Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Parks and Recreation Commission request for comment

This page is for creating a review and comments response to the July/18/07 preliminary first draft of the revised long-range parks plan for the electoral area on behalf of the Victoria Motorcycle Club. Once VMC has everyones ideas and feedback, we will create a letter/report and submit it by the September 30, 2007 deadline.

Download JFEA Revised Parks Plan Preliminary Draft July 18, 2007 here

Plan of Attack

Terry Wardrop (ATVBC Lands Access Coordinator) suggests we submit our comments and vision for future OHV trails in the CRD in report form.

Schedule

• We review the document and include our comments here by Sept/12th
• Peter will pull the information from this page, and create a draft report for review - Sept/24th
• VMC and other participants review document and submit their edits - Sept/27th
• Get letters of support from other trail user recreation groups - include copies in Appendix - Sept/25th
• Peter will revise draft report based on submitted edits, and send out for final review - Sept/28th
• Peter and Ben will create cover letter for the report - Sept/28th
• Ben will sign letter and deliver report to Juan de Fuca Electoral Parks Commission - Sept/30th

Reference and support documents

• crimminsNOHVCC.pdf: Management Guidelines for OHV Recreation

• M-0101.pdf: Multi-use Trail Planning & Development

• M-105.pdf: Adopting a Benefits Approach to Transportation Planning

• VMTA_Stewardship_Proposal_Sept_19_2006.pdf: Vedder Mtn stewardship proposal

• Industry_Statistics_2006.pdf: 2006 Canadian ATV sales

• final_110405.pdf: Cranbrook West Recreation Management Strategy report

• ATV_Economic_Impact.pdf: Economic Impact of ATV Recreation in Canada

• OHV_final_report.pdf: Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation in the United States

• 2005-efrmap.pdf: East Fort Rock OHV Trail System, Bend Oregon Map

Letters of Support

It is vitally important that we receive as many letters of support from the OHV community and others for our Juan de Fuca OHV Trail System, as proposed to the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Parks Commission.

Please address the letter to:

Louise Paterson, Chair
Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Parks and Recreation Commission
PO Box 421
Sooke, BC
V0S 1N0

In support of the Victoria Motorcycle Club and OHV trail recreation within the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area as a component of the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area Community Parks Plan.

Please send the letter via email to all three addresses by September 25th:

psprague@geovisionenvironmental.com (Peter Sprague, VMC Land Access and Stewardship Coordinator)
jaxelson@nrcan.gc.ca (Jodi Axelson, report coordinator)
pattyben@shaw.ca (Ben Hircock, VMC President)

Thank you ahead of time for all your support. Lets make this happen together.

General Comments

-- PeterSprague - 14 Aug 2007

The OHV aspect of this document is very undeveloped. It is our responsibility to take this clean slate and offer an ecologically and politically sustainable way to implement OHV trail networks across the south/west of Vancouver Island.

Juan de Fuca OHV Trail System - Building Sustainable Outdoor Recreation for South Vancouver Island

-- PeterSprague - 12 Sep 2007

Do we use OHV or Multi-user in the title? I prefer multi-user from the perspective of collaboration, but fear that OHV can be eliminated from multi-user with not too big a leap. The VMC is coming at it from a OHV perspective, so maybe we should use that terminology to keep our position clear? Thoughts?

Multiuser ohv trails,as an example,for identifying the many diffrent types of ohv's that could use a given trail or trail network,then break down from there the different types of trails that are accessible by specific ohv's-- BenHircock - 25 Sep 2007

Introduction

-- PeterSprague - 31 Aug 2007

What are OHVs and how are they used within the Electoral Area? Give examples and pictures. (photo's of older trails from the club property?)

