Visitors to the Howe Creek Trail are walking a little more comfortably, thanks to a joint effort two weekends ago between the Rotary Club of Terrace and the Rotary Club of Terrace-Skeena Valley to upgrade the wettest section of the trail.
“It was muddy, with very wet low lying areas, lots of undergrowth,” said Chris Oatway, president of Rotary Terrace-Skeena Valley. “I went back to get pictures the next day, and some of the regular walkers said they were very impressed.”
About 40 volunteers spent the day cleaning up the brush, filling in holes with “a lot of gravel” and constructing walls and culverts, she said.
“The youngest [volunteer] was ten and the oldest was in their 70s,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. We worked from 10 – 3, only stopping to eat pizza.”
A lot of the volunteers and help came from Deep Creek Hatchery and Eby Street Hatchery, she said. Materials like rebar, gravel, geotextile and lumber were donated by Nechako Northwest, Rona, and the Ministry of Forests.
Oatway said the clubs’ next big project will be decided when their new executives sit in July. “We’re looking to do something big for, well, big for us, for the city,” she said.
Some of the ideas bouncing around include tree and plant identification along some of the trails, or a splash park downtown, she said.