Okanagan Trail Riders

| PROTECTING YOUR RIGHT TO RIDE

Sponsors:

Larry Nickel of M&M Performance announced that M&M will be donating two (2) Honda Rubicon 500 ATV’s for the Okanagan Trail Riders to use in the trail design and maintenance at the Bear Creek Motorized Recreation Area on Kelowna’s Westside. Move Mouse HERE.

Kelowna Yamaha - many thanks for the excellent portable Yamaha generator. Without it, we would be working at 1/4 speed! Move Mouse HERE.

Bear Creek Updates

On this page we will start posting news specifically about Bear Creek.

June 8, 2008 - Read the article in the Westside Weekly describing the changes taking place at Bear Creek.

June 7, 2008 - We now have a crew dedicated to posting our new Required to Ride signage and after the Sweco training they will be rehabbing blown out trails and constructing new ones. Terry Burke and Mike Billany have been putting in full days working at Bear Creek using the Yanmar and Dick and Joani Dufourd have been doing recon to link trails, close unsustainable ones and creating difficulty levels along with some ATV trails.
Last week we were able to put a halt to a grad party scheduled for the upper pit area. We had more support for RCMP to show their presence than ever before.

Our rider education is what we are focusing on at this time and it has been very well received by the enthusiasts. We have also been doing complimentary sound testing underscoring that we are only in the education phase, not the enforcement phase. Our primary message is to reduce sound – stay away from the gravel pit and slow down in the staging area along with supporting the efforts of OTRA and joining a club.

We have some barrier design work done, are trying to get MTSA to order trail markers and additional signs. MTSA was at the bridge crossing with their engineer last week and reviewed and surveyed the site.

We put out a press release that sparked an interview with the Westbank Weekly. The article should have been in the Sunday paper along with pictures of the work being done at Bear Creek.

Joani Dufourd
RecConnect

May 1, 2008 - This year the OTRA has purchased some heavy equipment to start the trail regeneration and maintenance. Our goal is to modify the trails so they are properly engineered to have the minimum impact on the environment while still making them fun and challenging. With 35,000 hectares, we can do it!

In the past, Bear Creek has been a party place and a dumping ground. It is now our responsibility to manage it for our use and our children's use.

Here are the first three pieces of equipment that the OTRA has purchased for the job:

This is the same model of SWECO that the OTRA purchased, but this picture was taken in the USA. Not the small size, rugged design and fully adjustable blade.

Shown below is the OTRA equipment trailer with the brand new Yanmar Excavator and the used Yanmar Carrier. Those trails will be rebuilt like we have never seen with proper drainage and long term planning!