMMUNITY WEBSITES Having a ‘place holder’ to describe trails on the MACA‐formatted community websites would be a simple step to acknowledging trails. It is remarkable how little information there is about trails on community websites (see Appendix E)…even for communities that have had funding for trails. Some sites link to the SpectacularNWT website, but there is no additional trail information when those links are followed. 7.18 C O ‐ COORDINATE GNWT INVOLVEMENT Three GNWT departments are currently involved in trail funding: Transportation; Industry, Tourism and Investments; and Municipal and Community Affairs. Trails are also part, to a lesser extent, of the mandates of Education, Culture and Employment, and Health and Social Services. Though funding and information can appropriately come from various departments, overall co‐
ordination to date has been lacking, The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) seems an appropriate lead department because local users within communities are, and will likely be, the primary users of trails. Since trails extend well beyond community boundaries and local users, other involved departments should be involved. A trail strategy could help co‐ordinate the GNWT programmes. The trail strategy should reach beyond GNWT co‐ordination, to include the land use planning boards and trails organizations. 87 Appendix A: Trails within National Parks, National Landmarks and National Historic Sites A.1
G ENERAL NOTES Wood Buffalo National Park has marked trails. For the most part, the other parks have ‘routes’ that required following maps, landscape features, or game trails. Wood Buffalo National Park61 NOTE: these trails are described in detail in Thebacha Trails: A Guide to Special Areas Around Fort Smith (Gunn, 2000). There are some differences. For instance, both the north and south loops are listed as 7.5 and 9.0 km respectively, but add the comment “and 2.5 additional kilometres along Pine Lake Road to return to the trail head”. A.2
S ALT R IVER T RAIL S YSTEM Karstland Loop: 750 m  Features: interpretive trail; starts at Salt River Day‐use Area and winds through active karst terrain including active sinkholes and red‐sided garter snake hibernaculum Salt River Meadows Loop: 1.5 km  Features: meadows along a saline stream South Loop: 9.0 km  Features: salt meadows and unique salt flats at Grosbeak Lake, with glacial erratics and rocks eroded into strange shapes by salt and frost North Loop: 7.5 km  Features: sinkholes, scenic view of Salt Pan Lake, Keg River geological formation, outcrops of fossil bearing rocks Salt Plains Access: 0.5 km  Features: interpretive trail from the Salt Plains Viewpoint down a steep escarpment to the Salt Plains; saline springs, salt mounds, salt tolerant vegetation; variety of animal tracks Lakeside Trail: 6.4 km  Features: connects Pine Lake Recreation Area, Kettle Point Group Camp, trailhead for Lane Lake; access to sand beach for swimming Lane Lake Trail: 13 km  Features: mature aspen forest, chain of small sinkhole lakes with variety of waterfowl and shorebirds; opportunities to observe beavers in action 88 A.3
N AHANNI N ATIONAL P ARK R ESERVE 62 Glacier Lake  Length: unknown  Features: indistinct trail; old blazes; “There may be plenty of occasions when the trail will be temporarily lost or confused with game trails” Secret Lakes  Length: 6 km one‐way or 10 km one‐way  Features: series of small, deep lakes nestled in a steep‐sided mountain valley; two routes, one starts below the mouth of the Rabbitkettle River, another along a creek bed at km 15 on South Nahanni River Sunblood Mountain  Length: 8 km one‐way  Features: mature spruce forest, open scree ridge then the peak of Sunblood Mountain utilizing sheep trails and open slopes Marengo Falls  Length: 4 km one‐way  Features: difficult navigation; from Virginia Falls campground through a terrain of hummocks, mossy spruce and muskeg interspersed with higher ridges of pine to 30 m Marengo Falls Scow Creek ‐ Headless Range  Length: 8 km one‐way  Depart from Scow Creek where it joins the South Nahanni River at km 214. Hike south up the gravel and boulders of the largely dry creek bed. A fork in the creek bed will be reached after 2 km, continue up the right hand or west fork. After a further 1.5 km a smaller creek bed on the left can be used, along with open ridges, to climb the range. A more gradual route is to continue along the original channel that climbs a low saddle leading onto the range. Once on top and above the tree line, sheep trails lead northeast along the ridges through small plateaus of rock, and stunted alpine vegetation. Several small ledges and waterfalls in the creek beds will have to be climbed detoured around. Water availability will vary according to wet or dry periods during the season. Prairie Creek  Length: 4 km one‐way  The Prairie Creek alluvial fan is a major feature of Deadmen Valley. Begin hiking upstream (north) staying to the left (west) of Prairie Creek's many channels. After 1.5 km, the creek channel undercuts a low, silty bank. You will either have to climb over this bank (thick, tangled bush) or cross the creek (cold, fast water) then return to the west shore. Ahead will be a narrow gap where Prairie Creek exits the mountains. By climbing 89 over a saddle to the west of the gap, you can enter a small floodplain bordered by the almost vertical canyon walls. Sheaf Creek ‐ Tlogotsho Plateau  Length: 10 km one‐way  A major forest fire in the early 1980s caused lots of trees to fall across the creekbed, which in turn makes this portion of the route a slow and difficult bushwhack. Follow the creek up to where it just about disappears at the base of the plateau. Go to your right (west), up the steep ridge leading to the plateau. This steep, mossy ridge gives way to a scree slope and extra care should be taken if hiking in wet weather. Near the top there is a small bench and fairly steep cliff. To the right of the cliff, a sheep trail leads you to the top of Tlogotsho Plateau. Water is not always available at higher elevations in summer, so carry along a good supply. Be prepared for extremes of weather and low cloud, which can occur suddenly, making travel and orientation very difficult. Dry Canyon Creek  Length: 10 km one‐way  The dry gravel fan of Dry Canyon Creek is located at the far eastern end of Deadmen Valley. Hike up the impressive, steep walled canyon on the gravel beds for the first short distance. As the canyon narrows, large boulders will have to be climbed around, over and sometimes under. Several draws and ridges to the east provide access to the Nahanni Plateau although no definite route has been established. Dry Canyon is most often hiked as a day trip by following the creek bed in the canyon. Longer, overnight trips to the Nahanni Plateau are possible, but require more equipment and preparation. Ram Creek  Length: 15 km one‐way  This route may require several days along with proper equipment and preparation.  Features: Ram Creek is an alternative route to the Tlogotsho Plateau, with less bushwhacking; follows creek bed and sheep trailsa; access to Boundary Lake. Lafferty Creek  Length: 10 km one‐way  Features: Lafferty Creek joins the South Nahanni River near the bottom of First Canyon at Km 260. The terrain and canyon are very similar to Dry Canyon, although Lafferty Creek usually flows above ground over most of its length. Hike up the creek bed for the first kilometre, from there the canyon becomes increasingly narrow.  Some boulder walking and steep scrambling will be necessary to get through a few tight areas. The creek will have to be crossed in several spots; usually it is low enough that you can cross on the rocks. Lafferty Creek is recommended as a day hike. Longer trips to the Nahanni Plateau and karstlands are possible with careful preparation. 90 A.4
T UKTUT N OGAIT N ATIONAL P ARK 63 “There are no designated trails in Tuktut Nogait. Hikers follow approximate routes, navigating by unmistakable landmarks such as creeks, rivers, valleys, lakes, eskers, and hills. Hiking route descriptions for the park are available from the Parks Canada office in Inuvik.” Guides under development:  River guide for Tuktut Nogait National Park (Hornaday River) (expected completion March 2013)  Hiking guides (expected completion March 2014)  Tuktut Nogait Backpacker's Guide  Upper Hornaday River West Hiking Guide  Hornaday River Canyon East Hiking Guide  Hornaday River Canyon West Hiking Guide  Roscoe River East Hiking Guide A.5
A ULAVIK N ATIONAL P ARK 64 “Aulavik National Park offers unprecedented opportunities for backcountry enthusiasts to experience the arctic. Paddlers can take a multi‐week trip down the pristine, gently flowing Thomsen River. Backpackers can explore the expansive, rolling terrain where hiking is possible virtually anywhere….There are no facilities, services, established trails or campgrounds in the park.” Guides under development: River guide for Aulavik (Thomson River Guide) (expected completion March 2013) A.6
S AOYÚ ‐ ? EHDACHO N ATIONAL H ISTORIC S ITE 65 A traditional clearing (directed by elders) of the trails associated with the old portage across the neck of Saoyú A.7
