The outlaw trails of Gatineau Park: The NCC may crack down on use
Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: October 2, 2014, Last Updated: October 7, 2014 7:07 PM EDT
Winding through the forest, over the streams and past the hidden ponds of Gatineau Park are more than 200 kilometres of unofficial, off-the-grid trails.
They are, technically, out of bounds. But these trails are used by thousands of hikers, mountain bikers, runners and snowshoers who are looking for something beyond the park’s wide, road-like official trails.
Some have been used for generations. Others are of more recent vintage. But most alarm the National Capital Commission, which has embarked on a two-year process that’s likely to end with official recognition of a select number of unofficial trails and the complete closure of the rest.
What people like about park’s outlaw trails is that they “meander around single tracks, they go interesting places, they have interesting topography, they’re closer to nature,” says David McMahon, a fitness coach who has been trail-running, skiing and snowshoeing in the park for 30 years.
“The NCC has spent a lot of time, energy and money creating, essentially, big gravel roads,” McMahon says. That’s great for cross-country skiers. “But for a lot of users, walking around a big, straight gravel road isn’t a lot of fun.”
NCC officials held a workshop in June with those who use the park so they could discuss the unofficial trails and the “negative environmental impacts” of their use. Another workshop is scheduled for Thursday.
The NCC review has users of unofficial trails feeling apprehensive but also cautiously hopeful.
“This is the first time we’ve actually made any headway with the NCC in about 20 years, so we’re actually feeling pretty positive about the process,” says Matthew Woods, vice-president of the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association, who attended the June workshop.
“From our perspective right now, we have nothing to lose,” Woods says. “Most things are shut down to us. If we can gain some more access to trails that are sustainable and more purpose-built for advanced riding, then our user group is going to be happier.”
Eddie Drueding, hiking co-ordinator for the Ottawa Outdoor Club, also attended June’s workshop. He’s not convinced the NCC is genuinely interested in what users think. “I think they have their plan and they’re going to do what they want to do in the end.”
Sandra Pecek, the NCC official in charge of public consultations, flatly denies that. “We are totally committed to taking into account what the public has to say.
“Of course, there may be some trails that we won’t be able to keep and that won’t make everybody happy,” she says. “But our objective is to have that dialogue, to make sure that there’s a win-win.”
The NCC has asked users to choose five unofficial trails they most want to keep. It will then see how those fit with ecologically sensitive areas. “In some cases, we can turn them into official trails,” Pecek says. But others will have to be closed.
The NCC’s view
The NCC has two main concerns about public use of unofficial trails: the impact on environmentally sensitive parts of Gatineau Park, and public safety.
“It’s really the cumulative impacts that are an issue,” Pecek says. “It’s the number of people in the same place, and it’s the number of trails cutting through the park all over that reduces the quality and amount of natural habitats in the park.”
The NCC’s 2005 master plan for the park puts an emphasis on conservation. That, says Pecek, was “a huge recognition that the park is heavily used and could be threatened by so many users.”
The NCC has since done an ecological plan for the park that broadly identifies where the sensitive areas are. “We came to realize that there were some things we needed to address,” Pecek says. One was mountain climbing in fragile areas. The other was unofficial trails.
Gatineau Park is home to at least 143 animal and plant species that are on endangered species lists in Canada or Quebec. About 40 are protected by law, including the Gatineau tadpole snail — unique in the world — the Blanding’s turtle, and one of Quebec’s largest wild leek populations.
More than half of the endangered plant species are found on the Eardley Escarpment, the richest and most delicate ecosystem in the park. It contains, for example, more than 80 per cent of all eastern red cedar trees in Quebec, including one more than 460 years old.
Gatineau Park’s growing popularity threatens the survival of the very natural features that make it a desirable destination for visitors, the NCC argues.
“If we go off and do our thing, we can become a threat to Gatineau Park,” Pecek says. “If we want to keep this park for generations to come, then we have to work at this together.”
The user’s view
Woods says the mountain biking community is diverse. “Weekend warriors” are content with the existing network, but the unofficial trails attract a different breed — riders who are more advanced and looking for a different trail experience.
The whole park is open for review, Woods says. “There’s no sacred cows. If you want to redesign the park so that it’s sustainable and can actually handle the traffic and the type of experiences that people are looking for, we’re fine with that.”
Drueding says hikers care about the park’s ecology. “If there’s something in danger, we’re not going to hike there.”
But the NCC must clearly explain what the danger is, he says. “If they have a nice website that shows parts of the park where things are sensitive and says ‘Please don’t go here,’ I think a lot of people will take heed of that.”
Drueding expects the coming changes will make things “a little more difficult for us.” But, he adds, “it will never stop us. There are so many trails that if they try to block off certain areas, we’ll just go somewhere else.”
McMahon agrees. “It’s impossible to shut down trails,” he says. “You’ll just create two more trails for every one you shut down.” A better plan, he says, would be to create “an amazing trail system and draw people to it.”
McMahon challenges the NCC’s claim that use of unofficial trails poses safety and environmental risks.
Because of the narrow, winding nature of the unofficial trails, users move more slowly, he says. “Whether you’re running or skiing or snowshoeing or biking, there’s very little conflict.”
And the environmental impact of users on unofficial trails pales in comparison to the impact of vehicles drawn to the park by the NCC’s Fall Rhapsody event, McMahon says, or the bulldozed gravel official trails favoured by the NCC.
“Those are huge barriers to wildlife, huge impacts to the environment. But those seem to get a bye.”
Going forward
Over the winter, the NCC will come up with a proposed trail network for the park, likely next year, Pecek says. The proposal will be presented at another public meeting, with a final recommendation in 2016.
Pecek stresses that the NCC needs the co-operation of users. “The success of managing this moving forward hinges on a good collaboration between us and the public. Everybody has to look at this as a gem that we have to take care of.”
By the numbers
36,131
Size of Gatineau Park, in hectares
7.7
Percentage of the National Capital Region’s total surface area the park represents
200
Kilometres of official trails
200+
Kilometres of unofficial trails
2.7
Number of annual visits to the park, in millions
90
Number of endangered plant species in the park
53
Number of endangered animal species
1,600+
Total number of plant species
50+
Total number, each, of mammal species and fish species
200+
Total number of bird species
28
Number of amphibian and reptile species
dbutler@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ackdown-on-use
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