Trials are used for specialized competition's and trail riding generally on the most difficult trails. Enduro bikes are for x/c distance events and trail riding on generally easier trails than used by trials bikes. Dualsport bikes are insurable and are used generally on even easier trails, back woods logging roads as well as travel to and from these trail areas[growing in popularity]. Quads generally would use the easiest trails that are also wider than the trails described above, but all groups would at times use the same routes to access the back country or the more difficult trails.[trail network]-- BenHircock - 25 Sep 2007

What we want --> Juan de Fuca OHV Trail System

1. Modeled after the East Fort Rock OHV Trail System, Bend Oregon
2. Not an OHV Park, a trail system from Sooke to Port Renfrew
3. Connects our many current trail networks into a cohesive recreational trail system (provide a map of the present trail networks with some of the trails)

This MAP, do we want it to be a copy of the BACKROADER map book roads or just the single track, or both, who knows all of the trails? Do we want to show the huge extent of trails that we have at our disposal for the sake of proving we are out there? or ???

what is the intent of the map and how detailed are we thinking?

I was thinking of proving that this Juan de Fuca Trail System is unofficially already in place and it works. Therefore the JdFPC? should/needs to get on board. I was going to put together a map with just some of my GPS tracks on it. I'll post it here for feedback. - Peter

1. Multi-user
   • OHV are only allowed on designated routes and area
   • Trails are open to horses, mountain bikes, and other recreationists, including some/ many for 4wd vehicles.
2. A managed and maintained trail system

Why

Social and Community advantages of recreational OHV trail systems

• Building social cohesion
• Getting people out in the bush so they develop an informed caring for nature
• Family recreation
• access to remote areas, for camping and other forms of recreation, better than "hotel"ing
• getting closer to nature in our own way. (scenery,views,wildlife,etc.)

Economic advantages of recreational OHV trail networks

HUNTING, do we want to address Game hunting here? many hunters will consider using the trail network for hunting.

-- PeterSprague - 14 Aug 2007

• An estimated 3,500 to 5,000 ATV and off-road motorcyclists live and recreate on the southern Vancouver Island, plus many travel here to enjoy our weather and terrain.
• There is an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 user days per year devoted to these OHV recreations within the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area District
• With the average rider spending $3,000 - $5,000 per year on new equipment, trucks & RVs to haul our bikes, repairs and maintenance, hotels, and meals, the ATV and off-road motorcyclists represent over $10.5 - $25 million in direct economic activity in the region. The resulting in-direct economic activity would be in the order of $20 million - $50 million per year. Edit

just a point, The OHV's we purchase may be from outside the JDF area. Victoria, Sidney, Duncan, Campbell river, Vancouver etc. (not to dillute the point.)

Ecological advantages of official recreational OHV trail networks

There is currently an estimated 1000 km of multi-use recreational trails within the Juan de Fuca Electoral Area. Much of these trails are not registered, and have no assigned stewardship. There is very little user conflict.

Ecological advantages include:

• If designated trails are in place, users will be less likely to venture off into sensitive areas.

Present Multi-User Trail System

Overview

Otter Road, Tugwell Creek, and Anderson Rd Trail sub-system

Boyds Pit / Blueberry Flats Trail sub-system

TanskyMain

West to Port Renfrew

Designing and maintaining ecologically sustainable recreational trail networks

Use of impact designations for trail usage instead of defining according to mode of recreation

-- PeterSprague - 14 Aug 2007

sound, trail width required, erosion, trail impact, season use to define users, not; horse (medium-low impact), off-road motorcycle (high impact), hiker (low impact) as is presently implied in draft document.

Limits of acceptable change as a means of defining what impact classification class can utilize the trail segment

Victoria Motorcycle Club as joint stewards of the OHV trail networks and linkages

The Victoria Motorcycle Club would agree to take on the shared long-term stewardship of the 1000 km of trails, networks, and linkages, once the JFAPRC achieves official public access and registration of the trails.

VMC has the capacity to to provide shared stewardship, and seeks to apply the latest in scientific trail design and management knowledge. Within the VMC we have professional trail-builders, members who have attended the recent Ministry of Tourism, Sports, and the Arts sponsored OHV Trail-building workshop in Kelowna, BC. This coupled with our history of providing motorcycle leadership on the Island since 1927, gives us the capacity to take on this role in contributing to our communities' recreational experiences.

