IN
CANADA
·
Ontario
Trails Strategy: working definition of trail infrastructure: “trail
infrastructure” includes all single and shared-use outdoor designated
trail networks in urban, rural and wilderness settings that are used for
recreation, active living, utilitarian and tourism purposes including but not
limited to:
--Trails
with natural (e.g. hiking, cross-country skiing) or treated surfaces (e.g.)
bicycle greenways/paths, lanes)
--On-road
bicycle routes
--Walkways,
boardwalks and sidewalks
--Trails
located in transportation and utility corridors
--Access
roads (i.e. for forestry and mining) “designated” for trail use
--Trails
that are integrated with public transit services
--Waterway routes (e.g. along designated
Canadian heritage rivers including the French, Humber ,
Mattawa, Rideau and Thames
Rivers ) and
portage routes.
Walkers,
hikers, joggers, cyclists, inline skaters, horseback riders, cross-country
skiers, mountain bikers, snowshoers, dogsledders and
users of snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, 4x4s, and dirt bikes enjoy
land-based trails. Water trailways are used by canoeists,
kayakers, etc.
Some trails are intended for one purpose only. The Bruce
Trail, for example, is a public footpath with off-road sections closed to all
vehicles. Other trails are intended to be used in a variety of ways. The
Trans-Canada Trail is designed to accommodate five core activities:
hiking/walking, biking, horseback
riding, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
(Active 2010 Ontario Trails Strategy, Ministry of
Health Promotion, 2005, p. 6)
http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/Strategic%20Relations/A2010_TrailStrategy[1].pdf
· (Ontario) There is no Trails Act in
Ontario yet, although there is likely work being done on that with the Ontario
Trails Strategy, an inter-Ministerial project. The Trans-Canada Trail
Foundation is pursuing the creation of federal trails legislation. “The
National Recreation Program [in the United States] offers a template” (Parks
and Recreation Ontario, Ontario Parks Association, and Ontario Trails Council:
A Strategic Partnership Working to Make a Difference, October 4, 2006, p.
7, & p. 26, retrieved online from http://www.lin.ca/resource/html/pro06/pro%2010406.pdf).
· Nova Scotia Trails Act, R.S.N.S. 1989, c.
476. Last updated November 2006
“The purpose of this Act is to
(a) establish and
operate trails on Crown lands and over watercourses for recreational use and
enjoyment;
(b) establish
trails on privately owned lands, with the prior consent of the owners or
occupiers;
(c) reduce the
liability of the owner or the occupier of privately owned lands where consent
is given to designate a trail;
(d) establish and
operate trails, either by the Department or through agreement with persons,
including municipalities, clubs, organizations and other such bodies; and
(e) provide for
effective management of trails and the regulation of trail user activities to
ensure quality user experiences.
“‘Trail’
means a trail designated by the Governor in Council for recreational purposes
pursuant to the provisions of this Act
The
Minister may refer matters relating to parks, trails and the recreation policy
of the Department to the Natural Resources Advisory Council established
pursuant to the Natural Resources Advisory Council Act and the Council
shall advise the Minister on such matters. R.S., c. 476, s. 4; 1993, c. 9, s.
10.
“The
Governor in Council, upon the recommendation of the Minister, may designate a
trail over Crown land or, with the written consent of the landowner or
occupier, over privately owned land.”
(http://www.canlii.org/ns/laws/sta/r1989c.476/20061123/whole.html)
· (Alberta) What control does the
provincial government currently have over the development, maintenance, and use
of trails?
There
is no legislation defining the standards of construction, maintenance, or
operation specifically for trails on private or public lands in Alberta. On
Crown lands, provision for proper management of public lands, including water
crossings, falls under the general provisions of the Public Lands Act. The
Public Lands Act specifies conditions and terms of use for such things as
staying in designated areas, disposal of garbage, surface disturbance, and
fencing of Crown lands. The Municipal Government Act gives municipalities
authority to establish bylaws for general municipal purposes, including
ensuring proper drainage/culverts, collection of garbage, and land use.
Off-highway vehicles are regulated under the provincial Off-Highway Vehicle
Act, while the Water Act sets standards for bridge and culvert crossings and
their impact on watercourses. The provincial government is exploring the option
of legislation or a Provincial Trails Act which would specify the standards of
trail management, reduce landowner liability, provide a mechanism for defining
and enforcing suitable trail behavior, and ensure trails are properly
maintained in perpetuity.
(Alberta
Trail Net Information Centre, retrieved online from http://www.abertatrailnet.com/rural.html,
February 2, 2007.
·
Prince
Edward Island: Trails Act, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. T–4.1. Last updated May
2006.
