Rossland News, September 25, 2014

Page 1

Your daily news source at www.rosslandnews.com

Follow us on

2063 Washington Street, Rossland

and “Like” us on

Books - Gifts Cards New Menu Open Everyday 8:30 6pm

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

VOL. 9 • ISSUE 39

Bear acrobatics See page A6

Black Jack

This week’s feature:

A Sparkling...

Journey

See page A9

drivewaycanada.ca

BACK TO SCHOOL Story on page 4

Breakfast & Lunch

Clansey’s

BREAKFAST

SPECIAL

Before 8 am 2 eggs, bacon, toast, hashbrowns

$5.99

+ tax

Proudly Serving Certified Organic CHERRY HILL Coffee

Monday morning saw students heading back to class after an extended summer break.

QUICK POSSESSION!

Church of Dirt season winds down TARA HOWSE Rossland News

Rossland home on 1 acre + 20x20 barn

$299,900

Thinking of selling?

I have buyers!!

MARIE-CLAUDE

250-512-1153 Your Rossland agent since 1992!

1st Trail Real Estate

Photo by Josefin Svedberg

“Trails don’t appear from nowhere. We don’t have a right to trails; we need to work at them.” It’s this belief that drove organizer Scott Forsyth to start up the Church of Dirt — an informal group of volunteers who assist the Kootenay Columbia Trails Society (KCTS) in building new trails. As a trail user in Ontario, Scott recognized the need for community involvement in developing a trail system, building trails and maintaining the sustainability of the

network. He worked for years as both a trail builder and trail advocate while in Ontario, eventually being a key leader in the formation of the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association. He brought this passion and volunteerism for trail building to Rossland and in August 2013, in cooperation with the KCTS, formed the Church of Dirt. Volunteers of all ages successfully completed one trail and have made large strides on a second. In an effort to ensure trails are built to similar standards, allowing for the Kootenay Columbia Trails So-

ciety to adopt the trails into their network, Scott was in regular contact with trails manager Stewart Spooner throughout the summer. Stewart said of the group, “It’s been great working with Scott and the Church of Dirt volunteers. Having a group of dedicated volunteers prepared to focus on our high priority trail development projects is a huge bonus for the KCTS. They’re doing high quality work and, as the new Drifter trail has shown, there is high demand for more moderate and accessible trails close to town.” Working with the KCTS wasn’t

www.nelsoncu.com/MobileApp

even a question of “if ” for Scott but a matter of “how”; “It’s the only way to build legal trails,” he said. With land-owner agreements in place, a plan for the trail network and standards on trail construction, Stewart would flag out an area that Scott would finetune during his build. Scott also noted how his evolution in trail building knowledge has expanded — building in this area has proven significantly different than the rocky, Canadian Shield ground he’s used to working with.

• Continued on page 3


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.