Letter from the President to Members of Island Trails
It was recently brought to our attention that the Government of Prince Edward Island had been approached by the PEI Trail Riders with a proposal for a Pilot Program which would enable horses to ride on the main trail bed of three 15 kilometre sections of the Confederation Trail. The proposed sections are from O’Leary to Murray Road on the Main Line; Emerald to Freetown on the Main Line; and Georgetown Road to Selkirk Road Rte. 23 on the Murray Harbour Line.
The Deputy Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure has requested a meeting to discuss this proposal with Island Trails and we have agreed. We will be sending three members of the board to discuss the proposal on the 22nd of July. As a board, we are adamantly opposed to this proposal and I will explain why below.
At this point I want to make very clear that we are not ‘anti-equestrian.’ We strongly support horse riding on the Island and one of our destination trails is in fact the Forest Hill Hiking & Equestrian Trails. The PEI Trail Riders met with us last year to discuss their proposal for an expansion of this trail and we immediately agreed – it’s a great idea and we are very supportive. We are happy to work with them when it makes sense.
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