Project Name: Algonquin Trail Agriculture Awareness Signage

Project summary and highlights:

Renfrew County Federation of Agriculture, in partnership with the County of Renfrew/Agricultural Economic Development Committee designed and installed a series of trail signage at various locations on the Algonquin Trail, a former railway turned four season 219km recreational trail that travels through vast areas of agricultural land in Renfrew County. The signs were installed permanently, constructed of high-quality aluminum, and installed using wood posts cemented into the ground.

6 Larger (4’x4’) signs are installed at the main ‘car park’ areas, as well as at a few key locations used as rest stops/warming locations or easy access points along the trail. 20 Smaller (2’x2’) signs are installed at other locations where the trail travels through agricultural or sensitive areas. The goal of the signage is to remind trail users to respect the land through which the trail travels, keeping in mind the concepts of private property, biosecurity and general safety of both the trail users and the landowners (and livestock they may have); and to share interesting information about agriculture and the commodities that may be in production along the trail (dairy, beef, grains, oilseeds, vegetables, etc.). The signs are both visually appealing through use of colours and high-quality graphics and they are informative with simple and fun facts.

Describe lasting and relevant impact to the OFA membership.

This project helps in reminding recreational trail users to remain on the trails, respect private property, and biosecurity concerns of the agricultural and sensitive lands along the Algonquin Trail. It will also provide a lasting opportunity to share information about our local agriculture ecosystem with trail users and is an opportunity to promote the concept of buying local foods and share awareness of the agricultural products grown within our region. This is also a project that can be added to, as more parts of the trail are opened or we identify additional areas or topics that could be highlighted.

Bonus – any lessons learned, or surprises?

Choosing what facts to include, when you want people to be able to read/see them when travelling on ATV/snowmobiles as well as walking, you have limited space and limited numbers of signs is challenging!

Travelling the trail to identify locations for signs took much longer than anticipated… and we could probably have put up double the number of signs and it would still feel like there aren’t enough.