IMBA Canada BC Rep Blog

Well it’s that time of year again when we reflect on our successes in 2009 and boy did we have a great year. Thanks to all of our Canadian IMBA members who support our work across this vast nation of ours and helped make possible our accomplishments.

Here’s just 10 things IMBA did for riders this year.
1.    Taught 20 IMBA trailbuilding workshops in 9 provinces, educating more than 500 people on sustainable trailbuilding practices nationwide.

2.    Expanded IMBA Canada’s Regional Office Program. We currently have part-time regional staff in BC, Ontario and Quebec, with plans to add more in 2010.

3.    Secured new benefits for IMBA Canada members – Such as the Canadian Subaru VIP Program, and the addition of individual insurance benefits to the existing IMBA Canada insurance program.

4.    Hired a full-time Trails Specialist – allowing significant growth in our on-the-ground efforts.

5.    Hosted the first-ever IMBA Canada Provincial Mountain Bike Summit in Kitchener, Ontario.

6.    Secured Federal Infrastructure Funding for trail expansion at the Canmore Nordic Centre in Canmore, Alberta. IMBA Canada clubs in BC, Ontario and Quebec also received federal money to expand their trails locally.

7.    Signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Capital Commission in Ottawa, enabling further collaboration with regards to trails planning, rehabilitation, management and use in Gatineau Park.

8.    Created new Canadian resources - Such as the Take a Kid Mountain Biking Guide and the ADSVMQ’sGuide d’aménagement de sentier de vélo de montagne.

9.    Launched the Ontario Tool Trailer program with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion. The end result: more trails on the ground, and free tools for use by IMBA clubs.

10.    Provided assistance that has carved the way for new bike parks in urban areas.

Despite economic downturn, mountain bikers have helped IMBA Canada notch great successes all over the country, but threats fueled by anti-bike philosophies still loom over 2010.

And since this is the season of giving, we will send you our fantastic 2010 calendar for a contribution of $40 or more to help us expand mountain biking access next year. Please click here to help build and protect mountain biking in your area.

I ventured close to the big smoke for a few days to attend the Ontario Mountain Bike Summit in Kitchener, Sept. 25 - 27. This was the first ever IMBA summit for Ontario mountain bikers and by the turn out and response, there will be more to come. It was also a great opportunity for me to see what their challenges are and how, on many levels, are the same as what we have to deal with in BC. More details on the IMBA web site once they are up.

Here’s the group photo courtesy of Mark Schmidt at the base of the Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort.

Help IMBA bring world-class mountain biking to your backyard. This year alone, IMBA Canada will be involved in more than 25 projects in 9 provinces. The work is being done thanks to riders like you who support the IMBA Canada Trailbuilding Fund.

Your donation will be matched by IMBA’s generous corporate partners – such as Trek, through its 1 World, 2 Wheels program. With these matching funds, and by leveraging IMBA Canada’s partnerships with federal land managers, your gift will be stretched into more trails than ever before. These are positioned to inspire new trails in every community — including yours.

Check out our interactive map to find how IMBA is shaping trails where you are. But we could be doing so much more! More Canadian projects were considered for 2009, but not enough funds were available to build them all.

Your donation will immediately double in value. Please give what you can, and do it right now. Remember, the bike industry is committed to investing a dollar-for-dollar match for your donations.

For more info and to donate check out the IMBA Canada website.

The National Trails Coalition has approved $3,045,000 towards trail projects in BC. Originally only $3 million were allocated and recommended by the BC Regional Advisory Committee for the three sectors, Winter Motorized, Summer Motorized and Non-Motorized. However, the NTC saw fit to award an additional $45,000 to BC to “spread the love”.

There were 53 proposals for the three sectors totally over $8.8 million for funding, 35 proposals were accepted, 10 Winter Motorized, 4 Summer Motorized and 21 Non-Motorized. Of all the projects 66% or 23 are friendly to mountain bike access and of the 21 Non-Motorized, 71% or 15 are MTB friendly. All three MTB clubs who submitted proposals were approved for their requested funding. Congratulations to WORCA, SORCA and Rip’n The North Bike Club, all IMBA Affiliate Clubs.

