The proposed Trails Act is an interesting exercise by Minister Nixon to pander to his friends in the Alberta Off Highway Vehicle Association who’s primary goal is to establish a “Sustainable OHV Recreation Trail System legislated through a new Alberta Trails Act.” They are trying to reverse the policy of the previous government where Minister Phillips closed, according to them, 70% of OHV trails across the Eastern Slopes (a highly exaggerated figure I think).
The most disturbing section of the act is Section 11 where a Minister may make whatever regulations he or she wants relating to trails and to areas that contain a number of trails such as West Bragg. There is no limit on what the Minister can or cannot do. The trails are not required to be environmentally sustainable, nor are they required to be signed, repaired or maintained to any recognized standard. An excellent article by Jason Unger on the Environmental Law Centre website is well worth a read.
There is no requirement of the minister to consult with the public, or even with established trail groups, when making a Trail Management Plan. There are a number of Trail Management Plans being prepared, one of which has already been approved — the Moose Mountain Bike Trails Society trails master plan, prepared by Public Lands with, in this case, considerable input from MMBTS.
Another problem is Section 7. According to Devon Earl, AWA Conservation Specialist, Section 7 of Bill 79 makes it very clear that Minister Nixon is willing to transfer all aspects of managing trails on public lands to any private actor. It enables the Minister to sign agreements with any person “for the purpose of the operation, management, construction, development or maintenance” of any recreational trail on public lands. Ian Urquhart, AWA’s Executive Director goes on to say that “This legislation is a dream come true for Alberta’s off-highway vehicle lobby. Bill 79 is a dangerous step towards privatizing public lands. It benefits the lobbyists who have done the most damage to Alberta’s public lands and should be withdrawn.”
Over the past many years there has been no enforcement of, or even attempts to enforce, Section 54 of the Public Lands Act in the McLean Creek area resulting in an appalling amount of damage to the landscape and injury to the beds of stream and watercourse.
Unfortunately, there is nothing here that is likely to result in improvements to non-motorized trails in Public Land Use Zones in Kananaskis Country. While Minister Nixon can designate all the trails he wants, I don’t see the will to allocate funds to non-motorized trails as long as he is Minister.
The only good thing about Section 11 is that it allows a new Minister in a new Government to swiftly re-write the regulations without having to change the Trails Act.
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Shaun Fluker of the UofC Faculty of Law has written a legal position on the Alberta Trails Act. In it he states the fundamental flaw of the act — “So while section 2 states that the purpose of the Trails Act is to designate recreational trails on public lands and provide for the management and planning of trail use, the actual purpose of the statute is merely to authorize the Minister to do these things.”
Alberta Heads the Wrong Direction with Bill 79