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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
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BACK TO SCHOOL Story on page 4
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“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
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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