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Vol. 90 Issue 05 • Wednesday, January 30, 2013 • www.arrowlakesnews.com • 250-265-3823 • $1.25 •
PM40036531
Society is blazing trails to outdoor enjoyment
Claude, Barry, Bill, Wells, Barb, Karen, Evelyn, and Len have their picture taken at the end of Turner Road last September. The Trails Society is building the trail to connect Turner to Mac’s trail. Photo courtesy of Wulf Mense Claire paradis Arrow Lakes News
As the year passes, freshet turns to mud turns to dry earth turns to snow, and every day there is the opportunity around Nakusp to get out into nature to watch the cycle of seasons. The
Nakusp and Area Community Trails Society (Nakusp ACTS!) wants to help get you out into the fresh air. Nakusp ACTS! has been hard at work since their formation in 2011, and now manage nine local trails (Kimbol Lake Trail, Kuskanax Mountain Trail, Cedar Grove Trail,
Hot Springs Trail, Box Lake Trail, Wensley Creek Ski Trails (summer use) including the Jackrabbit Interpretive Trail, Saddle Mountain Lookout Trail and the Rails to Trails from Nakusp to Area K/H boundary, if you were curious). Not only that, the Society maintains the Hot Springs Valley cross-country ski trail and the rail bed along Summit Lake and is working to work with the Village to improve the wrap-around Nakusp trail. The area behind Summit Lake hadn’t seen a lot of maintenance in the last decade or so, said Wulf Mense, Vice Chair and leader of the Maintenance team. “We are pleased to report that Society volunteers were able to do maintenance on all of our trails this summer,” announced the Society’s Jan. 2013 newsletter. The Trails Society counts about 57 members in its roster, and the action-oriented group focuses heavily on the trails themselves,
with few meetings held, Mense told the Arrow Lakes News. Members get together to plan or to organize teams of volunteers ready to hit the trail. With the exception of the building of the new Kuskanax Mountain Trail and some heavy equipment operations, all of the work is done by volunteers who gather once or twice a week for a few hours to clear brush or fallen trees, or to build water drainage structures which help to prevent trail wash-outs. “The Ministry (Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations) has been very supportive of our endeavours, both in material and professional support,” the newsletter stated. “They provided the materials for new foot bridges on the Hot Springs Trail and some new trail signage for our area.” “Last week we had a meeting with the Ministry,” said Mense, who characterized the Society’s relationship with FLNRO as a
positive and cooperative one. Working with other local organizations and groups is something the Society would like to continue to do and expand in the future. For example, Nakusp ACTS! help put up interpretive signage in collaboration with NACFOR on
See Trails page 3
One of the new signs put up to make local hiking safe.
Photo courtesy of Wulf Mense
Area K director spearheads trap regulation motion Claire paradis Arrow Lakes News
“On Boxing Day neighbours from Arrow Park took their 11-year-old dog for a walk off Baerg Road,” Area K director Paul Peterson told the Regional District for Central Kootenay in explanation of the motion he brought to the board. Peterson was referring to the death of Nikki, the Yellow Lab who was killed in a Conibear trap just off the forest service road. The death caused a local furor, with several letters sent to the editor of the Arrow Lakes News. Nikki’s death came just a week after another dog was caught in a Conibear trap in Oyama, but fortunately the dog’s owner was able to lever the jaws of the trap open in time to save its life.
Although many people were and are unaware of it, traps can be set near terrain often traversed by dogs and their owners. “Turns out after a lot of investigation it was perfectly legal,” Peterson said. “The trapper was well within his rights to do that by law and so I think we need to look at the law.” Looking further into the legalities surrounding traplines, Peterson discovered that signage is not a requirement, it’s a recommendation, one that trappers may hesitate to follow. “The reason some trappers they say they don’t use signage is people who are in opposition go in there and wreck their traps,” the Area K director explained. Peterson would like to see traplines further from areas that are used by the public, “and even if close at least put great big signs
up,” he stressed. The motion put before the RDCK board asks the Province to “investigate and legislate ways to prevent domestic animals from being injured in traps” and that traplines “not be allowed in recreational areas close to communities, rural area developments and residential clusters.” “I would like to have made this a lot stronger motion, however an extra strong motion gets no reaction,” said Peterson. “This is so reasonable I don’t know how they could turn it down.” The director hopes this motion will make it safer for people and pets in the province. “To me having a wide open trap that size is just like having a land mine around,” he said, “I don’t want to get any more phone calls like that one.”
The death of Yellow Lab Nikki in this Conibear trap was the motivation for a recent RDCK motion. Photo courtesy Brian Graham
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