Grant a bridge over Tabor Mountain's waters

A shot of money will help vaccinate Tabor Mountain's water system against man-made damage.

The Tabor Mountain Recreation Society has received at $10,000 grant from Shell Oil to put towards the construction of a bridge over fish-bearing streams.

As part of Shell's FuellingChange initiative, the group was one of 54 to take part in the first round of $1 million in funding for projects that improve or restore Canada's environment.

"Tabor Mountain Recreation Society is very proud and thankful to have received funding from Shell Canada," said society president Steven Dubas. "This funding will help develop the recreation potential for our community, region and province, making it healthier and more vibrant."

The group has a year to put the entire project together to keep motorized vehicles such as snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles out of the water. They are hoping to use the money to leverage further funding.

There will also have to be studies and evaluations completed before construction can begin.

"It's not as easy as, 'oh, we've got some money, we're going to install the bridge.' We have to make sure the bridge is in the right location and have to make sure there's nothing going to be taking it out in the future," Dubas said. "So everything that we do, hopefully will be set up so it's sustainable, so we don't have to go back in there in five years and redo the bridge."

The bridge is tentatively set for the outflow for Frost Lake. "It's an area where the machines are just going through it," said Dubas, noting a similar crossing was erected at Dougherty Creek a few years ago.

Dubas said the bridge will be a collaboration with the various off-road vehicle groups to make sure it is a good fit for their use.

The society is a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing a recreation area on Tabor Mountain. The 407 kilometres of trails and 27 staging areas were formally registered under section 56 of the province's Forest and Range Practices Act last September.