MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Trails for All Ontarians Collaborative

Want to walk or wheel on trails designed using the “best practices” in sustainable and universal design?

The Trails for All Ontarians Collaborative (TAOC) is developing guidelines for the construction and maintenance of walking and hiking trails that are environmentally sustainable and accessible to people of different abilities. The goal is to enable trail volunteers to design, build and maintain trails that are sustainable and offer a wide variety of trail opportunities for people of all abilities (e.g. children, older adults, inexperienced users, people with disabilities, unfit individuals). This spring, several new trails will be built using the new “best practices” resources. We are looking for people who would be willing to go out on the trails for a short walk, wheel or hike, and then tell us what they think.

Would you be willing to go on a trail and tell us what you think?

The new trails will be ready for use in late June and early July 2006, assuming that winter ends “on schedule” so that construction can begin in early May. The trails will be built in Quetico Provincial Park, Uxbridge and the Secord Forest (near Goodwood). The testing sessions will be held evenings and weekends. You will be asked to go for a walk or wheel on the trail, at your own pace and for the time of your choosing, and then to answer a few questions about your trail experience. The questions will require approximately 5 to 10 minutes of your time. You’re feedback will help us to to ensure that the “best practices” resource meet the goal of creating sustainable trails that can be enjoyed by Ontarians of all ages and abilities.

The TAOC is a joint endeavour of trail and accessibility organizations from across the province. Organizations and networks cooperating on the project include The Abilities Centre, Oak Ridges Trail Association, Active Living Alliance for Canadians with a Disability, Township of Uxbridge, Trans Canada Trail- Ontario, Variety Village, Haliburton Highlands Trails and Tours Network, Huronia Trails and Greenways, Kawartha Lakes Green Trails Alliance, Fitness Friends, Go for Green, Ontario Trails Council, Hike Ontario, Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre, City of Toronto, Quetico Provincial Park, Central Ontario Loop Trail, and Get Active Now – Active Living Resource Centre for Ontarians with a Disability.

For more information about this project or to get involved in the trail testing sessions, please contact:

Abilities Centre

500 Victoria St. W., Whitby, LIN 2M8

905-430-4343

info@abilitiescentre.com
lindagurd@sympatico.ca 
longmuir@torfree.net

These “best practices” were made possible through the support received from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.  The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, receives annually $100 million of government funding generated through Ontario’s charity casino initiative.

MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday, June 9, 2005

MAKING TRAILS

- New ‘Trails For Health’ Web Site To Help Residents Discover Local Trails -

(CITY OF KAWARTHA LAKES) – A wealth of local trails information is now available at the click of a mouse to help local residents get on the path to active living.

At a launch event today in Lindsay, Health for Life and local trails supporters unveiled the ‘Trails For Health’ web site. Organizers say the www.trailsforhealth.ca web site will be “owned and maintained by the community,” allowing users to share trails information and map out the hundreds of kilometres of trails available in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

“I believe residents and visitors alike to the area will be surprised at the quality and quantity of trails available to them in the Kawartha Lakes region,” says Al MacPherson, Chairperson of the Pathways to Health group, which initiated the web resource. “Showcasing a valuable natural resource in our area to a worldwide audience is long overdue.”

For months, the Pathways to Health group – a Health for Life subcommittee – has worked to catalogue local trails and increase awareness about them. The ‘Trails for Health’ web site became a reality after the Pathways group was successful in obtaining an Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF) grant from the Kawartha Lakes Community Futures Development Corporation.

The Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF) is a Government of Canada initiative, which seeks to promote socio-economic development in rural Eastern Ontario, encourage a competitive and diversified regional economy, and contribute to the successful development of business and job opportunities and sustainable, self-reliant communities. The EODF responds to a commitment made by the Government of Canada in Budget 2005 to assist economic renewal in Eastern Ontario by investing in the local economy.

“The support of Kawartha Lakes Community Futures was critical to the getting this project off the ground,” notes MacPherson.

Peterborough-based Quid Novis Internet Productions was hired to develop the web site’s name, look and content. The result is www.trailsforhealth.ca – a web site that features a searchable trails inventory, trail tips, a photo gallery of local trails, a trails discussion forum, real-time weather forecast, and events calendar. Visitors to the web site can also find out the health benefits of being active.

“The site is designed to be very user-friendly, so it gives a vivid sense and snapshot of the trails that can be explored in the City of Kawartha Lakes,” says Jeannine Taylor, of Quid Novis Internet Productions. “I think people will like what they see.”

MacPherson notes the www.trailsforhealth.ca web site is a work in progress that will continue to evolve as more trails information is added. Organizers will work with other local groups to promote the web site to local residents and visitors to the region.

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