MOUNTAIN VIEW COUNTY - County council has authorized administration to apply to the province to increase the lease size at William J. Bagnall Wilderness Park on the county’s southwest corner.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
Chris Atchison, director of legislative, community and agriculture services, told council there is a public desire to expand the lease boundary held by the county at the site.
“Through discussions with local organizations and park users, there is a desire to further develop a bike trail that could be used for hiking and snowshoeing which has been mapped out but currently extends outside the park boundary,” he said.
“In discussion with the province, they have encouraged the county to pursue increasing the recreation lease and to apply for authorization of those new trails.
“Some of the trails that may be used right now informally go onto provincial land outside of our current recreational lease that we have with the province.”
In the event that the province is agreeable to the expansion, it is anticipated that there may be costs to complete a survey of the new boundary for the lease, he said.
“These costs will likely to be able to be covered under the existing budget for park expansion project,” he said.
“We have had preliminary talks with the province and they seem agreeable to letting us do it. It would give us great opportunities for recreational activities at Bagnall in the future.”
Coun. Greg Harris, whose Division 2 includes Bagnall Park, said there is “very strong support in the community” for the expansion of the park.
“Providing the space for people to do this kind of thing, like hiking and biking, reduces the amount of trespassing and people wandering onto lands,” said Harris. “Having a designed, designated space to carry out this activity actually is a benefit.”
Councillors passed a motion authorized administration to apply to the province to increase the recreation area at the park.