P INGO C ANADIAN L ANDMARK Ibyuk Boardwalk  Trail location: from Tuktoyaktuk to boat launch is by road. The boardwalk begins on the other side of the bay to a viewpoint adjacent to Ibyuk pingo. Boardwalk is fully within Pingo Canadian  Landmark boundaries  Length: 429 metres  Features: boardwalk. A seating area is planned for the end of the boardwalk. Access to the boardwalk and site in general is almost completely dependant on tour operators  Funding: co‐funded by Parks Canada and Canada's Economic Action Plan; built through contract with a local contractor. 91 
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Promotion: trail is promoted by Parks Canada and local tour operators. Parks Canada is working towards building more of a tourism package to increase visitation Interpretation: brochures in the process of being developed. Notes: The TransCanada Trail ends in Tuktoyaktuk and at some point there were hypothetical/high level discussions about possibly linking the two. 92 Appendix B: Trails within Territorial Parks B.1
G ENERAL NOTES 66 Territorial Parks are typically open from May 15‐September 15 in the North and South Slave regions, and June 1st to September 1st in the Sahtu/Inuvik regions. Trails may be accessible in the off‐season, but are not maintained (no snow clearing etc.). O&M is handled by the regional Parks Division:  staff and contractors; usually park contractors doing the brushing  development by contract or staff  staff does the inspection B.2
S OUTH S LAVE General: 
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Funding: bulk of funding (capital and O&M) is from ITI, but work jointly with communities and bands to fund projects. Have also accessed trail funds from Federal government (Capacity Funds) large use of prisoners from the South Slave Correctional Centre to do trail work each year; likely about 8,000 – 12,000 hours/year (brushing, building lookouts etc.); cost is minimal since only need to pay for gas and food/water when working on the trails Inappropriate use: 
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mostly an issue at Twin Falls Gorge have developed a permit system for quads; they sell permits to tourists who want to use a quad on the campground roads. Encourage others to go to other side of highway where there is a gravel area for quads. By giving this alternative and through education, problem is being reduced ‘typically the washroom signs all have a bullet through their head’ (hunters using them inappropriately); have gone to use of aluminium signs so can be more inexpensively replaced Promotion: 
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all parks have trails mentioned in their brochures brochures at the 6oth Parallel and at each park even if no manned kiosk, the parks have a self‐registration station, with brochure not a lot of school use, except at Fort Smith Mission Park: the museum has an after school programme in spring; kids go to the park schools were unwilling to help fund the Auntie Ann interpretive trail, but are now interested in using it as part of Dene Kede curriculum tourism operator at Twin Falls does “walk a mile in my moccasins” tour also does bus tours; school tours; works w/ Dene Cultural institute; drug and treatment program; 93 
ITI funds some ‘base tours’ (Aboriginal day, July 1st; September long weekend) and others at dependent on what operator can develop himself Tourism use: 
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varies depending on location of park for Queen Elizabeth II in Fort Smith, the split is probably 70% tourists/30% local use; for Twin Falls, 30% tourists/70% local use, and for Lady Evelyn about 100% tourist use Construction and Maintenance: 
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Parks has equipment such as quads, dump trailers etc. to do some with own staff/park contractors make heavy use of South Slave Correctional Centre prisoners some contractors, e.g., in Enterprise often use bands depending on location Park Trails A
Little Buffalo River Falls Territorial Park Fire Trail  Length: 1 km  Features: interpretive signs explaining the natural process of regeneration caused by the 1981 forest fire; brochure  Infrastructure: ITI and Salt River Band are putting a bridge across the river as part of the land claim will get land across from it; including trail from campground will likely be 2‐3 km; tentatively summer 2012 
B
Queen Elizabeth Territorial Park 
C
Length: connects to the Thebacha town trail (see Community Trails, Fort Smith) Fort Smith Mission Historic Park 
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D
Other: park has a large bat populations; plans to build some bat houses and interpretive signs Length: 0.5 km (loop around park) Features: interpretive signs (11 or 12 signs) about the old mission building and hospital; community garden; interpretive brochure Infrastructure: all bricked and HC accessible 60th Parallel Territorial Park 
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Planned trail: Length: from the border visitor centre to the big border sign Features: 6 interpretive signs E
Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park 
Twin Falls Gorge Trail 94 
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F
Auntie Ann Medicine Walk 
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G
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walking/hiking/quading trail noted in community trails, Fort Providence. Not actually in the park Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park 
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J
Length: 700 metres (when complete) Features: developing a small walking trail between the Hay River Beach and the campground; developing about 11 interpretive signs about the history of the lake; fishermen; transportation Infrastructure: some boardwalk at the beach; will be mostly boardwalk and handicapped accessible Other: trail and signs to be completed summer 2012 Fort Providence Territorial Park 
I
Location: part of the trail network linking Louise Falls campground to the Escarpment Creek day‐use area in Twin Falls Gorge Territorial Park Length: 4.4 km Features: above banks of the Hay River; eleven interpretive signs with drawing of plant, common name; botanical name; Slavey name; science says; then “Annie says” Infrastructure: handicapped accessible as above Other: finished 2011; Auntie Ann was a local elder who has since passed away Hay River Territorial Community Campground 
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H
Location: links Louise and Alexandra Falls Length: 2.8 km Features: above the banks of the Hay River. 13 interpretive signs describe how Dene portaged the falls; an interpretive brochure being developed for park Infrastructure: handicapped accessible; gravel on filter cloth with boardwalks over rough sections; spiral staircase down to the lip of Louise Falls; lookouts of the falls Other: Parks have people in wheelchairs test the trails, and then they do repairs prison crews will be replacing overlook at Alexandra Falls in 2012 Waterfall lookout Length: 0.3 km Features: viewpoint to falls, Trail to Kakisa River 
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Length: 1 km Features: access to Kakisa River from campground/day use area Infrastructure: stairs to Kakisa River 95 
K
Other: park has a large bat populations; have built some bat houses and plan to do some interpretive signs McNallie Creek Wayside Park 
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Length: 0.3 km Features: viewpoint to 17 metre waterfall, one interpretive sign Infrastructure: small lookout; gravel trail B.3
DEHCHO A
Sambaa Deh Falls 
B
Coral Falls Trail 
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C
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Location: start south side of highway at the bridge or alternatively at the parking lot Length: 2.5 km (loop; partial return on highway) Features: view of waterfall. Rope provided leading down to fishing hole and fossil viewing area. View of gorge Infrastructure: viewing platform, two parking lots, a washroom at one end of loop Blackstone Territorial Park 
E
Location: from campground upstream to Coral Falls Length: 0.7 km Features: part of a portage along an old trapping route that leads to Trout Lake Infrastructure: none NOTE: future plans (no date) is to have a trail on the opposite side of the river as well (i.e., from highway to Coral Falls) Sambaa Deh Falls Trail 
D
Most users are NWT residents; also road travellers. Minor use by school groups (too distance for most school trips, but have come to see the fossils) Trails at Blackstone not much used; majority are Nahanni river users; a lot are from outside the NWT Blackstone Trapper's Cabin Trail 
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Location: starts from Campground and Visitor Centre access Length: 0.9 km Features: along the Liard River to abandoned cabin Note: needs to be re‐brushed 96 F
Blackstone Walking Trail 
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B.4
