quote:

---

Originally posted by dav1481

quote:

---

Originally posted by lobo

Well, the whole post is true. Yes, I was talking to the boss in charge of the trail crews in Jasper and they are not hiring backcountry fly in trail crews this year because of Harper's cutbacks. They are hiring six front country guys for trails like Miette Hotsprings, trail 7, trails around Pyramid Lake, Valley of the Five, the Overlander trail, etc.
I don't believe it will last though. There was too much damage from the late season storms last year and there are quite a few bridges out. I personally clear lots of trails in the Jasper area myself, but I don't repair bridges or do other trail maintenance. I have been clearing the Tonquin Valley for years now, but the bridge over the Astoria for the ACC trail is washed out and I can't fix that. The rockslide on the Tonquin trail is massive and there is no way the horse outfitters will get by without help. Maybe they'll have special crews for those things, I'm not sure. As far as Athabasca Pass is concerned, I will clear about 25 kms of it this spring, but I can't do the entire thing myself. It was cleared last year and they are having their 200 year anniversary, so I'm pretty sure that parks will do the rest. I will also clear Fryatt and Alexandra River and a few others. I believe this is the first step in keeping people out of the backcountry. Parks Canada is set on keeping people close to the highways. They are putting in cell towers, skywalks and are even talking about zip lines and allowing hang gliding. If it is true and they don't do any backcountry clearing, in three years you'll not be able to do a trail in Jasper. I know better than most, because i clear trails around here, how many trees come down in a winter. Years and years of fire suppression has made for a very old forest with zillions of standing dead trees. But I don't believe that it will get that bad. I think that they will come to their senses.

---

I think the backcountry community is large and vocal enough to prevent it from getting to that point. At least I hope so. Geez, if you could retroactively bill the going rate for all your donated time clearing trail, you could probably retire! But know that your 'forestry philanthropy' is highly appreciated regardless. If I lived in the area I'd offer another set of hands; the thought of you waging an annual battle with the Tonquin, Fryatt, Alexandra, and Athabasca (and other) trails is seriously impressive. BTW, we are probably spending a weekend at your hotel next month (my wife has a conference in town), so I'll give you a shout.

---