The name of the trail connecting Cochrane to Calgary is not known just yet, but the top two selections both have ties to Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
The trail is led by the Rotary Club of Cochrane and Area, and Trail Steering Committee chair Alex Baum said they hope to engage with and receive a blessing from Stoney Nakoda First Nation to use the chosen name, perhaps by way of the Community Economic Development Initiative, recently approved between the Town of Cochrane and Stoney Nakoda.
"How neat would that be if we could have our neighbours on Treaty 7 lands help us announce the name for this trail?" said Baum.
Six people make up the trail naming panel, including a representative of Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
Over 1,300 submissions were made through Great West Media's Name the Trail contest — a surprising uptake, according to the committee.
"We were hoping to get 300 submissions," said Baum, who added suggestions came from all over Alberta and even into B.C. and Saskatchewan.
At a committee of the whole meeting April 19, Baum led town council through the trail plans, beginning with its inception in 2012.
The announcement of the trail in November 2021 to honour pioneer families of the area making land donations to the initiative is what really kick-started the project.
The path will become part of the Trans Canada Trail and connect Cochrane to Calgary by paving land from the town to connect with existing pathway networks in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and Haskayne Legacy Park.
Once complete, the trail will be 38 kilometres in length. Estimate costs for its completion have been said to be between $10 and $20 million.
Cochrane to Calgary is just phase one, however. Phase two of the proposed trail aims to connect Cochrane to Canmore through Stoney Nakoda First Nation lands.
In 2016, a Stoney Nation Chiefs and Council Resolution was signed with the committee, with the interest of having the Trans Canada Trail connect Stoney Nakoda Nation via a trail along Highway 1A through reserve lands into Canmore, eventually linking up with the Legacy Trail.
Coun. Marni Fedeyko, acting as deputy mayor on April 19, said she commends the committee for taking initiative on the project.
"[This is] not only connecting a recreational opportunity, but overall tourism and communities," she said. "That's really what this entire project is all about and it wouldn't be done without fantastic volunteers and people stepping up to the plate to get this work done."
The project is people-driven and there will be many more opportunities for public to become involved with pushing it forward, including sponsorships of engraved bricks to become part of the trail.
"Our trail will have opportunities for low-budget contributions right up to the million dollar contributions," said Dan Kroffat, the committee's capital fundraiser. "The legacy piece is really an important piece for everyone, not only to our donors, our sponsors and our partners, but to you and I — the common citizen."
The trail committee aims to complete the project in time for the 2025 Rotary International Conference in Calgary.
- with files from Howard May/Cochrane Eagle
Bighill Creek preservation
Council also heard from Gerry Bietz, president of the Bighill Creek Preservation Society, about the society's efforts to protect creek drainage at Bighill Creek watershed.
"Our overarching mission is to ensure the natural and historical values of Bighill Creek watershed are preserved for this generation and for future generations," said Bietz.
To reach that goal, some of the society's objectives include maintaining and enhancing the full range of biodiversity throughout the drainage, encouraging systems of stewardship throughout the watershed and establishing a publicly useful repository of ecological, geological, archaeological and historical data.
Burnco, Mountain Ash, Lafarge, McNair and Hillstone all have gravel operations around the area that make up about 1,300 acres, including areas planned for future mining developments.
As part of their operations, they have had to remove trees, shrubs, top soil, up to four metres of till — which includes clay and other soil overlays — and up to 25 metres of gravel. The preservation society said this extraction increases chemical leaching, turbidity and recharge variability.
"They'll leave one metre of gravel to provide filtration for the water that flows from the surface down into the creek," Bietz said. "In our view, that one metre is grossly insufficient to provide the protection that the spring and creek require."
The society hopes to incorporate and activate Rocky View County's Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan, adopted in 2011, to support their preservation efforts.
"Unfortunately, like many great plans, it was never brought to fruition," said Bietz. "None of the trails, none of the areas that were identified on this plan as environmentally sensitive and needing protection, none of those have been protected."
Bietz said the master plan remains a good blueprint for future development and the society will continue to press the County to implement it.
The Station
Cochrane's transit hub, set for completion this summer, will allow residents to make in-person town payments outside of the RancheHouse.
Taxes, utilities, animal licenses, tickets and fines, business licenses, general invoices and transit fares will all be payable at The Station, within the downtown core.
"We know that these bill payments will be able to processed down at The Station," said Town interim director of planning and development services Mike Korman. "Other payments like building permits, development permits — we're still working with those departments to determine how to do that."
The Station also promises to offer on-site programming led by the Cochrane Public Library, Cochrane Tourism and Innovate Cochrane, among others.
