News
Information Session – West Prince
Posted on January 11, 2020
Island Trails is hosting an information session at 7:00 p.m., Monday, Feb 3rd at the Mill River Resort. The story of non-motorised trail development will be told as well as how Island Trails can be a partner in facilitating trail development and use.
All those interested are welcome to attend. Topics include Organization and Trail success stories, review of our existing trails, new opportunities such as the Island Walk, and expanded volunteer involvement.
“Take a Hike “and be glad you did.
Website: IslandTrails.ca
Facebook: @IslandTrailsPEI
Island Trails Info Session – Mill River Resort – 3 February 2020
The Island Walk
Posted on November 14, 2019
The Island Walk covered 704 km over 32 days. There are a couple of nice articles on the walk in the Guardian, the Eastern Graphic and the CBC web site.
Here are links to two of the articles:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-bryson-guptill-hike-around-island-1.5339572
The Book is available online at https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/750673122/the-island-walk
Opinion On ATV Crossings
Posted on August 7, 2019
Letter to the Editor – Proposed ATV crossings on the Confederation Trail
Prince Edward Island’s Confederation Trail is one of the jewels in the crown that is Canada’s Great Trail. Classified as a continuous greenway, it is the envy of others where trails are not defined as non-motorized. What we have on PEI is a tremendous resource treasured not only by Islanders, but also those visiting the Island.
Soft-adventure tourism is on the rise, and with that is an increased interest in both hiking and bicycling. The individuals and families who take part in this activity love not only the high quality of our trails, but also the beauty, and serenity that surrounds you as you move along the trail.
Unfortunately, this may be impacted if Minister Stephen Myers successfully proceeds, as he has stated, with introducing legislation this Fall to allow a pilot for multiple all-terrain-vehicle (ATV) crossing points on the Confederation Trail. Although one may be sympathetic to the cause of the ATV Federation in wishing to expand their network of trails, this would be a step backwards for the Confederation Trail, and for Prince Edward Island.
Among the concerns are: 1/ Safety at the crossing points – potentially high speed motorized traffic and pedestrian or bicycle traffic is not a good mix; 2/ Damage to the trail – motorized vehicles create ruts and may cause significant damage creating difficulty particularly for bicycles; 3/ Impact on Tranquility – people are not drawn to the Confederation Trail to experience either the noise or the dust that comes from ATV operation.
While any one of these reasons is significant, perhaps the greatest concern of all is that of potential policy-creep – once the door is opened, it can become a very slippery slope. Even now, while there is an absolute restriction on motorized use, most frequent trail users have at least once experienced ATV’s disrespectfully roaring down the trail itself. While it is understood that this is certainly not condoned by either the Provincial Government, or the ATV Federation, it happens increasingly, and this is worrisome.
It is important to note that previous administrations of the Government of Prince Edward Island, in accepting significant capital investment from both the Great Trail and the Weston Foundation, have agreed to designating and maintaining the Confederation Trail as a continuous greenway. The current proposal by Minister Myers at the very least violates the spirit of this commitment.
Additionally, it would not appear to be a good faith move to have already decided, as he has indicated in a recent CBC interview, to table legislation in advance of a fulsome consultation, and seemingly do so based singularly on the lobby interests of just one party to this issue. Perhaps in announcing his view of a “big opportunity in ATV tourism”, Mr. Myers, as Minister of Transportation, is not fully aware that the tourism industry (TIAPEI) itself, in its “Vision 2021” plan, clearly identifies “soft adventure” tourism as a major initiative, and stresses in detail the importance of offering visitors experiences in PEI’s pristine, natural, and tranquil environment.
Even if one accepts the notion of an ATV tourism opportunity, at what cost would it come – there is certainly much potential for negative impact to the natural essence of the Confederation Trail, and its associated tourism.
It is my hope that citizens speak up, voice their concerns to their MLAs, and bring a halt to this ill-advised proposal before it is too late – once lost, it will be extremely difficult to re-gain what we have today !
Greg McKee
President, Island Trails