Location: starts from Visitor Centre Length: 1.5 km (loop) Features: views of river and Nahanni Mountains Infrastructure: had 2 bridges wash out, which stops the brushing; now need an engineer to design NORTH SLAVE 67 General 
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trail maintenance is done by Parks staff; contract out new development or major repairs except for Cameron Falls and Prospectors Trail, likely less than 10% of use is by tourists challenges to building trails and associated infrastructure/interpretation are funding; remote locations (have to helicopter in materials); and difficult terrain/topography (e.g., rock slopes requiring stairs requiring special expertise to build) challenges to maintaining trails are remoteness; difficult to find time for staff to walk the trails and check their status. This is done annually GNWT North Slave Region Parks was able to match federal infrastructure initiative funding to gain about $200K in federal funding. Some was used fro trail infrastructure most of problems with inappropriate use tend to be at trail heads (especially vandalism); once on trail, usually restricted to a little garbage and a few some fires being built promotion is varies; word of mouth is important; park gatehouse and Northern Frontier Visitor Centre staff know about trails and also give out brochures if available; signage for Cameron Falls is important; school programs will sometimes make use (though don’t go through Parks to do this) Plans: continue improving trail maintenance, better trail marking Vision: ‘lots of room for improvement’ to be more welcoming, such as should have trail head signs; maps; ‘do’s and don’t’s’ for all trails; brochures; on‐line maps; km trail markers; a fitness trail in Fred Henne (e.g, installing some fitness stations; associated with the trail linked to Frame Lake); have an interpretive trail explaining aboriginal/cultural use; generally improve interpretation along trails; a disabled boardwalk at YK River (platform for unloading; access to the place where there are mountain avens and the roses, into some swampy areas and to a place to fish where they can fish); better mapping Park Trails A
Fred Henne Territorial Community Campground: Prospectors Trail  Location: Yellowknife; access from campground; possible access off the Ingraham Trail re‐alignment (under construction summer 2012) 97 
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B
Length: currently about 4 km; about 300 m being cut off from Ingraham Trail re‐
alignment; redevelopment/redesign work is underway due to the highway realignment (current intention is for a full loop (now partial loop) with an extension to Fox Lake) Features: interpretive trail (brochure); some of the oldest rock formations in the world; new brochure will be needed with the new alignment Infrastructure: new trail markers, 800 lin feet of boardwalk Other: about 75% of use likely by tourists; second most well‐used trail after Cameron Falls trail. Prelude Lake Territorial Park Prelude Park Nature Trail  Location: about 30 km east of Yellowknife; access from campground  Length: 3 Km MAP TO COME  Features: interpretive trail (signs) through several natural zones; some signs need replacement  Infrastructure: various boardwalk sections; ‘blue hiker’ trail markers Prelude Park Panoramic Trail  Location: above boat launch, separate parking area  Length: 0.5 km  Features/Infrastructure: much of trail is boardwalk, leading to two viewpoints of Prelude Lake B.5
SAHTU A
Doi T’oh Canyon and CANOL Heritage Trail Territorial Park Reserve CANOL Trail  Location: all but the first 16 km of the trail are within the park reserve. The park reserve is mostly made up of a 2 km strip along the abandoned CANOL pipeline route  Length: 358 km  Features: abandoned World War II pipeline route through the Mackenzie Mountains. One of the most challenging trails in North America.  Recognized as a heritage trail in Rakekée Gok’é Godi: Places we take care of report  Infrastructure: none to date. The Doi T’oh Territorial Park and CANOL Heritage Trail Management Plan January 2007 by the Doi T’oh Territorial Park Committee gives ideas on development. 98 
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Note: In discussion with Richard Zieba, Director, Tourism and Parks, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, the area is a park reserve because the land remains (mostly) federal crown land, not Commissioners land. The land transfer was originally held up because of issues associated with past environmental liabilities. Recently the federal government agree to take on these liabilities. They are assessing the risk at this stage, having identified and done field work on 27 sites. Now however, the transfer is being questioned because of devolution (i.e., whether to move in a separate process from devolution, or simply wrap this up with the devolution talks) The first 16 km of the trail are in municipal lands so were not addressed by the park management plan. The Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment have had those first 16 km set aside as park land within the municipal block land transfer. They are now doing consultations for a park to be established, ensuring the trail is a contiguous territorial park. The working name for that park is Camp CANOL. Consultations with the town of Norman Wells and the Norman Wells Land Corporation are needed before any work is done on trail/park. B.6
B EAUFORT /D ELTA A
Jàk Territorial Park 
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Northern Forest Interpretive Trail Location: park is near Inuvik; trail from campground Length: 1 kilometer Features: goes to shore of the delta, viewing areas for birdwatching (NOTE: no mention of this in Trans Canada Trail Official Guidetct) Funding: Received a onetime contribution from Imperial Oil Ltd. to develop a trail in Jak Park for access to an abandoned test pipeline. Pipeline is now an interpretive artifact in the park. 7.18.1 B
Gwich’in Territorial Park C
Tithegeh Chii Vitaii Lookout 
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Location: off highway, about 45 km south of Inuvik, (south of campground) Length: 0.3 km Features: interpretive trail (boardwalk and dirt trail), Lookout platform with interpretive panels to the lookout Campbell Lake’s reversing delta; a birdwatching destination General: maintenance activities include: o seasonal inspections to make sure the trail is safe and clear of damage or vandalism o clean garbage (from garbage cans and or litter on trails) 99 o adding gravel to ‘bare’ patches; fix signs ‐maintenance done by GNWT Tourism and Park staff and contractors ‐trails are heavily used by tourists; they are not a “draw” on their own, but one of several recreational activities for people to participate in while visiting the parks ‐adequate funding is a challenge to building and maintaining the trails ‐lack of local available expertise in designing and building trails and trail infrastructure also creates a challenge for building trails ‐inappropriate use of the trails is motorized users on non‐motorized trails, and vandalism of trail ‐promotion through word of mouth, www.nwtparks.ca, and trail brochure, available at park visitor centre Future: 
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There is no stated vision per se for park trails. Trails are developed in concert with other infrastructure. Parks are a product developed to encourage tourism and longer stays at our facilities Trails shown in the Gwich’in Territorial Park Masterplan of 1995 are slated for layout summer/fall 2012, with construction 2013‐2015. Hiking, skiing and ATV trails are planned. Parks trails in Nitainlaii Territorial Park also planned for design and construction in next two years Regarding a trails strategy, “It is unclear why there is need for a strategy and what, if anything will be accomplished by doing this strategy. Those that are interested in constructing trails are already doing so.” 100 Appendix C: NWT Tourism Operators/Outfitters Promoting Trails Use C.1
T YPES OF TRAIL USE PROMOTED A
Hiking 
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B
Snowshoeing 
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C
Chuck Gruben's Guiding and Outfitting (867) 977‐2360 Arctic Adventure Tours www.whitehuskies.com Taiga Tour Company www.taigatour.com Bekere Lake Lodge Box 30, Paulatuk, NT X0E 1N0 Blachford Lake Lodge & Conference Resort www.blachfordlakelodge.com Ookpik Tours and Adventures Box 131 Tuktoyaktuk, NT X0E 1C0 Skiing 
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E
Arctic Adventure Tours www.whitehuskies.com Bekere Lake Lodge Box 30, Paulatuk, NT X0E 1N0 Salt River Elders Village Box 1107, Fort Smith, NT, X0E 0P0 Snowmobiling 
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D
Arctic Red River Outfitters Ltd. www.arcticred‐nwt.com Yellow Dog Lodge, Inc. www.yellowdoglodge.ca Chuck Gruben's Guiding and Outfitting (867) 977‐2360 Arctic Adventure Tours www.whitehuskies.com Ram Head Outfitters Ltd. www.ramheadoutfitters.com Taiga Tour Company www.taigatour.com Bekere Lake Lodge Box 30, Paulatuk, NT X0E 1N0 Salt River Elders Village Box 1107, Fort Smith, NT, X0E 0P0 Salt River Elders Village Box 1107, Fort Smith, NT, X0E 0P0 Blachford Lake Lodge & Conference Resort www.blachfordlakelodge.com Rafting/Canoeing/Kayaking 
