Know someone capable of managing a two-year planning process to redesign the network of trails around Jasper? If you do, Parks Canada is still hiring.

After a regional competition was unsuccessful this spring, the federal agency is hoping to find an appropriate project manager through the course of an ongoing national search. Ifan Thomas, responsible for integrated land use policy and planning for Jasper National Park, said that interviews are scheduled for early this month.

The money for the  $1.7 million project is being provided by a federal fund for innovative projects. Assigned in the 2005 budget, the funding runs out in the spring of 2008, leaving Parks on a tight timeline to complete an ambitious reworking of the 190 kilometres of trails near the townsite.

One reason that a project manager is still not in place has little to do with Jasper and much to do with federal finances in general, Thomas said.

“Originally we were limited by the Prime Minister’s hiring freeze,” he said, referring to Paul Martin’s decision to halt all civil service spending and hiring shortly after taking the country’s top job in 2003.

After the freeze was lifted and funding was confirmed, Parks had hoped to hire a manager this summer to provide time for that individual to familiarize him/herself with the community and the stakeholders who will be involved in the project, Thomas said. 

When the regional competition ended without a satisfactory result, Parks was given the chance to increase the salary for the manager’s position in the hopes of attracting better-qualified candidates. The salary range for the job now runs from $65,000 to $88,000 per year for a two-and-a-half-year contract.

The fact that a national competition might turn up candidates who have little prior knowledge of Jasper and its surroundings is not lost on Thomas.

“That’s certainly a component for screening people, their knowledge and understanding of local issues,” he said, adding that there are community representatives participating in the hiring process.

When the project manager is eventually ready, they will have planning tools and data provided by project biologist Jeff Skinner, who has been working since August 2004.

“We managed to get the biologist in place because we needed to get the monitoring and research done in advance,” Thomas said.

Skinner has developed a program for monitoring trail use and wildlife movement and is working on three-dimensional trail maps that will be used during the planning process.

In the absence of a project manager, establishment of the committee that will do the bulk of the planning work has been delayed. 

According to the public pamphlet distributed shortly after the launch of the Trails Project in October, the steering and planning committees were to create terms of reference this fall before proceeding to the earliest principles and planning work this winter and spring. Thomas is confident that the project will proceed according to plan.

“We still have two full winters to plan and two summers to work, which is what we had in mind all along,” he said.

Even though committee work has yet to begin, Thomas has received indications of interest from people in the community who want to be involved and encourages anyone wishing to play a role to do so. As the project funding was awarded for the purpose of developing a collaborative and innovative planning process, community interest is paramount for the project’s success, Thomas said.

The planning or working committee will be charged with developing trail principles, a network plan and strategies for consultation. It will be constituted by local stakeholders that include trail users, business interests and local organizations. Parks wants the very makeup of the working group to be influenced by the public.

“Who’s on that committee? We want people to help us figure that out,” he said.

One level above those involved in the planning group will be the steering committee. This group will be responsible for guiding the process, resolving conflicts that may arise and reviewing the final project plans. This committee will be made up of what Thomas terms “senior statespeople” from the local, regional and national levels. The committee is expected to meet several times over the course of the entire project.

Any reconfiguration and expansion of the trail network will have an impact well beyond the town boundaries. A survey of more than 500 trail users revealed that 75 per cent of recreationists on the trails are visitors to the park. 

There are two reasons for people to become involved in the Trails Project, Thomas said. First and foremost, Parks is serious about sharing authority on the decision-making process surrounding trail design. Beyond this, if the process developed in the next two years is deemed successful, the agency is committed to pursuing funding for more projects in Jasper National Park that would be planned and implemented using similar strategies.

Of course, redeveloping trails around town involves practical work as well, something that has already begun with the town perimeter trail, Thomas said.

The segment of the town trail that runs along the Pyramid Bench from the Sawridge to Stone Mountain was completed this summer, and next spring and summer Parks will be moving forward with development on other, non-controversial trails.

If all goes according to plan, by 2008, users will have a better trail network to enjoy and certain wildlife areas will have been reclaimed.

“Many of the existing trails were designed for horses or as roads,” said Thomas. “They were not really designed for mountain biking and hiking and certainly not designed with the knowledge we have today about important wildlife habitat.” 

At last month’s planning forum Thomas presented a status update on the trails project and was asked about the status of improvements for back-country and backpacking trails in the park. Mike Wasuita, owner and operator of Pine Bungalows, said that Jasper is promoted internationally for its wilderness trails and outdoor experiences and as such Parks should take care to ensure that crucial trail infrastructure, like bridges, is in good repair. Wasuita cited trail systems north of Jasper as a particular concern.

Jasper National Park Superintendent, Ron Hooper, said that while maintainence of bridges, boardwalks and the like was ongoing in backcountry areas, the priority remained with the trail network in Jasper’s immediate vicinity.

“You have to establish priorities,” he said. “Our focus has been on heavy use areas.”