The Squamish Off-Road Cycling Association’s application was once again before the committee of the whole Tuesday to seek funds to help it maintain Squamish’s trail system.
“A lot of the trails are out of the district boundary, but everybody who lives in Squamish benefits,” said SORCA president Jeff Cooke.
SORCA is an agent for the Squamish Dirt Bike Association and the Squamish Trail Society in its application for $60,000 from the district. This is the third year the group has requested this amount. Because of the number of people using the trails – 75 per cent of users are from out of town, according SORCA– the trails can’t be properly maintained without a paid summer trail crew.
With the grant, the 2015 Summer Trail Maintenance and Infrastructure program will involve hiring one supervisor and five students from May to August. The crew will be responsible for trail inspections, erosion control, minor repairs and trail raking and brushing as well as sign installation.
Last year SORCA, a volunteer-run organization, invested about $163,000 towards trail maintenance, according to its application to the committee.
That amount doesn’t include the volunteer time and efforts, said Cooke.
To pay someone to build a couple of kilometres of trail would be about $50,000 to 70,000 depending on the terrain, he said. Instead, trail work is done mostly by SORCA volunteers.
Without the grant money SORCA would not be able to hire a trail maintenance crew, Cooke said.
“It would be really difficult to keep up with the strain on the trails,” he said, adding already January has seen a few days with record-breaking numbers of bikers hitting the trails.
Over 40 per cent of Squamish residents say they participate in off-road cycling or hiking, according to a district survey.
A SORCA report released last year stated that mountain biking brings about
$8 million into Squamish’s economy.
Council will make its decision on grants and funding within the next month, according to the district.
