The Regional District of North Okanagan and the Columbia Shuswap Regional District have successfully concluded the purchase of the the CP Rail Corridor between Sicamous and Armstrong.
Working in partnership, Splatsin and the regional municipal governments issued a recent news release announcing the corridor will be “used for recreational opportunities, including walking and cycling, while retaining it for future transportation and economic development needs.
There is also long-term potential to connect this corridor to the Okanagan Rail Trail, which is currently under development, connecting the City of Kelowna to the District of Coldstream.”
The Shuswap Trail Alliance is pleased to continue supporting the efforts of the Splatsin and local RDNO/CSRD regional and municipal governments in the next phases of planning and development. It is an unprecedented opportunity to realize what Splatsin Chief Wayne Christian and council have described as “unfolding the true story of this place within Secwepemc territory.”
There have been inquiries on how to contribute funding toward Rail-Trail development, which will be unrolled formally over the next few months - but early contributions to the Sicamous-to-Armstrong Rail-Trail have already been coming in.
To respond, the STA has a Rail-Trail Reserve Fund in place to hold early contributions ready to transfer over, and is able to issue charitable tax receipts. For more information visit www.shuswaptrails.com and click on the Donate button.
As well, the STA will continue to act as a liaison point with community leadership and organizations. They have been privileged to grow relationships with the Armstrong-Spallumcheen Trails Society and Vernon’s Ribbons-of-Green thanks to the Rail-Trail initiative, as well as the North Okanagan Historical Society. We hope to host a joint support meeting shortly, and would welcome hearing from interested organizations that have not yet been in touch.
The STA has also been working behind the scenes to build relationships with inter-regional partners toward linking the Sicamous-to-Armstrong Rail-Trail initiative with the Central Okanagan Rail Trail and the Southern Trails-to-the-Okanagans initiative. The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association has also taken a proactive role in supporting this effort. The STA looks forward to growing these relationships in 2018.
Watch for further updates to come as leadership throughout the region work together to establish this unprecedented recreational greenway trail for the Shuswap. For an overview of the Rail-Trail vision, including the link with the Central and South Okanagan Rail-Trail initiatives, check out the presentation posted at www.shuswaptrails.com.
Imagine: riding a bicycle from Sicamous to Osoyoos…not so crazy an idea anymore!
-Submitted by Phil McIntyre-Paul of the Shuswap Trail Alliance.