Alberta 4 Wheel Drive

The next stewardship committee meeting will be held on April 18, 2007. If there is a specific issue, or a proposal for a trail project, trail opening, or trail re-classification, please contact gamp@ab4wd.com and our GAMP representative will work with you to get this on the Agenda, and help you author it to ensure the highest probability for success.

Background

GAMP was officially announced on May 17, 2006. A commitment was made by Sustainable Resources Development (SRD) to establish a Stewardship committee within 90 days. In Early June 2006, Alberta United Recreationalists Society (AURS) and Alberta Four Wheel Drive Association (AB4WD) met with SRD and we were told that there were a number of deferred trails that could be worked on during summer of 2006 and these would be re-opened prior to the formation of the stewardship committee. This information was promised for late June 2006. In Early July 2006, we were told that SRD would not re-open any deferred trails, as this was the role of the stewardship committee. In mid-July 2006, our community was invited to nominate candidates to the GAMP stewardship committee. After some collaboration, AURS and AB4WD jointly agreed to nominate Peter Straub to the committee to represent the Four Wheel Drive community. In late August 2006, Peter Straub was invited to attend the first meeting of the Stewardship Committee. On Sept 16, 2006, the Stewardship Committee had its first meeting. Meetings have been held monthly since then.

What is the purpose of this committee?

SRD has requested that the stewardship committee help implement GAMP and make it successful. The committee will be expected to do a comprehensive review of the plan after 3 years, and again after 5 years. The government expects to collaborate with the committee on implementing recommendations of the committee to improve upon the plan. Specific actions to this end may include defining trail standards, reviewing and recommending proposals for new trails or trail projects, and education programs to ensure the area and trails are respected. SRD has been emphatic that recommendations will be implemented insofar as they are consistent with current legislation.

What has the committee actually done to date?

The committee has completed its formation process. In March 2007, it accepted its Charter. The charter will be made available once published.

The next meeting will be held on April 18, 2007. If there is a specific issue, or a proposal for a trail project, trail opening, or trail re-classification, please contact gamp@ab4wd.com and our GAMP representative will work with you to get this on the Agenda, and help you author it to ensure the highest probability for success.

What should the Four Wheel Drive Community be doing?

The Four Wheel Drive community should be prepared to advocate for trail re-openings starting next spring. This means that we should immediately be preparing proposals to re-designate, re-open, build and maintain specific trails, and have detailed plans to implement these proposals. As a community who only has access to 52km of trails, we are the hardest hit by the plan, and have the most to gain by re-opening trails to our sport. I do not have the time to write these proposals for this community, but will do everything possible to ensure success as these proposals are written and presented to the stewardship committee.

Please contact Peter with any thoughts or concerns at gamp@ab4wd.com

Note:

AB4WD is concerned about and opposes the highly restrictive Ghost-Waiparous Access Management Plan (GAMP).

AB4WD had communicated our concerns to SRD prior to the release of the plan, and had made five suggestions, which would have made GAMP acceptable by the four-wheel drive community. They were:

The designated trail network includes a reasonable number of trails to sustain a healthy four-wheel drive recreational area. Such a trail network would include a minimum of 150 km of trails available at all times of the year
Clearly defined, empirically measurable trail standards that were used to set the map of designated trails
Where trails were not designated for four wheel drive use, clear definition of where those trails failed to meet the standards clearly defined standards
Clear standards that SRD uses for evaluating a proposals for a new trails as described in the Draft Ghost-Waiprous Operational Access Plan
Definition of an appeal process to challenge trail designation decisions made by SRD
Unfortunately, GAMP was released without meeting these requirements. AB4WD supports the four-wheel drive community in public protest and legal venues to ensure that our recreational activities in the area can continue.