With new funding in hand, the Heiltsuk Indian Band is preparing to revitalize its scenic community trail, a recent favourite for residents and tourists exploring Bella Bella.
The $10,000 grant comes from the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC (ORCBC), which named the band one of its 2025 recipients.
"I'm just so grateful for the funding to be coming through and helping... Since I became the economic development officer, I've been really pushing for trail funding because it's the health of our nation before the wealth of our nation, right? We need to become healthy before we become wealthy," said Evangeline Clifton from Heiltsuk Nation.
The funds will go toward buying materials and training community members to build two key bridges along the trail. One bridge will be constructed over a salmon-bearing stream, while the other will cross over a creek.
The grant will also be used to pay workers for general path maintenance.
What is now a beautiful pathway residents enjoy came to fruition after significant efforts to make it safe for use.
“Many people have tried to build or rebuild the trail since the late '80s, early '90s and it wasn’t done to a standard that was sustainable,” said Clifton.
"We have just officially rebuilt it last year," she added. It has now been made in a way that makes the path wide and very low maintenance.
"The trail is amazing. We have a lot of regular users from home," said Clifton.
The trail was heavily used decades ago, and the community is now reclaiming and revitalizing it. As part of these efforts, a bridge was built last year to connect the trail with the area across the street, and a zipline was added to enhance its appeal. Clifton noted the zipline has succeeded in drawing in children and offering a fun new activity for families.
Approximately 1,500 community members use the space for walking, picnicking, and swimming in the stream.
"It seemed so much more percentage of usage over the last year than the past two or three decades," said Clifton.
She emphasizes that trail maintenance and safety needs to be ongoing rather than one-time efforts. On rainy days, visitors can find themselves ankle-deep in moss, mud, and bugs, while on a sunny day, the path can be solid, offering safe footing.
"There's so much more that goes into trail building and maintenance than just cutting a few bushes."
The economic development officer explained that, as a fishing community, Bella Bella has always been very seasonal. Through grants like the one from ORCBC, her goal is to create land-based jobs that can help fill the gaps left by seasonal fishing work.
