Trails around the region are about to get a big boost, courtesy of Columbia Basin Trust’s Trail Enhancement Grants. CBT will be designating over $484,000 to 29 projects that will add to our improve upon the region’s trails.
“Active, outdoor lifestyles are a prominent part of Basin culture, and we’re fortunate to be able to recreate in such beautiful natural settings,” said Tim Hicks, Senior Manager, Delivery of Benefits. “Basin residents told us it’s a priority for the Trust to support projects that make getting out into these areas even better, so that more diverse recreation opportunities are available for residents.”
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This three-year, $1.5-million program helps build new trails or rehabilitate existing ones that, for example, were damaged in storms or have aging infrastructure like bridges. The aim is to make trails more accessible and user-friendly to a wider variety of users, incorporate Indigenous cultural or heritage values, reduce environmental impacts or connect existing trails. Funding may also go toward amenities like signs and benches.
A total of 29 projects represent the first intake of the program. The next intake will open on April 4, 2019, for more information on how to apply visit ourtrust.org/trailgrants.
Of those 29 projects, two of them are in Cranbrook. The Cranbrook Community Forest Society will receive $23,000 for their Cranbrook Espresso Grinder Loop Connector Trails. This will develop a new advanced trail and rehabilitate connector trails to create the Espresso Grinder loop.
North Star Rails to Trails Society will get $21,882 for a Cranbrook North Star Rail Trail Accessibility Enhancement project, which will improve the trail’s accessibility by paving a viewpoint and adding interpretive signage.
Kimberley’s Meadowbrook Community Association and the Kimberley Trails Society will be getting $3,150 and $25,000, respectively. Other communities near Cranbrook that will receive funding include Creston, Nelson, Castlegar and Canal Flats.