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Alcantara Outfitting Ltd. Box 909 Fort Smith, NT X0E 0P0 Arctic Adventure Tours www.whitehuskies.com Great Slave Lake Tours (867) 874‐3617 Great Canadian Adventure Company www.adventures.com 101 F
Dog sledding 
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Arctic Adventure Tours www.whitehuskies.com Blachford Lake Lodge & Conference Resort www.blachfordlakelodge.com Ookpik Tours and Adventures Box 131 Tuktoyaktuk, NT X0E 1C0 Dogpaddle Adventures http://www.dogpaddleadventures.com/ Beck's Kennels Aurora Tours http://www.beckskennels.com/ Great Canadian Adventure Company www.adventures.com C.2
E XAMPLES OF P ROMOTION A
Arctic Adventure Tours: 
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B
Aurora Village: 
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C
www.whitehuskies.com Location: outside Inuvik Dogsledding: “Our introductory tour is “The Fabulous Fun Run” where we run for about one hour on an exciting and unique trail system like none other. You will travel on our own trail system most of the time over some gentle hills, across several frozen lakes, through spruce forests and through a lovely stand of birch trees on a little ridge.” “On our unique trail system you do not have to always follow the team ahead of you. During the run there are many opportunities to turn your dogs onto other parallel trails and the dog teams remain relatively close to the lead team so that help is available whenever it is needed.” Also “Overnight Tour” and “Multi‐day Expedition” Snowmobiling: 1 hour tours or 6‐7 hour tours Hiking: “We walk on a prepared sawdust trail that leads us through the forest and across a little bridge to Grassy Lake.” Also, Arctic Loon Cabin hike: “On this hike you will be walking on a natural trail over uneven ground that follows the contours of the land” www.auroravillage.com Location: outside Yellowknife (Ingraham Trail) Dogsledding: “About 15 minute ride on beautiful wooded trails with ups and downs, and curbs left and right.” Snowshoeing: “You can go on a guided nature walk with our nature guide on traditional snowshoes deep into Aurora Village.” Hiking: “Come with us to Cameron Falls.” B. Dene Adventures: 
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www.bdene.com Location: Dettah 102 
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Blachford Lake Lodge and Conference Centre: 
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http://www.spectacularnwt.com/content/chuck‐grubens‐guiding‐and‐outfitting Location: Tuktoyaktuk Winter trail use: lists snowmobiling (no further details). Also as ice fishing Summer trail use: lists hiking (no further details) Enodah Wilderness Travel/Trout Rock Lodge: www.enodah.com Location: on Great Slave Lake, between Yellowknife and Behchoko Winter trail use: list snowmobile tours; also access to lodge via snowmobile Ookpik Tours and Adventures 
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www.blachfordlakelodge.com Location: west end of Blachford Lake; few kilometers north of the East Arm of Great Slave Lake, located at 62_09.97′N, 112_40.96′ W. Snowmobiling: “Many of our trails follow long established winter highways – the dog team routes used by local people for millennia. There are hundreds of kilometres of trails in this area.” Also access to lodge via snowmobile Dog sledding: “We have a choice of trails. You might head to Long Lake to see the old Cadieux family cabin, or along the trail to Thor Lake to see an old mining site and the expanding “Rare Earth” development. Or you could travel to the frozen shores of Great Slave Lake to see the ice‐ridges.” Hiking: “Blachford Lake Lodge offers well marked and groomed 2km and 4km trails starting at the main Lodge” “mountain biking trails” (no further details) Chuck Gruben’s Guiding and Outfitting 
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Snowmobile: “Snowmobile tours are available. You will travel on traditional trails of the Dene with guided trips through Dene lands.” Snowshoeing: “Tours could include snowshoeing on old ancestral trails as our Elders did for centuries.” Boat tour: “Travel the traditional boat trails and see the Dene way of life at the old campsites and communities of the past thousand years” http://www.spectacularnwt.com/content/ookpik‐tours‐and‐
adventures?cate=40 Location: Tuktoyaktuk Winter trail use: list dogsledding and snowmobiling Yellowknife Outdoor Adventures: 
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www.yellowknifeoutdooradventures.com Location: Yellowknife 103 
Winter trail use: Snowmobile/dog sledding: Great Slave Lake and ‘carve your way through our backcountry wilderness, travelling on thickly forested trails’ going to GSL cabin 104 Appendix D: Trail promotion on community websites D.1
S OUTH S LAVE Fort Resolution (http://fortresolution.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Fort Smith (http://www.fortsmith.ca/cms/) Map of Slave River Rapids Corridor: describes TCT and different walking destinations along the corridor Map of Fort Smith with trails marked (not clear) Map of Thebacha Trail with distance markers Link to google earth map of Fort Smith Under menu: “Attractions”: “Trails” there’s good information on “dozens of trails”. The “Trails, Parks and Playgrounds” and “Cross‐country skiing” links are not as helpful Excellent photo section includes some photos of trails. NOTE: received trail building funds Lutselk’e (http://lutselke.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds D.2
D EHCHO Enterprise (http://enterprise.lgant.ca/ ) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Fort Liard (www.fortliard.com) No trail map(s) Very good trail descriptions (4 trails) No trail photos NOTE: received trail building funds; no mention w/ description of trails Fort Providence (http://fortprovidence.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails 105 No trail pictures Fort Simpson (http://www.fortsimpson.com/) No trail map(s) Under “Visitors” menu, at “Attractions”: “…be sure to travel the walking trail which runs parallel to the Mackenzie River & the village. “ There is a photo slideshow, with no captions; trail is possibly shown but not identified as such. Hay River (http://hayriver.com/) Menu “Our Attractions” lists “Hiking”, with maps, photos, and excellent descriptions Linked under “Local Campgrounds”: Hay River Territorial Park trail maps. Linked under “Local Campgrounds”: Twin Falls Territorial Park descriptions of trails. NOTE: received trail building funds Jean Marie River (http://jeanmarieriver.lgant.ca/ also www.jmrfn.ca) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Kakisa (http://kakisa.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) Mentions “extensive network of cross‐country ski trails” No trail pictures K’atl’odeeche First Nation Reserve (http://www.katlodeeche.com/) “Sports and Recreation” section is “coming soon” No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Nahanni Butte (http://nahannibutte.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails. Refers reader to Nahanni National Park. No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Trout Lake (http://troutlake.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Wrigley (http://www.wrigleynwt.com/) 106 No trail map(s) Reference to “wonderful ski trails” No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds D.3
N ORTH S LAVE Bechoko (http://behchoko.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Dettah (http://dettahandndilo.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Gameti (http://gameti.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Wekweetì (http://wekweeti.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Whati (http://whati.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Yellowknife (http://www.yellowknife.ca/Visitors.html) Menu “Things to See and Do” lists “Walking Trails” link. Photos, extensive descriptions, brochures with maps NOTE: received trail building funds D.4
S AHTU Colville Lake (http://colvillelake.lgant.ca/) 107 No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Déline (http://www.deline.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Fort Good Hope (http://fortgoodhope.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Norman Wells (www.normanwells.com) No trail map(s) Mention of x‐c ski club trails No trail descriptions except CANOL (link to CANOL trail) NOTE: received trail building funds Tulita (http://tulita.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures D.5
B EAUFORT /D ELTA Aklavik (http://www.aklavik.ca/?p=home) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Fort McPherson (http://www.fortmcpherson.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Inuvik Limited trail map: no distances, names; ski trails not shown Some trail descriptions (e.g., Boot Lake) Some trail photos (Boot Lake) NOTE: received trail building funds 108 Paulatuk (http://paulatuk.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Sach’s Harbour (http://sachsharbour.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Tuktoyaktuk (http://tuktoyaktuk.lgant.ca/ also www.tuk.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures Tsiigehtchic (http://tsiigehtchic.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures NOTE: received trail building funds Ulukahtok (http://ulukhaktok.lgant.ca/) No trail map(s) No trail descriptions or mention of trails No trail pictures 109 Appendix E: Trail guides for the NWT E.1