‘“Trail”
means the trail designated as the Confederation Trail pursuant to subsection
4(1) and includes any other trail designated under subsection 4(2)…The
purpose of this Act is to provide for the establishment and operation of trails
on Crown lands for recreational use and enjoyment.’
(http://www.canlii.org/pe/laws/sta/t-4.1/20061113/whole.html)
“This provincial
Trails Act came into effect in 1995. Subsequently, the province promoted public
recreational use of the former CNR right of way under the name ‘Confederation
Trail.’ This trail has also been incorporated into and promoted as part
of a national network of trails known as the ‘Trans Canada
Trail.’”
(http://www.expropriationlaw.ca/reviews/rev00006.asp)
For an example of a court
case that makes use of this legislation, click on the latter hyperlink. There,
J. Bruce Melville details the proceedings at the P.E.I. Supreme Court of the
P.E.I. Attorney General versus a group of landowners who owned land adjacent to
the Confederation Trail, which was formerly the railroad operated by the
Canadian National Railway until railroad operations were abandoned there in
1989. The landowners were active farmers who were not happy with the trail and
trail users passing through their lands. Some of them “blockaded the
trail with logs, excavations and barbed wire fences. They harassed and
threatened trail users and government employees.” As a result the
province applied to the court for an injunction intended to halt these
activities, and eventually won the case.
·
(New
Brunswick) Land-title disputes that affect rails-to-trails projects (and trails
in general) are common. J. Bruce Melville details another case, this time in
New Brunswick, that considers the legal status of an
old railway right of way following abandonment of railroad operations. This
time the results were completely different: “it was found that upon
abandonment, title to the right of way lands reverted to the original title
from which the lands had been taken. The different results are totally dependent
upon the wording of the legislation in effect at the time when the railway
rights of way were expropriated.”
Vihvelin v. St. John (City), (2000), 71
L.C.R. 109.
IN THE UNITED STATES
· From The
National Trails System Act, amended Dec. 21 2006. http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/nts/legislation.html
National recreation trails,
established as provided in section 4 of this Act, which will provide a variety
of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably accessible to
urban areas.
National scenic trails, established
as provided in section 5 of this Act, which will be extended trails so located
as to provide for maximum outdoor recreation potential and for the conservation
and enjoyment of the nationally significant scenic, historic, natural, or
cultural qualities of the areas through which such trails may pass. National
scenic trails may be located so as to represent desert, marsh, grassland,
mountain, canyon, river, forest, and other areas, as well as landforms which
exhibit significant characteristics of the physiographic regions of the Nation.
National historic trails,
established as provided in section 5 of this Act, which will be extended trails
which follow as closely as possible and practicable the original trails or
routes of travel of national historic significance. Designation of such trails
or routes shall be continuous, but the established or developed trail, and the
acquisition thereof, need not be continuous onsite. National historic trails
shall have as their purpose the identification and protection of the historic
route and its historic remnants and artifacts for public use and enjoyment.
Only those selected land and water based components of a historic trail which
are on federally owned lands and which meet the national historic trail
criteria established in this Act are included as Federal protection components
of a national historic trail. The appropriate Secretary may certify other lands
as protected segments of an historic trail upon application from State or local
governmental agencies or private interests involved if such segments meet the national
historic trail criteria established in this Act and such criteria supplementary
thereto as the appropriate Secretary may prescribe, and are administered by
such agencies or interests without expense to the United States.
Connecting or side trails,
established as provided in section 6 of this Act, which will provide additional
points of public access to national recreation, national scenic or national
historic trails or which will provide connections between such trails.
· Recreational
Trails Program Legislation. Retrieved from http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rectrails/legislation.htm,
updated Jan. 2007.
RECREATIONAL TRAIL.--The term
"recreational trail" means a thoroughfare or track across land or
snow, used for recreational purposes such as-- A.
pedestrian activities, including wheelchair use;
B.
skating or skateboarding;
C.
equestrian activities, including carriage driving;
D.
nonmotorized snow trail activities, including skiing;
E.
bicycling or use of other human powered vehicles;
F.
aquatic or water activities; and
G. motorized vehicular activities,
including all terrain vehicle riding, motorcycling, snowmobiling, use of
off-road light trucks, or use of other off road motorized vehicles.
·
There is no universal legal definition of a trail in
the United States. One of the best, used for national recreation trails, is: ...
a travel way established either through construction or use which is passable
by at least one or more of the following, including but not limited to: foot
traffic, stock, watercraft, bicycles, in-line skates, wheelchairs,
cross-country skis, off-road recreation vehicles such as motorcycles,
snowmobiles, ATVs, and 4-wheel drive vehicles. (National
Trails System, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior,
retrieved online from http://www.nps.gov/nts/nts_faq.html)
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Trent University Trail Studies Unit home page
Last updated by Wesley Found on September 28, 2011.