Ontario Trails Council

Last updated

The Ontario Trails Council (OTC) (French : Conseil de Sentiers de l'Ontario) is a charitable organization which promotes the management, use, preservation and development of recreational trails and trail based activity, in Ontario, Canada.

Contents

Membership

The Ontario Trails Council has over 200 organizational members, made up of conservation authorities, trail user groups (such as the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs, Hike Ontario, Ontario Recreational Canoe and Kayak Association, Ontario Equestrian Federation), municipal park and recreation departments, economic development offices, regional tourism organizations (such as Explorers Edge and RTO1), as well as a number of non-governmental trail groups such as The Georgian Bay Coast Trail and the Kinghorn Trail Association. Other members include biospheres and Ontario Government agencies such as the Niagara Parks Commission. The Council's membership represents the broad range of stakeholders involved in Ontario's more than 80,000 kilometres (50,000 mi) of trail. Members of the Ontario Trails Council hold a special place amongst members of Ontario's outdoor recreation community. Members in good standing are eligible for Ontario Trails Hero, Ontario Trails Professional and Trillium Recreational Trail designations. Ontario Trails operates one of the largest trail awareness and information websites in Canada, with over 1.5 million visitors a year to http://ontariotrails.ca this site is also available on mobile devices as a public service at: http://ontariotrailsmap.com Ontario Trails Council provides professional development education for staff and volunteers, through 3 programs available on-line at Algonquin College. Algonquin College hosts the program and Ontario Trails facilitates the learnings. Ontario Trails also provides in community education through its "Trailhead Ontario" brand. See http://trailheadontario.com Ontario Trails has facilitated over 200 community meetings since 2003. The Ontario Trails Council works to ensure full awareness, education and availability of recreational trails and trail based activity by promoting trails and trail based activity on a variety of social media platforms.

History

The Council was formed in 1976 as a project of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. [1] During the three years before they were disbanded, [2] [3] the Council consulted with and received submissions from over three hundred interested Ontario organizations and presented a report to the provincial government. [4]

The Council was reconstituted in 1991 as a charity. From 1991 to 2001, the OTC was the agent for the Trans Canada Trail in Ontario, responsible for completing the Ontario section of that endeavour. The OTC has also taken an active part in the conversion of abandoned railway roadbeds in Ontario into recreational trails. [5]

Since 2001, the Ontario Trails Council has become the provincial trails association, creating a centralized website, disseminating information about trails to the public, [6] [7] assisting in the design and establishment of the Ontario Trails Strategy, [8] holding an annual conference called "Trailhead Ontario", and creating a provincial trail education program.

The Ontario Trails Council receives support from member organizations, the general public and through project grants from the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport (2013), the Ministry of Natural Resources (2012), and the Ministry of Employment, Economic Development and Infrastructure (2014-15).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algonquin Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario, Canada

Algonquin Provincial Park is an Ontario provincial park located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River, mostly within the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District. Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased the park to its current size of about 7,653 km2 (2,955 sq mi). The park is contiguous with several smaller, administratively separate provincial parks that protect important rivers in the area, resulting in a larger total protected area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achray, Ontario</span> Place in Ontario, Canada

Achray is an unincorporated place and former railway point in geographic Stratton Township in the Unorganized South Part of Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It lies in northern Algonquin Provincial Park on the northern shore of Grand Lake, part of the Barron River system, and functions today as a campground site.

Charles Jackson "Bud" Wildman is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1975 to 1999, representing the riding of Algoma, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barron River (Ontario)</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Barron River is a river in the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin in Nipissing District and Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It flows from Clemow Lake in northern Algonquin Provincial Park and joins the Petawawa River, whose southern branch it forms, in the municipality of Laurentian Hills, near the municipality of Petawawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rondeau Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario

Rondeau Provincial Park is the second oldest provincial park in Ontario, Canada, having been established with an order in council on 8 September 1894. The park is located in Southwestern Ontario, on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extending into Lake Erie. Rondeau is home to the largest area of Carolinian forest in Canada, a long sand beach, a large marsh, approximately half of Rondeau Bay, campgrounds and a cottage community. The name of the park comes from the French words "ronde eau" or "round water" which describes the shape of the harbour sheltered by the peninsula.

Chris Hodgson is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was Reeve of Dysart Township in 1993, and warden of Haliburton. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1994 to 2003 representing the ridings of Victoria—Haliburton and Haliburton—Victoria—Brock. He was a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves, serving variously as Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet and Deputy Government House Leader, and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

The Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is a heritage-listed botanical garden located in the cities of Burlington and Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. It covers extensive environmentally protected areas, historic sites, and culturally relevant gardens from Burlington to Hamilton. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara Falls and Toronto, as well as being a significant local and regional horticultural, education, conservation, and scientific resource.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)</span> Ontario provincial government department

The Natural Resources is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown lands and waters that make up 87 per cent of the province. Its offices are divided into Northwestern, Northeastern and Southern Ontario regions with the main headquarters in Peterborough, Ontario. The current minister is Graydon Smith].

