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The land base, legislation and step-by-step planning process behind sustainable recreation trails on Alberta public land.
Much of the linear access on Alberta public land is commonly called a trail, yet only a route that is approved by the public land manager, mapped, marked with signage and actively managed by a trail operator is recognized as one. This course opens with that distinction and then sets out the shared land base in which trails are planned: land use plans and regional plans, dispositions, reservations and notations, and the different types of public land. It then works through the federal and provincial legislation that shapes trail routing and permitting, including species at risk, fisheries, navigation and migratory bird legislation, the Public Lands Act, the Water Act, wetland policy, the Wildlife Act, weed control and historical resources legislation, along with municipal bylaws and crossing and proximity agreements with pipelines and utilities.
The second half of the course focuses on defining a quality recreation trail opportunity. It explains how to prepare a Trail Management Objective (TMO), match the trail to user objectives such as nature, solitude, challenge, risk and socializing, choose a deliberate degree of challenge from easy to most difficult, and use trail layout, gateways, physical features, amenities, programming and wayfinding to shape the experience. It also covers when to use or reclaim existing linear disturbance, how to avoid environmentally sensitive areas and historic resources, and the five-phase trail planning process, from defining the vision and analyzing constraints and opportunities through concept planning, cost estimating, detailed design and permitting to tendering, construction, inspection and opening under an adaptive management cycle.
What Will Be Covered:
What qualifies as a recognized trail versus linear access, and the role of the trail operator
Planning in a shared land base: land use and regional plans, dispositions, reservations, notations and types of public land
Federal legislation affecting trails: species at risk, fisheries, navigation protection and migratory bird legislation
Provincial requirements: public lands, water, wetlands, wildlife, environmental protection, weed control and historical resources
Municipal bylaws, crossing and proximity agreements, and approvals and permits
Preparing a Trail Management Objective (TMO) and defining trail user objectives
Setting the degree of challenge and using layout, gateways, features, amenities, programming and signage to shape the experience
Deciding when to use existing linear disturbance and when to deactivate and reclaim unsustainable routes
Avoiding or minimizing impacts on environmentally sensitive areas and historic resources
The five-phase trail planning process and the adaptive trail management cycle
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