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E XISTING G UIDES : The Mackenzie River Guide: A Paddler’s Guide to Canada’s Longest River, Michelle Swallow 2011 Thebacha Trails: A Guide to Special Areas Around Fort Smith, Libby Gunn, Kromar Printing, 2000: deals primarily with trails in Wood Buffalo National Park, and trails in Alberta Trans Canada Trail Official Guide: Northwest Territories, Jamie Bastedo 2010 Blue Lake and Rocky Shore, Jamie Bastedo (NOTE: not specifically a trail guide, but does describe informal trails in the Yellowknife area) Canoeing Canada’s Northwest Territories: A Paddler’s Guide, Edited by Mary McCreadie, NWT Canoeing Association, published by Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association, 1995 http://www.myccr.com/content/great‐slave‐lake: Hay River. Hay Lake to Great Slave Lake. Guide. Source: MacDonald, Janice E. Canoeing Alberta. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton (1985). Ed note: Although much of the logistical information is likely outdated, the book contains information that I have not seen elsewhere. Route description: Hay River features. Little Buffalo River. Little Buffalo Falls to Great Slave Lake. Online, Notes. Source: Parks Canada; Guide to Waterways In and Around Wood Buffalo National Park. Ed note: Spring river. Route description: Hwy 5, access road, Little Buffalo Falls and small campground. Little Buffalo Falls, Lobstick Creek confluence, Seton Creek confluence, Sass River confluence, Klewi River confluence, Bear Creek confluence, Nyarling River confluence, Badwater Creek confluence, Hanbury Creek confluence, Salt Lake outlet, Fort Resolution Highway, Great Slave Lake. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/woodbu ... uide9.aspx Mackay Lake and Lockhart River. Warburton Bay to Outram Lakes. Online, Journal. Source: Paddlewise library. Route description: Float plane from Yellowknife to Warburton Bay (MacKay Lake), Warburton Bay Outpost, Portage Bay, MacKay Lake Lodge, Lockhart River, Outram Lakes, float plane to Yellowknife. Author: Rich Dempsey. Title at source: The Lockhart River NWT/Canada. http://www.paddlewise.net/stories/rdempsey.html Author: Wendy Dempsey. Title at source: A Paddle Trip on the Barrens: Another View. http://www.paddlewise.net/stories/rdempsey1.html Pate Lake to Behchoko. Online, Journal. Source: Canadian Canoe Routes, Northwest Territories Forum. Author: jmc. 110 
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Route description: Float plane from Yellowknife to Pate Lake, unnamed stream, Snare River, Snare Lake, Cotterill Lake, Ghost Lake, the “Small River”, Bousso River, Russell Lake, Behchoko (Rae‐Edzo). Ed note: Locating and verifying old trails. http://www.myccr.com/SectionForums/view ... 12&t=30699 Slave River. Fort Smith to Fort Resolution. Online, Notes. Source: Parks Canada; Guide to Waterways In and Around Wood Buffalo National Park. Route description: Fort Smith, Slave River (downstream from Rapids of the Drowned), Bell Rock and Cunningham Landing, Salt River confluence, Grand Détour, Brûlé Point, Pointe, Ennuyeuse, Long Island, Jean River confluence, several channels (Sawmill looks like the best bet), Fort Resolution and the highway. http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/woodbu ... uide6.aspx Slave River. Online, Journal. Source: paddling.net Author: Norm Miller. Route description: Peace River to Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake. Ed note: The Route is a segment of a trip from Fort McMurray to Tuktoyaktuk. http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2 ... le_2.shtml http://www.paddling.net/places/showReport.html?16 Snare River, Starvation River and Coppermine River. Rae to Kugluktuk. Notes. Ed note: Posted also under Starvation River and Coppermine River. Source: Thomas, Alister. Canada’s Best Canoe Routes.. Boston Mills Press, Erin (2001). Author: Shawn Hodgins. Route description: Rae, Russell Lake and Snare River, ... , Snare Lake, Winter Lake and site of Fort Enterprise, Big Lake, Starvation River, Point Lake and Coppermine River (features), Title at source: Snare‐Coppermine Rivers: Following John Franklin’s 1820 Expedition. Whitefish Lake to Great Slave Lake; via Timberhill Lake, Eileen River and Snowdrift River. Online, Journal. Source: Canadian Canoe Routes, Northwest Territories Forum. Author: jmc. Route description: Float plane from Yellowknife to Whitefish Lake (Thelon basin), Lynx Lake, Timberhill Lake, Sled Lake, Sled Creek, Eileen Lake, Eileen River, Tent Lake, Eileen River, Snowdrift River, Robert Lake, Dion Lake, Daisy Lake, Meridian Lake, Great Slave Lake, Pike’s Portage landing. http://www.myccr.com/SectionForums/view ... 12&t=28351 Yellowknife River. Online, Guide. Source: NT Government ibrary. Route description: Greenstockings Lake, Yellowknife River features, Yellowknife. http://spectacularnwt.com/sites/stage.s ... kriver.pdf G UIDES UNDER DEVELOPMENT : River guide for Tuktut Nogait National Park (Hornaday River) (expected completion March 2013) 111 
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River guide for Aulavik (Thomson River Guide) (expected completion March 2013) Hiking guides (expected completion March 2014) Tuktut Nogait Backpacker's Guide Upper Hornaday River West Hiking Guide Hornaday River Canyon East Hiking Guide Hornaday River Canyon West Hiking Guide Roscoe River East Hiking Guide 112 Appendix F: Alaskan trail descriptions Examples from Alaska’s trail descriptions, which include maps From Alaska: Seasons: May through Nearest Town: September Tok Difficulty: Dependent upon length of trip and river section USGS Quads: Eagle A‐1, A‐2, A‐3, A‐4, B‐1, B‐2, Activity: Canoeing, Rafting B‐3, B‐4, B‐5, B‐6, C‐3 Tanacross Length: 392 miles total C‐3, D‐2, D‐3, D‐4 How to Get There: The Fortymile River is located Managed by: approximately 260 miles from Bureau of Land Management Fairbanks and 60 road miles Tok Field Office from Tok. P.O Box 309 Tok, AK 99780 Seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring Nearest Town: Fairbanks Difficulty: Easy Activity: Biking (winter only), Dog Sledding, Skiing, USGS Quads: Snowmobiling Big Delta D‐5, D‐6; Circle A‐5 Length: approx. 35 miles Managed by: How to Get There: The winter trail, like the Alaska State Parks Web Links: Chena River, parallels and is Northern Distri Trails, Chena River State accessible from Chena Hot 3700 Airport Way Recreation Area Springs Road. There are many Fairbanks, AK 99709 access points at crossings or trailheads shared with other trails. Trail Decription: The trail is forested lowland. Mostly boggy in the summer. The trailed is groomed in winter for snowmachines and dogmushers.
113 Appendix G: Construction and Maintenance Information Construction and maintenance practices and costs variety greatly depending on jurisdiction, type of trail, services in area, etc.. Estimating the cost of construction and maintenance for each trail must be done individually given the number of factors involved in estimating. Excerpts given here are some comparisons to use for construction and maintenance considerations. City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario (from Trail Master Plan 2006) Estimate for granular trails, per kilometre: $24,000 Allowance for rest stop (interpretive panel plus trail lay‐by): $2,500 Design/engineering allowance: 10% of construction Algoma Ontario draft costs and standards (2012) Back Country Hiking Trail (1.2m natural surface) Cost per KM $ 6,000 Based on: Clearing / grubbing $4 per sq.m. Provisional Contingency 15% of trail cost Soft Costs / Planning and Design 10% of trail cost Does not include stream crossings or other special considerations / features Front Country / Interpretive Walking Trail (1.5m granular surface) Cost ber KM $61,250 Based on: Clearing / Grubbing $4 sq.m. Grading $5 sq.m. Granular surface $15 sq.m. Seed/mulch shoulder $4 sq.m. Provisional Contingency 15% of trail cost Cost Costs / Planning and Design 10% of trail cost Does not include culverts, bridges or other special considerations / features Stratchona County Alberta (Trails Strategy) excerpt:
“Ongoing operations and maintenance budgets are approximately $4.14 per linear meter2 for asphalt
trails and $0.20 per linear meter3 of granular/brick/stone trails. Administrative estimates suggest
more appropriate operations and maintenance budgets should be set at $5.00 per linear meter for
asphalt and $7.00 per linear meter for aggregate / granular trails. This would ….also have to be
increased on an annual basis in regards to inflation (existing trails) as new budget allotments for new
trails are added to the inventory….annual operations and maintenance budgets as outlined above
would enable appropriate maintenance levels to be achieved on existing and new trails.
