There's an elephant in the room, or rather, on the trail. The NorthStar Rails2Trails Society is calling for public help in corralling the problem, much as our Cranbrook forebears all rallied to bring home safe Cranbrook Ed and the other escaped pachyderms in the 1920s.
In this case, the issue is the debris and dried up vegetation on the famous and popular NorthStar Rails2Trails. The Society needs the help of trail users to clean it up for the spring, and are dubbing the activity "the Great Elephant Hunt of 2013."
"There is some dried up vegetation on the trail from last year's growth and some winter debris on the trail," said Society member John Mandryk. "Given the area's ability to track wayward elephants, and that the vegetation growth on the trail has become an elephant of an issue for the Society, we figured that an elephant hunt while we cleaned up the trail was a good fit."
The Society is inviting members of the public to sign up, take a kilometre of the trail and clean it up. "It's just a matter of sweeping the trail clean, raking off the dead vegetation and there is a chance of finding an elephant," Mandryk said. "All you need is a broom and a rake or as many as the folks that come out can handle. A garbage bag to pick up any debris might also be handy."
The Great Elephant Hunt clean up is planned for the week of April 29 to May 3, but they invite people to go out any time and get started.
Sign-up for the kilometre-areas will be at the front desk of Western Financial Place for the Cranbrook end (to the bridge) and for the Kimberley end (to the bridge), at the Aquatic Centre. "Everyone is welcome to come out and we really appreciate the assistance from everyone." Mandryk said.
The Society is also kicking off its NSR2T Society Membership drive, and memberships will be available at $5 per individual and $10 for a family. Forms will be available at the Elephant Hunt sign-up as well.