Ontario Parks is a branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in Ontario, Canada, that protects significant natural and cultural resources in a system of parks and protected areas that is sustainable and provides opportunities for inspiration, enjoyment and education. The Ontario Parks system covers over 78,000 square kilometres (30,000 sq mi), which is about 10 per cent of the province's surface area or the equivalent of an area approximately equal to Nova Scotia. It falls under the responsibility and mandate of the province's Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. It was formerly under the mandate of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

A conservation authority is a local, community-based natural resource management agency based in Ontario, Canada. Conservation authorities represent groupings of municipalities on a watershed basis and work in partnership with other agencies to carry out natural resource management activities within their respective watersheds, on behalf of their member municipalities and the Province of Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opeongo River Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario, Canada

Opeongo River Provincial Park is a waterway park in Nipissing District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. It incorporates those portions of the Opeongo River from its exit from Algonquin Provincial Park to the river's mouth at the Madawaska River, except for a small portion around Victoria Lake. The park has two access points: from Ontario Highway 60 west of the community of Madawaska; and the Shall Lake access point, north of Victoria Lake, in Algonquin Provincial Park.

Scouting and Guiding in Ontario has a long history. Although there is some dispute about the founding of the first Scouting Group, both 1st Merrickville and 1st St. Catharines Scout Group have a documented existence from 1908. In 1955, the 8th World Scout Jamboree was held at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Scouting continues in Ontario to the present day, serving thousands of youths in programs that suit the environment in which they live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Madawaska River Provincial Park</span> Provincial park in Ontario, Canada

Upper Madawaska River Provincial Park is a waterway-class provincial park on the Madawaska River in the municipality of South Algonquin in Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada. The park consists of a strip of land along both shores of the Madawaska River from the communities of Whitney to Madawaska. It is upstream and north of the Lower Madawaska River Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arrowhead Provincial Park</span> Provincial park of Ontario, Canada

Arrowhead Provincial Park is located north of Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Ontario Parks system. A portion of the shoreline of Glacial Lake Algonquin is visible in the park.

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is the governing body of all intercollegiate sports in the Canadian province of Ontario. The OCAA is a part of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association. The OCAA, with Ontario University Athletics, governs post-secondary school educational sports in Ontario.

The Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation (ORMF) is a non-profit organization based in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 2002 as a governing body dedicated to the enhancement and preservation of the Oak Ridges Moraine as a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheltenham Badlands</span> Badlands in Caledon, Ontario, Canada

The Cheltenham Badlands are in Caledon, Ontario, on the southeast side of Olde Base Line Road, between Creditview and Chinguacousy Roads. The site occupies an area of approximately 0.4 square kilometers and features exposed and highly eroded Queenston shale. The Cheltenham Badlands are a significant educational site due to the readily visible geologic processes and the red colour and the unique topography of the exposed shale make this a popular tourist site. The site is a Provincial Earth Sciences Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) since it is considered one of the best examples of "badlands topography" in Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative</span> Environmental non-governmental organization

The Algonquin to Adirondacks Collaborative (A2A) is an environmental NGO, a registered charity, and a not-for-profit multi-national. This network of partners works together to connect lands and people from Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada, to the Adirondacks in New York State. The Algonquin to Adirondacks region represents a critical link for biodiversity and resilience in North America.

Pewee Lake is a lake in Nipissing District in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. The lake is in Algonquin Provincial Park, is part of the Saint Lawrence River drainage basin, and lies astride Ontario Highway 60.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxtongue River</span> River in Ontario, Canada

The Oxtongue River is a river in Nipissing and Muskoka Districts, Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of the Muskoka River via Lake of Bays, flowing in a mostly south-westerly direction through undisturbed mixed forest that is home to many native mammal species.

References

  1. ↑ David Estrin; John Swaigen; Mary Anne Carswell (1978). Environment on trial: a handbook of Ontario environmental law. Canadian Environmental Law Research Foundation. ISBN   978-0-9690534-1-5.
  2. ↑ John S. Marsh; Bruce W. Hodgins (15 May 1998). Changing Parks: The History, Future and Cultural Context of Parks and Heritage Landscapes. Dundurn. pp. 257–. ISBN   978-1-55488-130-7.
  3. ↑ Geoffrey Wall; John S. Marsh (1 January 1982). Recreational Land Use: Perspectives on Its Evolution in Canada. MQUP. pp. 383–. ISBN   978-0-7735-9563-7.
  4. ↑ Ontario. Ministry of Natural Resources (1972). Annual Report of the Minister of Natural Resources of the Province of Ontario.
  5. ↑ John Lynes; Ulysses Travel Guides (2004). Ontario's Bike Paths and Rail Trails. Hunter Pub Incorporated. pp. 13–. ISBN   978-2-89464-401-0.
  6. ↑ Carolyn Heller (3 July 2012). Moon Ontario. Avalon Travel Publishing. pp. 411–. ISBN   978-1-61238-253-1.
  7. ↑ "Learn to camp this summer at Ontario Parks". Niagara Falls Review. Jim Fox. July 27, 2013
  8. ↑ Environmental Law. Standing Committee on Environmental Law of the American Bar Association. 1978.

Bibliography

[1]


  1. ↑ Don Ledin; National Trails Council (U.S.) (1979). Fifth National Trails Symposium: Duluth, Minnesota, September 4-7, 1979. National Trails Council.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.