Do we discuss Boyd's Pit and the years of work the VMC contributed to building over 300km of trails there? - Peter

And if so do we call it Boyd's pit or Blueberry Flats or Kirby Creek watershed or ??? Boyd's pit is the name but it conjures up images of noisy bikes in a gravel pit, beer cans, burnt cars,etc. Perhaps a little more picturesque "spin" on the name would sound better?

I vote for Blueberry Flats. Good point. -Peter

Much of the current recreation trails used on the south Vancouver Island were created and maintained by VMC members over the past 50 years.

?? include a copy of the NOHV trail-building book with our response, or at least make reference to it.

-- BenHircock - 26 Aug 2007

Other benefits would be:

• an open and maintained trail network would allow better emergency response to isolated areas in case of injury or fire. VMC could offer this service on volunteer basis as part of stewardship agreement.

this is a test to see if i did this correctly (Got it Ben. I just reformatted it a bit for you. Good idea. - Peter)

Specific Section Comments

Pg 44 Trails

-- PeterSprague - 14 Aug 2007

2nd paragraph is incorrect. Once trails on Crown lands are registered with the Province, they are protected. They do not have to be inside a designated Park boundary. This makes it feasible to create long linking trail networks that are alternative recreation routes to pass from community to community besides the highway system.

OK , to make the trail "official" what has to be done? Do I just name a skid road and erect a name sign?

Needs to be registered with the Province as a recreational trail. Terry Wardrop is developing a manual that has a section on how to go about this. - Peter

Pg 48 Otter Point Objectives:

Tugwell Rd.:

• present trail network registration

This is private forest land, can we do this?

The draft parks plan refers to private forest lands and the need for the JdFEAPC? to negotiate long-term access rights/rights of way for these trails. They would be a tremendous ally for us to have to get Timberwest to officially reopen their lands to recreation. - Peter

Anderson Rd.:

Same as above. The Muir creek trail system is extensive and largely underutilized, good potential here but it is private forestland. This is an area where we should request the JDFparks begin discussions with the Timber Co. towards obtaining land for trails.

Power-line corridor:

Pg 52 - Shirley/Jordan River Objectives:

-- PeterSprague - 14 Aug 2007

The VMC is currently developing, with permission from the BC Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Arts, an off-road motorcycle trail network on the west side of Jordan River. We would be very interested in linking this network east to the Otter point Rd./Tugwell creek Recreational Trail Network, and west to Port Renfrew.

-- BenHircock - 05 Sep 2007

Do we want to expose our other endeavors to jdf parks now, or wait? Will they think we already have something going and don't need any more access? Andy-I'd vote for waiting, to see what the already know. -- PeterSprague - 06 Sep 2007

My call on that would be that we tell them about it, showing that we are trusted trail stewards. One way around the question of not needing more access is:

• to discuss the distance to JR from Victoria,
• that we are representing other users besides VMC members who are presently using closer in trails
• that for ecological sustainability, plus rider enjoyment and safety, we need to disperse, not concentrate riders/trail users

The VMC can show from history that we are trusted trail stewards (Boneyard Main)

But Timberwest had a policy change and also started active logging again.

They can have a policy change to reopen access also. Better maintained with proper stewardship than random user generated trails on their lands. All this takes proper coordination between the recreationists groups, municipalities, and TimberWest foresters/management. Besides this is not the point of discussion of this report, but us offering a plan of how to legitimize what is already in place. - Peter

Misc. cut stuff kept for reference:

Sharing the trails -advantages of multi-user trail networks

Examples of cooperation:

• East Fort Rock OHV Trail System, Bend Oregon

kill these - concentrate on the East Fork Rock story. I just left them here for reference - Peter

• Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation, and Wisconsin All-Terrain Vehicle Association sign memorandum of understanding: guidelines to foster cooperation, enhance outdoor experiences among both groups
• TransCanada Trail in BC Interior - Kettle Valley Rail north of Princeton

The terrain on southern Vancouver Island is conducive to multi-user trail networks because:

• most terrain is very rocky, providing a hard challenging riding surface that keeps speed averages to below 15km/hr