The NTC forms have been sent out to the awarded projects to be filled out and returned. Once the NTC has the paper work the money will flow, 50% up front and the rest upon project completion(see the NTC website for details).

The over subscription in BC and the rest of the provinces clearly shows there is a need for consistent federal funding, let’s hope this program is available next year. If I hear any news about a repeat performance, I’ll get the word out.

Four members of the BC Regional Advisory Committee, me included, and the BC Regional Trails Co-ordinator, sat down with the honourable Minister of Culture, Sport and the Arts, Kevin Krueger. We had the opportunity to present why the BC government should pursue a long term relationship with the federal governments recently announced funding for trails through the National Trails Coalition. And just in case the feds don’t continue their economic stimulus incentives next year, we suggested the BC Trails Strategy in final draft form, be adopted to continue the expansion of recreation trail opportunities. Minister Kreuger was very receptive to our pitch and agreed there is plenty of room for improvement to promote BC’s extensive trail system to the world and provide support for the people building the trails.

The next step in the NTC’s program should be signing funding agreements with the lucky recipients of federal funds. This should be happening in the next two weeks with cheques to follow. Unfortunately, there will be a lot of disappointed people in Canada as the mere $25 million on the table was quickly diced up, BC got $3 million, one million each for winter motorized, summer motorized and non-motorized trails. As soon as it is official I’ll post the non-motorized recipients on my blog, stay tuned.

It’s time to start planning the next IMBA Canada Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day in your area. Mark Saturday, October 03 on your calendar. Feel free to use this PDF cover-only and this PDF takmb-booklet to promote your local event. Let’s see if we can make this the biggest TKMTB Day the biggest yet.

Inga Beck and Jason Van Horn have wrapped up their successful TCC visit to Kelowna working with Mountain Bikers of the Central Okanogan (MTBCo). They had a great turn out, check out the story and photos on their blog.

Our own Trail specialist Daniel Scott joined Inga and Jason in Kelowna and his story can be found here.

Chicopee Ski and Summer Resort has opened a new bike park partnering with IMBA Canada. For some wicked vids and photos go to the Pinkbike site.

A little background from last year and some photos on the project can be found at IMBA Canada’s web site.

As in my previous post, the Outdoor Recreation Council (ORC) has been chosen to be the provincial member of the Canadian Trails Federation (CTF) who will administer the Federal Trails Funding for the National Trails Coalition (NTC). And if you thought there weren’t quite enough acronyms there’s one more BCRAC (British Columbia Regional Advisory Committee).

The six BCRAC members represent the motorized(4) and non-motorized(2) recreation community in BC. These members will vet the applications for the Federal Trails Grant funds and then make their recommendations to the NTC to cut some cheques. The final word will be with the NTC board but with the approval of BCRAC it’s pretty much a sure thing the funding  gate is open.

The six BC Members are:
Roger Frost; BC Snowmobile Federation
Les Auston; BC Snowmobile Federation
Terry Wardrop; Quad Riders Association of BC
Peter Sprague; BC Off Road Motorcycle Association
Rose Schroeder; Back Country Horseman of BC
James Brown; IMBA Canada, BC Rep

The Outdoor Recreation Council of BC has passed a resolution to join the Canadian Trails Federation. So you are saying ’so what’. Well, this now means that BC has a member organization to be the umbrella for the Federal Trail Grant funding for $3 million.

Here’s how it is going to work. If your club is a member of the ORC or your club is a member of an organization that is a member of the ORC, then you are in. Oh by the way, IMBA Canada is a member of the ORC so all IMBA Affiliate Clubs in BC can submit proposals. You can submit your application to Mr. Terje Vold who is the Regional Trail Coordinator for BC. Once Mr. Vold confirms you have dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s he will pass on your application to the BC Regional Advisory Committee (BCRAC). This committee is made up of six individuals from different recreational backgrounds. So far the motorized community is represented however, the non-motorized representation has not yet been selected by the ORC, this should be finalized by June 10th.