The Shuswap, British Columbia - It has been one year since the historic signing between Secwepemc, regional, municipal, trail stewardship, environment, industry, business, and other sector leadership throughout the Shuswap. The diverse circle of leaders are preparing to reconvene at the end of this month to strengthen relationships, share notes, and review priorities for action in 2017.

 

"It's a work in progress," says Shuswap Trail Alliance Executive Director, Phil McIntyre-Paul. The STA administers the Roundtable and working group on behalf of regional partners, with facilitation support from the Fraser Basin Council. "These are early steps together along a very new path. Listening, patience, and generosity are key as we feel our way toward new relationships with each other and the land."

 

Collaborative highlights over 2016 have included work led by Splatsin, the Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club, and BC Parks to develop a multi-use recreation management plan in the Owlhead/Cummings Lake alpine above Sicamous, a working group led by Little Shuswap Band and BC Parks to protect valuable pictographs along the Adams River, development of a master mapping inventory led by the CSRD GIS department and the STA, work toward a formal recreational plan for Mt Ida led by Secwepemc leadership with organizations like the Shuswap Off-Road Enthusiasts, the development of a Cumulative Effects proposal to build a ground breaking planning tool that will help inform recreational land management decision-making, formation of a Shuswap Trail Sign committee to develop protocols for Secwepemc naming, and an impressive list of trail projects - both non-motorized and motorized - championed by different organizations and communities throughout the Shuswap.

 

Ten years in the making, the Shuswap Trails Roundtable and Regional Trails Strategy are key initiatives targeting a higher level of commitment to work together. The concept was originally championed by Shuswap Trail Alliance community partners working with Secwepemc and municipal/regional leadership who recognized that appropriate care of non-motorized trails within the land was going to take working partnerships with both non-motorized and motorized trail users. In 2010 it became an established priority in the Shuswap Tourism Strategy. Subsequent support through Shuswap Tourism, CSRD Parks, and the Provincial Recreation Sites and Trails BC provided the base funding to move things forward.

 

The purpose of the the Shuswap Trails strategy is to protect, enhance and recognize trails as an integral part of the Shuswap lifestyle, culture and economy. The strategy is intended to "ensure trails are appropriately authorized, mapped, developed, maintained, and promoted. It will also 

protect and promote First Nations interests, reduce/repair ecological damage from all 

trail use, and manage land access appropriately. The strategy’s process will also serve 

to demonstrate collaborative management between all orders of government, industry 

sectors and stewardship groups. It will provide stability and security to all user groups, 

businesses, and the orders of government who invest in them." (View the most current version of the strategy at www.shuswaptrailalliance.com)

 

This years trails roundtable includes addresses from Secwepemc leadership, updates on key projects from 2016, and lots of space for sub-regional discussion to guide priorities and support initiatives throughout the Shuswap for 2017 that continue to strengthen relationships and work together.

 

"We are very excited for the Trails Roundtable to be hosted in the new Splatsin Community Centre, and for the Fraser Basin Council to be back helping facilitate the day-long meeting," says McIntyre-Paul. The all-day Shuswap Trails Roundtable meets November 30th.

 

***

 

For further information on this News Release, please contact:

 

Phil McIntyre-Paul

Executive Director

The Shuswap Trail Alliance

250-804-1964

phil@shuswaptrails.com

www.shuswaptraillalliance.com