1 Including traffic lights
2 Assuming 88km of asphalt trails.
3 Assuming 15km of granular/brick/stone trails.``
BC Trails Strategy excerpt 8.0 Trail Maintenance and Rehabilitation 8.1 Maintain the Trail Summary: •
set up a trail maintenance program, •
set maintenance standards, •
set up a maintenance schedule, •
assign seasonal, weekly, and periodic tasks, •
decide on labour and equipment requirements, •
use standard procedures for routine summer trail maintenance, •
use standard procedures for routine ski trail maintenance, •
check performance standards. 8.2 Set Up a Trail Maintenance Program A maintenance program helps ensure the safety of the trail user and the preservation of the trail environment. A high maintenance standard implies quick response to trail deterioration and adherence to the trail management steps using the limits of acceptable change (LAC) method. •
Set trail maintenance standards based on the "limits‐of‐acceptable change" approach. •
Practice environmentally sound maintenance, and use techniques appropriate for the type of trail. For example, on interpretive trails, avoid power weed cutters to trim vegetation along trail edges. Avoid the use of chemicals to retard vegetation growth. •
Prepare an annual trail management plan as part of the Annual Park Management Plan. List the total requirements for maintaining a trail to the desired standards. Base the plan on previous maintenance requirements, current trail condition survey data, a knowledge of trail volume and use, and a continuing evaluation of user requirements. Use the plan to determine budget and staff requirements for the maintenance program. •
Establish the frequency of trail monitoring based on the park management zone, the volume and type of use and on the environmental conditions of the trail route. •
Prepare a trail condition or maintenance survey report. The survey provides up‐to‐date information on all trail features and environmental conditions. Compile a standardized checklist, giving a clear and concise record of trail conditions and required maintenance procedures. Base the survey on the LAC approach to trail management. •
Assess the type and volume of use with traffic counter devices, trail register records and by counting the type and volume of vehicles at the trailhead. •
Consider distributing a user questionnaire on trail conditions to assist in evaluating overall impact. •
Successful trail operation depends on managing the type, volume and season of trail use in relation to the trail condition to ensure that the trail continues to meet its development objectives. •
Repair heavy use trails (Type I, II, and III) in the spring and maintain once a month during the heavy use season. Maintain winter trails after snowfalls, or as conditions deteriorate. (See specific guideline below). •
Priorize trail maintenance tasks: ‐correct unsafe conditions, ‐repair environmental damage, ‐restore the trail to the desired conditions. 8.3 Routine Summer Use Trail Maintenance Annual Spring and Early Summer Tasks •
Clear windfalls, dangerous trees and areas where slides have covered the trailbed, for safety reasons and to prevent detouring. Slide material on trails forces users to the outside edge of the tread, which is usually on fill and is the weakest part of the trail. Once the slide material is removed, repair the trail tread to the original specifications. If a tree has fallen over a trail and cannot be easily removed, cut a gap to allow passage. On some wilderness zone hiking trails, consider leaving the tree, but chop a step into it. •
Remove loose rocks and debris from the tread surface. •
Repair trail wash‐outs. •
Remove new plant growth on the trail annually. Clear in the spring and early summer when the new growth is soft. Selectively clear for views where appropriate. •
Level the trail tread as necessary and restore the tread grade to the original slopes. Use local material to fill ruts, holes, low spots or muddy areas. Refill approaches at each end of bridges, boardwalks or corduroy sections. •
Repair erosion‐damaged facilities promptly to prevent further damage. Check for erosion effects after spring runoff. Check and repair water bars, drainage ditches, culverts and drainage dips. Construct additional drainage structures if needed. •
Check and repair all structures after spring runoff and after severe summer storms. Check for signs of rot. Remove debris from around bridge supports. Secure all loose side rails or curb logs and respike all loose decking. Ensure any structural repairs and replacements meet the original construction requirements. Remove large rocks from stream fords to help ensure a safe crossing. •
Check, repair or replace signs and trail markers prior to the major use season. Remove any vegetation that obscures signs. Provide additional signs or trail markers where any confusion on the trail route is evident. •
Re‐grade the trailhead parking area. Figure 10: Clear New Growth Weekly or Monthly Tasks (as use warrants) •
Maintain trailhead facilities such as toilets or waste containers. •
Resupply trailhead information kiosks with route or safety brochures. •
Remove windfall or other debris on the trail tread. Maintain as Required •
Severely compacted soils may damage nearby plants and increase surface runoff. Aerate the soil and add granular surfacing materials to help reduce the compaction. Consider closing sections of trail to allow the area to recover. •
Consider trail hardening, boardwalks or bridges if wet and muddy areas on a trail cannot be drained by diverting the water off the trail. Repair small muddy areas by constructing a stone treadway or rock box. For a stone treadway, set large, angular rocks in the mud in a flagstone fashion with the best walking surface face up. A rock box consists of smaller stones placed side‐by‐side in a log frame made of peeled logs that have been spiked together. See trail construction details for boardwalk and bridge design guidelines. •
See trail upgrading and rehabilitation sections. 8.4 Decide on Labour and Equipment Needs Two person backpacking maintenance crews have proved most effective in U.S. Forest Service trials. Tools used by two‐person crews included: •
shovel •
double bit axe •
cross‐cut saw (and/or chain saw) •
brush axe •
pruning shears •
trenching tool •
pruning saw •
hammer •
brush mower •
portable rock crusher The most common trail maintenance jobs include: •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
removing windfall constructing or cleaning water‐bars cutting weeds and brush removing loose rock removing imbedded rock limbing tread construction removing leaning trees (8.5 Info specific to cross‐country ski trails removed) 8.6 Monitor the Trail Summary: •
collect baseline information for use in monitoring after trail construction, •
apply the principles of L.A.C., set up a monitoring program, •
monitor use, •
limit use if required, •
enforce regulations. Monitoring is an essential part of trail management. Start the monitoring process before the trail is built or upgraded by collecting baseline information. •
Apply the principles of LAC as outlined in Section X. •
Establish traffic counter stations to monitor use. •
Use trail registers to estimate trailhead use. •
Obtain use estimates from staff, local outdoors clubs or commercial guides. •
Provide public information on use trail restrictions, safety, environmental and social etiquette. •
Consider use zoning, seasonal or time restrictions, party size limits, user fees, permits, or other techniques if the monitoring program indicates a need to manage use levels. Enforce Trail Regulations •
Use trail design, public education and public relations as the preferred trail regulation enforcement method. Make available the brochure a code of ethics for the enjoyment of outdoor BC published by the Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C. •
Use positive sign language in preference to a "do not" or threatening regulatory approach. Enforce trail regulations if other measures do not produce results. 8.7 Upgrade the Trail Assess the Need for Upgrading • Use the Limits of Acceptable Change (L.A.C.) approach to manage existing trails. Consider management actions to improve the trail: ‐increase environmental carrying capacity and decrease the impact on natural or cultural heritage resources, ‐harden existing trails and campsites, rehabilitate disturbed areas, ‐expand the trail capacity to accommodate existing and near term projected use, ‐consider use management once trails and facilities are used to capacity. ‐upgrade the trail where required to accommodate existing and projected use, ‐in backcountry areas, reduce water contamination risks by upgrading capacity of toilets and installing grey water disposal where appropriate, •
provide information on wildlife/human conflicts and avoid uses that adversely impact wildlife, •
provide improved unobtrusive signs where necessary to educate users on sensitive sections of the trail or to avoid rehabilitation areas, •
provide improved public information on resource protection, and by avoiding use and sites that adversely impact resources. Maintain User Satisfaction •
Plan for a maximum number of trail users consistent with acceptable predicted changes to the environment and recreational experience. •
Assess the need to place limits on party size to reflect limits of acceptable change to the environment and recreation satisfaction. •
Continue education on low impact camping and hiking methods. •
Ensure visitors know what level of use to expect on the trail, and suggest ways to avoid high use, such as travelling in the off‐season. •
Consider use management when demand exceeds the desired management objectives. Upgrade the Trail with Proven Techniques Routine trail maintenance is outlined in the Trail Maintenance section. Trail upgrading includes tasks required to raise the standard of a trail or re‐build worn out portions. These deal with the common problems of muddy and braided sites resulting from poor drainage, creek or depressed area crossings, trail sections on steep loose fluvial gravels or colluvium, trail sections over boulders and rough terrain, or steep slopes where drainage runs along the trail surface. Consider 7 main types of typical trail upgrading: 1
Fill deeply trenched trail areas to grade, keep existing preferred alignment rehabilitate braids as needed, 2
Widen the clearing or trail tread, 3
Raise the trail above grade with fill, where wet conditions persist,‐rehabilitate braids at grade as required, 4
Suspend the trail above grade with boardwalk, where wet conditions persist, 5
Reroute the trail to better alignment with better drainage and grades. 6
Construct water bars and drainage ditches to alleviate trail erosion, Construct bridges over creeks. 8.8 Rehabilitate Trails Summary: •
•
•
determine which sections of trail should be closed and/or rehabilitated, use one of three basic approaches to rehabilitation, apply rehabilitation techniques suitable for your region. Decide on an Approach to Rehabilitation Rehabilitation pertains to repairing and or re‐vegetating both new and existing trails. Design new trails to minimize disturbed areas. Assess rehabilitation requirements for new trails at the design stage and salvage native plant material for transplanting during construction. Assess rehabilitation requirements on existing trails by measuring criteria such as the amount of braided trail, the use of shortcuts, the length of wet and muddy sections, the depth of tread below the native sod layer, and disturbance to areas adjacent to trails. Re‐vegetation in many parks will be particularly difficult above tree line, while some sites may suffer from thin or droughty soils, winds, or heavy use. A short growing season, strong winds, thin or compacted infertile soils, and difficult maintenance conditions are some of the general constraints to re‐vegetation in parks. A successful re‐vegetation program will: •
set overall management objectives with respect to re‐vegetation, •
weigh the cost of re‐vegetation options against the likely long term success, •
assess and design each site with respect to local conditions, •
integrate rehabilitation into overall site design and use, •
evaluate the success of each re‐vegetation technique. Select the most suitable rehabilitation technique from a continuum of three basic choices (adapted from Hingston, 1982): 1
