A draft plan to govern trails in the Banff townsite calls on Banff’s commercial horse tour operator to be required to immediately pick up horse poo from the trails.
Establishing a formal trail use agreement between the Town of Banff and Holiday On Horseback is a key recommendation in the draft Trails Master Plan and should include regulations for trail use and maintenance.
The plan, released to the public Monday (Nov. 10), suggested horse riders and wranglers be responsible for immediate cleaning up, bagging and disposal of all horse poo. A potential option to address this is for cleanup crews to follow each group of horses immediately.
Town officials say the main issue identified through the public and stakeholder consultation so far indicated that the primary conflict with horses on trails within the townsite is the presence of horse poo. There were very few complaints about interactions with horses.
“We have no formal agreement … and the current operators seems open to that discussion,” said Chad Townsend, the Town of Banff’s environmental coordinator and point man on the Trails Master Plan.
Many municipalities have trail use agreements with commercial operators such as dog-walkers and tour operators, which outline conditions for trail use to ensure they don’t negatively affect the public, cause trail degradation, or have negative environmental impacts.
The draft plan suggests the agreement with Holiday on Horseback should include a set of trails within the Town of Banff that are designated and signed as appropriate for equestrian use, as well as regulations for trail use and maintenance.
It recommends formalizing horse use regulations in the traffic bylaw, including a new schedule of designated trails and to upgrade trails that are designated for horse use to durable surfaces that can accommodate them without significant degradation within a single season.
The two routes recommended for upgrade include the existing off-road trail parallel to Rundle Avenue and the one to Bow Falls Road. The recommendation is for a three-metre compacted gravel trail to accommodate multi-use.
Julie Canning, co-owner of Holiday on Horseback, said she is open to discussions with the Town of Banff.
“Horse use in Banff National Park is a historic use and it’s something that is really important to the history and authenticity of our destination and so the preservation and protection of horse use in Banff National Park is important,” she said.
“I think, generally speaking, we’re really supportive of the process in terms of having dialogue and how we can have optimal trail use inside town. I actually think a dialogue on trail use is positive. How do we have multiple user groups cohabitating in a good way.”
Canning said the company already cleans up horse manure from the trails.
“We do clean up right now … there’s very limited use on trails within the town,” she said.
Canning said Holiday On Horseback also helps maintain trails inside the townsite and on Banff National Park trails.
“The amount of trail maintenance that our teams do is quite substantial, inside the town and inside the park. We invest a huge amount in trail work,” she said.
“As a taxpayer and commercial operator inside the town, there would be responsibility for the Town to do trail maintenance for horses. It’s certainly a shared responsibility.”
The draft Trails Master Plan is posted on the Town of Banff’s website at www.Banff.ca and the document will also be presented at a public open house at the Fenlands recreation centre on Wednesday, Nov. 26 from 6 to 9 p.m.
