Stewardship, trail strategies, maintenance, building, interpretation
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The material on this page is about other places, but there are things to be learned from reading what these others are doing.
Stewardship and community leadership in walking
Local examples
- Volunteer opportunities in Yukon's Parks
- Contagious Mountain Bike Club Adopt-a-Trail
- Klondike Active Transport and Trails Society
- Friends of Dempster Country
- Ducks Unlimited
- Skagway, Alaska: Comprehensive Trails Plan shows the importance of walking trails. Here's a story from the town's Klondike Gold Rush National Park: Collaborative efforts to improve local hiking trails.
Canada
- Nova Scotia's Trail Patrol
- Toronto's Community Stewardship Program
- Pacific Rim
- Friends of Algonquin Park
- Richmond Volunteer opportunities: You Can Help Walk leader: Volunteer walk leader overview; and its Walking Handbook
USA
- Charleston, South Carolina Park Angels We are members of the community who understand the importance of preserving, sustaining, and beautifying our parks.
UK
- National Trails
- Be a Countryside volunteer!
- Culture of walking and UK business support.
- Manx footpath Task Force
- the Conservation Volunteers
- the Walking Partnership
- Entry level stewardship: Environmental Stewardship Handbook
- London. Walking Together: The programme offers a range of walks that are suitable for all ages, and especially for those who feel unfit or are over 50. The walks are led by qualified leaders & First Aiders.
The activities are accessible to people of all ages, are professionally supervised and coordinated, what can be an additional motivator for participants. It enables women to get together and spend some quality time outdoors.
Trail strategies
Canada
- Hike Ontario resource for hiking and walking groups and pedestrian trail users: a quick overview.
- Ontario Trails Council
- Best practices for increasing trail usage by hikers and walkers`
- Guide for creating a Guidebook for Trail Associations
- Greenbelt Walks - An introduction to hiking trails in Ontario's greenbelt - Ideas for boosting trail usage in your community Alberta suggestions include having a website with trail information, telling your trail stories and using high tech tools to map your trails and/or your hikes.
- Alberta TrailNet & Alberta Community Development: Trail Planning Workbook
- Toronto's Natural Environment Trails Program and trail strategy
- BC's Park design guidelines and data
- BC Ministry of Forests, Recreation Manual, Chapter 10: Recreation Trail Management
- Parks Canada
- Glacier National Park Accessibility
- Pacific Rim National Park Reserve of Canada Our First Nations Partners
USA
- Conflicts on multiple-use trails: synthesis of the literature and state of the practice (Interesting as we try to control trail conflicts in Whitehorse).
- Rails-to-Trails Conservancy goal is a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors. This is particularly interesting as we watch our White Pass line in town. The site looks like there's a wealth of info from trail finding, building, activism to the value of active transportation.
- Active transportation for America
- Active transportation beyond urban centers - Pacific Crest Trail has a Trail Skills College course curriculum
- National Parks Service:
- Teachers: Curriculum Materials
- Signs
- Youth Conservation Corps
- Handbook for trail design, construction and maintenance
Others
- Loop walks key criteria identify and market quality looped walks in Ireland to meet changing customer preferences
- Trail Development more on Irish trails
- New Zealand's Classroom extends to the outdoors
Bigger examples
American Trails
The world's largest online trails resource
- Health & Fitness' trails and health, including a variety of studies talking about how trail use can impact health. In particular, a link to this study "Promoting physical activity in rural communities: walking trail access, use, and effects" which concluded "Walking trails may be beneficial in promoting physical activity among segments of the population at highest risk for inactivity, in particular women and persons in lower socioeconomic groups."
- Cool trail solutions Photos and graphics of SOLUTIONS to trail-related problems...enhance our resources for trails planning, development, and management with visual ideas from across the country.
- Healthy challenges: an editorial: "America's health and fitness crisis creates an opportunity to promote trails and greenways. A second challenge is to learn from the inactive people as well as from the active ones. We need to know what trails look like from the perspective of people who don't use them. We hear all the time from the trail runners, peak baggers, endurance riders, and hill climbers. But how do we help people take those first steps to healthy activity? How do we teach them about the delights and emotional benefits of being on a trail instead of a treadmill?"
