Skiers will no longer have groomed trails in the River Lot 56 Natural Area because of a dispute between a local ski club and the region's management.
The River Lot 56 Natural Area Society and St. Albert Nordic Ski Club (STANSKI) released separate statements this week explaining that STANSKI would no longer groom trails in River Lot 56. The ski group has maintained trails in the area for about 30 years, though the society is the designated steward of the area and holds the lease on it.
In previous years, says Georges Binette, treasurer for the river lot group, STANSKI had signed a memorandum of understanding with the society to govern trail use. It declined to sign this year, so it will not be allowed to groom trails.
People can still ski in the natural area if they want, he says, but they'll have to plow their own trail. "The public will still be able to use the Red Willow Trail as a groomed trail, but the natural area will be in a natural state."
Trails lost
STANSKI normally maintains about 10 kilometres of trail, two of which are in St. Albert. The current dispute eliminates the eight kilometres in the river lot. The club has about 300 members.
This is a significant blow to the club, said Wayne McCutcheon, STANSKI's director of strategic planning, one that could affect future ski tournaments. "It'll be a challenge for us to host anything."
It will not affect the upcoming Alberta 55-Plus Winter Games in 2011 or the 2012 Special Olympics Winter Games, says Monique St. Louis, the city's director of recreation services, as STANSKI can groom more trails on city property for those events. (The group is currently in talks with the city to do so.)
"Time is certainly on our side," she added.
Long-running dispute
The decision appears to stem from a dispute over how to manage the river lot. Binette says the skiers had decided the lot "no longer met their needs" and didn't want to groom there anymore.
STANSKI is still interested in the lot, counters club president Anne Bradley, but wants a hazardous tree plan that would let its members go in during the summer to clear trees.
"There are some trees that are old and dead and ready to fall in the next windstorm," she says, and the society's members are not removing them. The society didn't agree with their tree plan, so STANSKI didn't sign the memorandum. "We don't think it's safe to be sending our people through there."
STANSKI and society members criticized each other for their actions in the river lot.
The society recently fenced off one of the two entrances to the lot, Bradley says, making it tough for skiers and equipment to get into it. "On Sundays we have up to 120 kids skiing in that area, and it's very hard to have all those kids pass through one opening."
But STANSKI members have also been cutting their own openings through the lot's fence, says John Wotenko, a long-time member of the river lot group. The society has an obligation as a steward to protect the area for future generations, he says.
"We have the lease, and they have difficulty accepting the restrictions we set on the property."
It comes down to a difference of opinion on how to manage the area, says Doug Bowes, the manager of land use policy with the provincial government, which oversees River Lot 56.
"The river lot is meant to be a place where you can get away from the urban landscape," he says. "There's room for groomed trails in the natural area … just not the high-end groomed trails you see in areas adjacent to it."
Trees do need to be removed for safety, but some old or dead ones need to stay for animal habitat. Fewer entrances can help control access to the park and reduce vandalism.
This is a tough situation for both groups, says Mayor Nolan Crouse, who was familiar with the dispute and hopes the groups can soon resolve their differences.
"It's not an easy working relationship," he said. "They each have their own mandate."
