Two weeks ago we hosted our first of three integrated land manager training workshops sponsored by Shimano Canada in Kelowna, BC. What followed were two days of workshops both in the classroom and in the field, but even more than the information gained were the fantastic connections made and conversations had between various different agencies and partners throughout the visit. The two-day workshop had 12 attendees from many different organizations represented. City of Kelowna, Rec. Sites and Trails BC, Big White and Parks Canada were all represented to name a few.
The two-day workshop included a seminar style session on day one with topics including IMBA Canada’s new and improved trail building school, Fat Biking and Winter Trail Management, Parks Canada’s new Trail Classification Rating as well as a presentation by Patrick Lucas of the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program who led a great discussion on how mountain biking and trails are improving many First Nations communities. Day two had participants out in the field, assessing trail using some new techniques and thought processes developed recently. It was great to see the many organizations coming together with their own expertise and working together to share the knowledge that they all had for trails.
Looking at the turnout for the workshop it is clear that land managers and land management organizations are excited to learn new techniques and information regarding how users are interacting with trails. It is not often to have so many land managers representing such a variety of organizations in one room all on the same page and discussing like issues and information. We would like to thank Jay Darby of MTBco (Mountain Bikers of Central Okanagan) and many other great organizations for being a fantastic host for the workshop.
– Justin Truelove
There are two more Shimano Integrated Land Manager Training workshops happening this season, with the next one scheduled for June 22-23 in Calabogie, ON and the third taking place in the fall with that location and date still TBD.
If you would like more information on the Shimano Integrated Land Manager Training workshops please contact;
AJ Strawson – Field Programming Manager
Tim Dale – Event Coordinator