1. Do nothing except close disturbed areas; hope for natural re‐vegetation. 2
2. Improve site soil conditions, close area; hope for improved natural re‐vegetation. 3
3. Improve site soil conditions and intervene with re‐vegetation; hope for successful plant establishment to provide rapid results. Consider Rehabilitation Options •
Use the technique best suited to each site. Option B is often the most cost effective with the least risk. Use an opportunistic approach that would use Option C methods if suitable conditions exist, when money, labour and plant material is available during site upgrading. Plan the rehabilitation carefully, assessing suitable species (eg. rooting habit, nutrient and soil •
needs, resistance to trampling), soil preparation, planting techniques, fertilizer or water needs, mulches, wildlife impacts, season and weather for re‐vegetation, and maintenance. •
Educate the public about rehabilitation efforts to avoid trampling of closed areas. •
Make a commitment to maintain rehabilitated sites as needed, and monitor the success of each project. Use Proven Rehabilitation Techniques •
Consider rehabilitation only where this will not conflict with preservation of artifacts or other heritage resources. •
Use rehabilitation techniques known to work in very tough low maintenance situations. •
Try to rehabilitate in the fall, when plants are dormant, and to allow good growing conditions when there is plenty of spring soil moisture. Transplanted native sod plugs will have up to a month of growing in late spring and early summer before peak hiking season begins. Transplant during cloudy or wet weather. •
Rely on natural re‐vegetation of prepared soil surface if local or imported native plants are not available. •
Prepare the soil by hand scarifying compacted areas. Allow natural reseeding to occur where transplanting will not be done; scarify to 5‐10cm. •
Control erosion from scarified rehabilitation sites. Consider using mulch to reduce erosion and improve the soil water retention capacity. Watch for contaminating weed species in mulch, and avoid using wood byproducts unless prepared to add nitrogen fertilizer. •
Place rotting logs or brush on rehabilitation sites both to control traffic and provide an ongoing source of soil nutrients. •
Use local or imported native plants and seeds to rehabilitate sites. Avoid using plant material from sites with different microclimates or elevations. Use only plants adapted to the site. Select species with compact roots, that are resistant to trampling, and are known to be pioneer species suited to disturbed sites. •
Salvage native plant material from any sites to be cleared, use this material for rehabilitation on adjacent sites; salvage plugs of native material up to .5m in diameter to increase success rate. Include all forest litter in plug transplant. •
When doing trail work, salvage native sod for use in transplanting into braids designated for closure. •
Dig up material for transplanting carefully, and replant as soon as possible, take as much native soil with the plug or raft of material as possible. •
If limited rafts or plugs of native material are available, space them out in the rehabilitation area, and allow for natural in‐filling. •
Leave a small depression around the transplanted plug to collect any rainfall. •
Water rehabilitation sites thoroughly after planting, and periodically, if possible, the following growing season. •
Consider the use "please water me" signs in remote areas. •
Consider using slow release organic fertilizers when transplanting plants. Fertilizers pollute, and may not improve survival of transplanted native material. They may be more effective in promoting natural re‐vegetation on a scarified site. Kaien Island Prince Rupert BC Trails information, 2009 report Appendix H: Sources Abbreviation of sources: NWTRPA Trails final report (draft, Mitchell): TFR Trans Canada Trail Official Guide, Jamie Bastedo: TCT OG Dept of Transportation Community Access Program: CAP Trails Foreman Final Report, Ryan McCord, FFA 1
TCTOG; Daniel T’Seleie, Lands Manager, Dene Nation 2
www.dehcholands.org; Tom Colosimo, ITI Parks 3
www.dehcholands.org 4
Interview, Bruce Hewlko, President, The Great Slave Snowmobile Association – Trail Riders; Stephanie Yuill, Public Education Specialist, ENR; Blue Lake & Rocky Shore, Bastedo http://www.lessonsfromtheland.ca/IdaaHome.asp?lng=English; Mark Heyck, Website and Multi‐
media co‐ordinator, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre 5
www.sahtulanduseplan.org; Alasdair Veitch, Manager, Tourism and Parks, ITI Sahtu; Stephanie Yuill, Public Education Specialist, ENR; Sahtu Atlas 6
Heidi Weibe, Planning Consultant, Sahtu Land Use Planning Board 7
www.gwichinplanning.nt.ca; Sue McKenzie, Planner, Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board (interview); Gwichya Gwich’in Googwandak: The History and Stories of the Gwichya Gwich’in, Heine, Andre, Kritsch, Cardinal and the Elders of Tsiigehtchic, Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute, 2001; inuvialuitlivinghistory.ca 8
Husky Lakes Ecological Assessment Progress Report, Lois Harwood, Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans Yellowknife, NT, 2002 9
NWTRPA Trails final report; http://www.fortsmith.ca/cms/; Don True, Fort Smith Ski Club; Note: www.skifortsmith.ca account is suspended; Tom Colosimo, South Slave Parks, ITI 10
NWTRPA Trails final report; Questionnaire response from Gloria Enzoe, Lutselk’e 11
Tom Colosimo, ITI Parks 12
Questionnaire response from Peter Groenen, Senior Administrator, Hamlet of Enterprise 13
http://www.fortliard.com/seeanddo1.htm, TFR, Questionnaire (Roslyn Firth) 14
Says TCT cutsheet, but nothing shows in the OTG; Stephanie Yuill’s Day Trips: http://www.cbc.ca/thetrailbreaker/nwthikes/2011/08/; Tom Colosimo, South Slave Parks, ITI CAP 15
Fort Simpson and NWT parks website; TCT official Guide; Interview: Raquel Michaud, Parks Manager, GNWT 16
www.hayriverskiclub.com 17
TCTOG, TFR; Interview: Margaret Ireland, JMR First Nation 18
http://www.hookandbullet.com/fishing‐yohin‐lake‐nahanni‐butte‐nt/#ixzz1szZuGbJk, TFR; CAP 19
TFR; TCTOG 20
Questionnaire: Stephan Folkers [[email protected]]; Personal experience of B. Dene Venture 21
TFR; CAP 22
CAP 23
TCT; City of Yellowknife website; Brett Wheeler, Yellowknife Ski Club trails co‐ordinator; Dave Hurley, Facilities Manager, City of Yellowknife 24
http://www.deline.ca/wp‐content/uploads/Newsletter‐2010.pdf; CAP; Questionnaire and interview Theresa Bitzer, Déline Recreation Co‐ordinator (May 2012); TFR; Leroy Andre, Renewable Resource Officer; http://www.deline.ca/culture‐and‐community/our‐history/ 25
Trail Coordinator Report – Fort Good Hope, August 11‐13, 2008; Questionnaire and interview, Freda Kelly, recreation co‐ordinator, K’asho Got’ine Council (May 2012); Community Access Program, Jayleen Robertson; TCTOG 26
http://www.normanwellsmuseum.com/; Alasdair Veitch; Norman Wells Historical Centre (maps sent) 27
Alasdair Veitch; The Mackenzie River Guide (Swallow); Benji Straker, ITI; CAP 28
TFT, CAP, Questionnaire, Dean McLeod, recreation co‐ordinator 29
www.inuvik.ca 30
TFR; TCTOG; Lynn Hanthorn, Ski Club 31
Lynn Hanthorn, Fort McPherson 32
Lily Ann Green, Recreation Co‐ordinator; CAP 33
TFR; Doreen Carpenter, Recreation Co‐ordinator 34
as noted in text 35
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan (http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aktrails/trlplan.htm) 36
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aktrails/ats.htm 37
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan 38
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan 39
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan 40
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan 41
Alaska Recreational Trails Plan 42
http://www.albertatrailnet.com/for‐trail‐builders/legislation‐affecting‐trails/ 43
Alberta Recreation Corridor & Trails Classification System p.35‐42 44
http://www.albertatrailnet.com/for‐trail‐builders/legislation‐affecting‐trails/ 45
http://www.albertatrailnet.com/for‐trail‐users/alberta‐trail‐maps/ 46
Government of British Columbia's Website: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/about/provincial‐trail‐
strategy.aspx 47
British Columbia Recreation Trails Strategy: Phase a Background Report – Page 57 48
Government of British Columbia's Website: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/about/site‐and‐trail‐
maintenance.aspx 49
Government of British Columbia's Website: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/about/site‐and‐trail‐
maintenance.aspx 50
Draft Trail Strategy for British Columbia – Page 43‐44 51
Draft Trail Strategy for British Columbia – Page 57 52
Draft Trail Strategy for British Columbia – Page 40‐41 53
Draft Trail Strategy for British Columbia – Page 50‐53 54
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Trail Development Information for Project Sponsors 55
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Trail Development Information for Project Sponsors 56
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Trail Development Information for Project Sponsors 57
Tom Colosimo, ITI South Slave; NWT Trails Development Guidebook 2000; NWTRPA published an “NWT Trails Development Guidebook” in 2000. 58
http://www.dot.gov.nt.ca/_live/documents/content/On%20Track%20document.pdf (CAP) Jayleen Robertson, Director, Planning Policy & Environment, Department of Transportation, GNWT (CAP); http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/11264.asp (RiNC); http://www.ntc‐canada.ca/application.php (NTC Economic Action Plan); Benji Straker, Manager, Park Operations, Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment 59
http://www.nwtac.com/insurance/ http://www.nwtski.com/sites/default/files/NWTSD%20membership%20benefits%2017.11.09.pdf 61
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/woodbuffalo/activ/activ1d1.aspx 60
62
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/nahanni/activ/activ3.aspx 63
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/tuktutnogait/activ/activ3.aspx#hiking: 64
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn‐np/nt/aulavik/activ.aspx 65
http://www.deline.ca/wp‐content/uploads/Newsletter‐2010.pdf 66
www.spectacularnwt.ca; www.iti.gov.nt.ca/tourismparks; Questionnaires/interviews with regional parks managers 67
Spectacular NWT website; Luke Coady (Manager of Parks) Contacts and Mapping summary Contact(s) Mapping Info received COMMUNITY comments ‐received July 27 (via ‐NWTRPA Trails Questionnaire to Dean Coordinator Report NWTRPA) McLeod, Recreation 2007‐08 Coordinator [email protected] Aklavik ‐NWTRPA files ‐discussed by phone; Questionnaire to David no info received Steele ‐ <[email protected]> Behchokǫ̀ ‐e‐mail received May 8 Questionnaire/base map to ‐Map received from Matt May 8 Matt Hubert [email protected] (teacher at Colville Lake School re. ski trails) Colville Lake ‐NWTRPA files ‐Questionnaire from Questionnaire/sketch map and interview with to Theresa Bitzer (finance Theresa officer) ‐interview with Leroy; <[email protected]
he said he’d send GPS .ca>, of CAP trail, not received Leroy Andre Renewable Resource Officer 589‐ 3421 Délįne ‐NWTRPA files Questionnaire Questionnaire/sketch map received May 11 to Stephan Folkers <[email protected]
Detah and > Ndi\lo Questionnaire/NWTRPA map ‐NWTRPA files plus Questionnaire map received from received May 17 to Peter Groenen <sao_enterprise@northwest community el.net> Enterprise Questionnaire/sketch maps ‐NWTRPA files Questionnaire to Freda Kelly (Recreation received May 22 (fax) Coordinator) Fort Good [email protected] Hope Questionnaire Questionnaire/ sketch maps ‐NWTRPA files received May 18 (fax) to Roslyn Firth [email protected] also Fort Liard [email protected] Phone conversation with ‐NWTRPA files ‐ski trail information Arctic Nordic Ski Club – Lynn by phone Hanthorn ‐no information on [email protected],
other trails from Band/Hamlet Questionnaire/ sketch maps to [email protected]; said no knowledge of trails Questionnaire/ sketch maps to Tetlit Zheh Band office – Susan Blake [email protected]
Fort McPherson m ‐TCT (?) ‐phone with Stephanie ‐no community contact; Yuill information from Stephanie Fort Yuill Providence ‐no community contact ‐ TCT (?) ‐nothing in guide book ‐interviewed Tom Colosimo, ITI South Fort Slave Resolution ‐interviewed ‐ TCT (?) ‐phone with Raquel [email protected].
