Restoration

The content of this page was taken from the final project report submitted to the Real Estate Foundation by the British Columbia Conservation Foundation.

The City of Kamloops' vision statement for Kenna Cartwright Park: to maintain the park in a natural condition and provide a range of experiences for citizens of the entire community. All restoration activities carried out in Kenna Cartwright Park were designed to achieve goals outlined within the above vision statement.

The year 2000 was a continuation of restoration activities initiated within the park during the 1999 season. As with the previous year, restoration efforts relied heavily upon community volunteers and inmates from Rayleigh Correctional Centre.

Outlined below are brief reviews of each of the summer's restoration projects.

Fire pit clean-up
Kenna Cartwright Park is a popular "hang-out" during the summer months. However, this park also has a very high fire hazard. This summer one large fire pit was dismantled. Over 1000 kg of garbage and charcoal was removed. Three community volunteers helped the project coordinator.

Plant propagation
Utilizing the efforts of 17 community volunteers, we collected 30 bluebunch wheatgrass and rough fescue plants from the park and divided them into tiller bunches. In total, over 950 mini plants were planted into various sized containers. These plants will grow over the winter in the City of Kamloops greenhouse and be transplanted into the park in early spring.

Water bars
Following the water bar design outlined in the City of Kamloops master plan for Kenna Cartwright Park, a total of 11 water bars were installed on the Doc Findlay, Doug Daws and unnamed trails. These water bars were installed on two consecutive days utilizing nine workers from the Rayleigh Correctional Centre.

BC Hydro right of way
Section along Doug Daws Trail - A 500 metre section of the BC Hydro right of way was off camber and had multiple ruts making it impossible for water to shed off the trail. BC Hydro hired a contractor to fill in the ruts and re-grade the road, ensuring proper water shedding.

Trail narrowing
Using the bluebunch wheatgrass plugs, a section of the Ponderosa Pine trail was narrowed through revegetation. Inmates from the Rayleigh Correctional Centre, under the guidance of the Project Coordinator, planted over 3,500 bluebunch wheatgrass along the edges of the trail section. The planting also served to fill in the water erosion ruts.

Filling in ruts
Sections of the Doc Findlay trail and an unnamed connector trail were rutted. After water bars were installed on these two trails, seven volunteers filled in the ruts with crushed 1/4-inch rock.

Brushing trails
Where needed throughout the park, tree branches and shrubs were brushed back from the trail. Brushing the trail sections will provide a clear line of sight and improve visitor safety.

Leveling trail sections
Three trail sections were extremely off camber (unlevel). Where possible, these trail sections were leveled by cutting into the hillside to create a stable platform. However, where this was not possible, landscape ties were used.

Trail closure
Three trails were closed this summer. One trail was closed using kick rails. The other two trails had signage only.