As you know, July 2020 the Friends of the Harte Trail gave away 300 trees! We also installed a dog waste bag dispenser you see above. This dispenser was paid for by donations from Qualico, members of the Harte Trail and the Charleswood Community. The sign, station and bags are maintained by volunteers. As we all experience dog waste, and individuals who do not clean up after their family members, this was our hope to help. This is also our pilot project to test if we can continue to install these along our lovely Trail!
However, please, this dispenser is a “whoops I forgot a bag at home, thank goodness for this device here”.
This dispenser is not a “well I don’t need to buy bags now, and I might as well stand here and drain this entire station because who cares, mine now”.
Yes this has happened, no its not just an increase in folks grabbing 1 or 2 bags. members have shared picture(s) of the dispenser being emptied, in handfuls, and pocketed, and if it continues we cannot afford to maintain that station! (we are going to re-order and re-fill now, we wanted to get this info off first).
On to other news. Trail use is up by an average of 44% among younger Canadians. The fact that Canadians see trails as an opportunity to enhance their mental health (95%) is a resounding affirmation of the importance of maintaining access to this free, public resource that the survey demonstrates has clearly become a lifeline for Canadians during COVID. While this data on mental health benefits was uniform amongst all age groups, among Canadians 18-24 year 100% of them affirmed that they access trails to enhance their mental health and well-being.
And, this trail use trend looks to continue into the winter.
Lastly as you might be aware, the Manitoba government is working on developing a Provincial Trails Strategy. As part of this process, the government is seeking input from trail users, builders, communities and other potentially interested individuals and organizations.
We want to better understand:
how you use trails in Manitoba
trail amenities that are important to you
barriers that impact your trail use
how to get people more involved with recreational trails
ideas for trail building and maintenance
We Want Your Feedback
Whether you currently use trails in Manitoba or would like to in the future, we would like to hear from you.
Complete the online survey by January 15, 2021.
Share an idea about how to improve Manitoba’s network of trails.
This information is available in an alternate format upon request, please contact MBTrails@gov.mb.ca