Michaud May 22 ca (also about Territorial Fort Simpson Parks trails) ‐interviewed Don True ‐TCT (?) ‐phone: Don True, Ski Club (especially Ski Club ‐community ‐phone: Tom Colosimo, ITI information) website Parks ‐interviewed Tom Colosimo Fort Smith Questionnaire to Amanda ‐none ‐Amanda no longer Takazo there; brief discussion [email protected] with Pamela Gamètì ‐none ‐NWTRPA files ‐interviewed Tom Hay River Colosimo Hay River ‐none ‐TCT (?) Reserve ‐none ‐TCT (?) ‐community website Inuvik Questionnaire/ NWTRPA ‐NWTRPA files ‐interviewed Margaret map to Tammy Neal (band Ireland, May 31 manager) [email protected]; Jean Marie River [email protected] Kakisa None ‐Greg unable to ‐Questionnaire/ sketch maps answer questionnaire; to [email protected] suggested Gloria; reply ‐also to Gloria Enzoe from Gloria July 27 [email protected] (via NWTRPA) Lutselk'e ‐NWTRPA files ‐no reply received Questionnaire/ sketch maps to band manager [email protected] Nahanni Butte Questionnaire/ sketch maps to Norman Wells Land Corporation (Paul) Ren Xiang Tan [email protected] e‐mail to [email protected] (NW Ski Club) e‐mail to Sarah Colbeck [[email protected]] Norman Wells Historical Norman Wells Society Questionnaire/base map to Lily Ann Green – recreation coordinator ([email protected]) Paulatuk Questionnaire /base map to Doreen Carpenter – Recreation Coordinator [email protected]
Sachs Harbour m Trout Lake None Questionnaire/sketch maps to Bobby Jean Andre Recreation Coordinator [email protected] Tsiigehtchic e‐mailed [email protected] for Pingo /Ibyuk info Tuktoyaktuk ‐NWTRPA files ‐map of ski trails from Alasdair Veitch (included in report) ‐e‐brochures with trail maps from Norman Wells Historical Society ‐ Paul said he would do questionnaire, but nothing received ‐map/brochure info as noted None ‐Interviewed Lily Ann Green None ‐interviewed Doreen Carpenter None NWTRPA files ‐nothing received ‐TCT (?) ‐Pingo trail map ‘picture’ ‐interviewed Melissa Lennie, Parks Canada, and received several e‐mail about Ibyuk no map in guidebook None ‐TCT (?) No map in guidebook ‐Benji Strake, ITI Headquarters interview Tulita Questionnaire to Joanne ‐received Ogina, Recreation questionnaire May 17 Coordinator [email protected] Ulukhaktok Wekweètì None none ‐she ‘needed to check Questionnaire/base map to w/ boss’ before being Doreen Nitsiza able to answer; [email protected] and nothing received Whatì [email protected] ‐no information Questionnaire/sketch maps NWTRPA files received. to Nicole Hardisty ‐In discussion w/ [email protected] Raquel Michaud May 22, she suggested Wesley Pellisey 581‐3321 Wrigley YK Ski Club – Brett Wheler Ski trail maps on ski ‐e‐mail from Brett Wheler (Trails) club website [email protected] ‐e‐mail and interview Damian provided with Damian Panayi electronic map Damian Panayi, YK Multisport Club ‐ ‐e‐mail from Dave City trails on City [email protected] Hurley website Dave Hurley, Facilities Manager, City of Yellowknife [email protected] Yellowknife REGION South Slave Questionnaire to Tom ‐interviewed Tom Colosimo, ITI Parks Colosimo May 31 Dehcho Questionnaire to Raquel ‐interviewed Raquel Michaud, ITI Parks Michaud May 22 ‐interviewed Luke North Slave Questionnaire to Robert Coady, ITI Parks Redshaw, ITI Parks ‐interviewed Rosalie e‐mail Rosalie Blair, Outside Blair, NSCC Crew Officer, North Slave Corrections Centre ‐questionnaire Sahtu Questionnaire to Alasdair received May 8, also Veitch, ITI Parks additional e‐mail and information on Ski e‐mail to Heidi Weibe, Sahtu trails Land Use Planning Board ‐e‐mail information consultant planner from Heidi Weibe Beaufort‐
Questionnaire to John ‐‘picture’ of Pingo ‐ITI questionnaire Delta Cournoyea, ITI Parks trail map from received Parks Canada e‐mail to Sue McKenzie, ‐interviewed Sue planner, Gwich’in Land Use McKenzie, GLUPB Planning Board ‐interviewed Melissa e‐mail to Parks Canada Lennie, Parks Canada, (Inuvik.info, and and received several [email protected] ) e‐mails TERRITORIAL/ Benji Straker – HQ OTHER [email protected] ‐interviewed Jayleen Jayleen Robertson, Director, Department Robertson May 3 Planning Policy & of ‐information on May Transportatio Environment (e‐mail and 31 phone) n ‐additional report on Darren Locke, DoT June 27 David Ramsay, Minister DoT and ITI ‐interviewed Dot Van NWT Ski Dot Van Vliet Vliet, president, May 7 Division [email protected] www.nwtski.com Dene Nation Daniel T'Seleie, Director ‐interviewed Daniel Lands and Environment T’Seleie twice Secretariat Email: [email protected] NWT Kayak ‐brochures Association Dog Sledding ‐nothing found on internet www.yktrailriders.com ‐hard copy of maps ‐interviewed Bruce The Great Hewlko, President received from Slave May 16 Bruce Snowmobile Bruce Hewlko ‐requested part of Association – maps in digital but Trail Riders not received ‐information received ‐emailed Benji Strake, ITI Department by e‐mail and Community Tourism of Industry, interview w/ Benji Infrastructure Contribution Tourism and Strake Funding Investment Interviewed Stephanie Stephanie Yuill (Public Yuill May 25 Education Specialist, ENR): regarding CBC radio interviews on trails Interviewed Mark e‐mail Tom Andrews; Department Heyck, PWNHC of Education, referred to Mark Heyck, Website and Multi‐media co‐
Culture and ordinator, Prince of Wales employment Northern Heritage Centre