Some people like provincial parks to be playgrounds for all-terrain vehicles. Others like them to be free of motorized traffic altogether.
Conflicts between those two points of view have been raging for years in other parts of the province, but not much in the Slave Lake area. Not until now. Now somebody is unhappy about the proposed restrictions on ATV traffic in the Grizzly Ridge Wildland Park southeast of Slave Lake. Norm Block, a long time user of the quad trails through the park, strongly disagrees with the ATV access limits proposed in the recently released draft management plan for the park. It restricts ATV access to two trails. Block thinks that is a bad idea and is doing something about it.
“I’ve got a petition out saying we oppose restrictions,” he says. “It’s probably got at least 300 signatures.”
Block isn’t just unhappy about the restrictions. He says the process of consultation was flawed due to lack of representation from ATV users – particularly those who use the trails in question.
“I don’t think there was any representation from any people that actually use the area,” he says.
Block hopes that through the petition and a general raising of awareness among ATV users, the government can be persuaded to reconsider the issue.
It might be a tall order, given current legislation and the policies that arise from it.
The province created the 107-square kilometre Grizzly Ridge Wildland Park in 1999 following its designation as a good candidate for park-hood under the Special Places 2000 program. A local committee – supposedly made up of a good cross section of stakeholders – met over the period of a few months and came up with a series of recommendations. They included – significantly – one that all existing trails remain as trails. But there was only sporadic attendance at the meetings by an ATV users representative.
More recently the Parks people got another group of stakeholders to discuss the management plan. Again, an ATV users rep was invited, but missed key meetings.
One person who did attend was Dave Shupac, whose trapline lies partly in the park. He says he and other committee members had to lobby to get the department to agree to have any ATV access at all.
“We had a bit of input, but not much,” he says.
From the Parks perspective, the compromise represented in the draft management plan is a reasonable one. Parks are not supposed to be like regular Crown land.
According to Parks official Elaine Nepstad, the Provincial Parks Act makes it clear that there is “a preference for non-motorized activities,” in provincial parks. However, it allows planners to consider some motorized access where it has previously existed.
“That’s Provincial Parks Act policy,” she says.
Nepstad says it was difficult to figure out exactly how much activity there is in the area of the park and who does it. But there was an ATV user on the committee, she says, and “I don’t remember him having any big concerns.”
Actually, ATV user Lloyd Sawatzky doesn’t like the fact that the plan has one trail less than he advocated. On the other hand, he thinks leaving the park open to unrestricted ATV access is unrealistic.
“We have to get along,” he says.
Sawatzky says he recommended another commonly-used route into Grizzly Tower be considered. The direct route “up the north face” is very steep, he says, and can be dangerous.
“It’s fairly easy to roll an ATV going up that trail,” he says.
The steep trail Sawatzky referred to goes from the Pennzoil road up to Grizzly Tower. The other angles through the top of the park from the area of the ski hill in a southwesterly direction. A northern spur from the trail goes to Grizzly Tower. In the south, a winter-only trail crosses a narrow part of the park, connecting a resource road in the west with Ottawau Lake outside the eastern boundary of the park.
Parks says there are over 70 trails – or potential trails – within the park boundaries. By settling on just the two for summer use, Nepstad says, will limit the damage done by vehicles in an area that Parks policy requires to be maintained in as natural a state as possible.
“The committee felt it was a good compromise,” she says.
Block doesn’t buy it. He attended the final meeting of the planning committee and found a distinct shortage of people who have actually been in the park. He contends that it’s the ATV riders that know and appreciate the place. He says it was quad users like himself who got involved in the rebuilding of the historic Grizzly fire tower. And it is only quad riders who will suffer from the new regs.
“It’s an area that is only accessible by ATV,” he points out. “So we’re the only people that have been using it for years and quite likely we’re the only people that will continue to use it. We’ve been able to ride anywhere up to this time – it’s a way of life.”
Block contests the government rationale of limiting overuse. He says the park is anything but overused, nor has use increased in the 10 years he’s been riding there. Impact from the machines is dispersed over many trails. Funneling it all onto just two trails could really do some damage, he says.
“They’re trying to fix something that isn’t broken,” he says. “I don’t feel there is any damage being done.”
Block thinks the government should leave access as it is and re-visit the issue in 10 years to see if there has been an increase.
ATV users and other stakeholders will have a chance to state their case in public when the draft plan comes out for viewing at a yet-to-be scheduled public meeting next month. Nepstad says Parks staff will be there to explain the plan and to answer questions.
“It’s not like it can never be changed,” she says. “But we feel we are representing Provincial Parks Act policy.”
In the meantime, Block says he’s considering starting an association of ATV users in order to improve their political clout.
“I may have to try to put something together,” he says.
Copies of the management plan are available at the local Parks office.

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