- Community trails systems: There are many benefits of trails and greenways that planners, funders, and the public need to know about: they make our communities more liveable; improve the economy through tourism and civic improvement; preserve and restore open space; and provide opportunities for physical activity to improve fitness and mental health.
Carolina Thread Trail
- What economic impact do trails have in our communities? think about our downtown trails.
- 4th Annual trail forum presentations such as Natural surface trail maintenance — problem solving and repairing trail damage. There's also The trek before the trail, engaging healthy living and maintaining advocate momentum which advises how to gain a voice in planning.
- Also under "resources" is maintenance and management with articles such as Tunnels on trails, a study of 78 tunnels on 36 trails in the United States, rails to trails (Interesting as we look at the barrier that the Alaska Highway makes between the above-the-airport neighbourhoods and downtown.)
Walkers are welcome
The Walkers are Welcome scheme is different from most top-down accreditation schemes, in that it has emerged from, and is being promoted by, communities themselves. The idea, which was first discussed in 2006, became a reality when the Pennine town of Hebden Bridge became the first Walkers are Welcome town in Spring 2007, closely followed by Moffat in Scotland's Dumfries and Galloway region and by the north Wales community of Prestatyn & Meliden. Many other communities now either have Walkers are Welcome status or are actively working to meet the criteria.
These towns together have constituted themselves as the Walkers are Welcome Towns Network. It is this body (through its committee and its annual conference) which develops and controls the Walkers are Welcome scheme and oversees use of the logo. In other words, the Walkers are Welcome idea and brand is collectively managed by the communities themselves who are participating – real grassroots democracy in action.
Footpath adoption
One of the many function of Pickering Walkers are Welcome is to ensure that all rights of way (ROW) in the parish of Pickering are kept open and in good condition for the enjoyment of both local residents and visitors. To achieve this we work with the local Countryside Ranger for North Yorkshire County Council.
As there are nearly 100 miles of ROW in this parish, we are inviting local residents to help us by adopting one or two. All you have to do is to walk your path at least four times a year, and let us know of any problems you encounter, such as obstructions, overgrowth or litter. Many of you may already regularly walk some. Perhaps you walk your dog every day and can adopt a path on your regular walk? Just let us know which you want to adopt by completing the 'contact us' form. Together we can keep all these paths open for everyone to enjoy.
Reporting a ROW problem:
If you are out walking and find a problem on any right of way (ROW), whether it is in the parish of Pickering or not, then please let us know by completing the 'contact u's form. You can also report the problem yourself. To do this it will depend on whether the ROW is in the North York Moors National Park or not.To report a problem outside the National Park, you should contact the Countryside Rangers of North Yorkshire County Council, by phoning 0845 0349599.
To report problems within the National Park, you should contact the Rights of Way Officer by phoning 01439 770657; or completing the ROW feedback form which can be found on their website at www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/rights-of-way-feedback-form.
Whether you report the problem to us, North Yorkshire County Council or the National Park, you will need to give your name and contact details, grid reference and description of the location, the date you discovered it, and the type of problem. A photograph is also helpful, if you have one.
If you want to get involved in a practical way, there are lots of opportunities to volunteer both with North Yorkshire County Council (phone 01609 532435) and the National Park (phone 01739 770657).
- http://www.pickeringwaw.btck.co.uk/
Toronto's Natural Environment Trails Program and trail strategy
The natural environment trails system in Toronto is at once an economic driver, a means to protecting the ravine ecosystem and a keystone of the City's passive recreational system. It is one of Toronto's most effective and efficient recreation facilities. For a very low "cost per user" rate, the system requires comparatively little to plan, build and manage, and yet returns extremely high long-term recreational, environmental and educational value. Investing in and maintaining the natural environment trails will not only enhance recreation, but will also provide critical nature experiences for citizens of all ages over the coming years.
Cam Honan's The Hiking Life is a compilation of tips and advice on trip planning, lightweight backpacking techniques and improving your wilderness skill set. It contains photos and trekking notes from more than 120 of the world's great hikes. His hopes for the website are twofold. One, that it can act as a quick reference tool for novices and experienced hikers alike, and two; that by browsing through some of the photo galleries and hike reports, at least a few people out there may be encouraged to put on a pair of shoes, grab a pack and go for a walk. Alone or with a group is a walker's quandary.