Jess McDiarmid
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 9, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - A volunteer who's been plowing trails across Frame Lake for pedestrians this winter won't be providing the service anymore after a run-in with municipal enforcement officers.

Lloyd Thiessen, a Range Lake Road resident, started clearing two pathways across the lake in November after getting a new quad.

"I was just doing it for fun, I got a new toy this year and I thought it would be easier to walk," said Thiessen.

He was clearing the recent snowfall Friday evening when two bylaw officers on snowmobiles stopped him, lights flashing, and asked for his driver's license, registration and insurance information, said Thiessen.

"One stood in front of me and one stood behind me the whole time," he said. "(They) kind of read me the riot act, you know, how this is endangering the public and if somebody got hurt on your trails, we would be suing you, and (they) brought up the Jason Christensen crash."

Christensen was 21 when he died after crashing his snowmobile into the wall of a chute made for the 2003 Canadian Championship Dog Derby.

His family later filed a lawsuit against the city, the territorial government, paramedics, the dog derby and Caribou Carnival.

"I said, 'That was on the dog sled trails and those embankments are three to four feet tall and very steep,'" said Thiessen. "I was a first responder to that crash so I know it very well."

Thiessen said he took care to feather the banks of the trail so it would remain safe for snowmobilers, who crossed frequently without issue.

The roughly two kilometres of trail took between a half-hour to an hour to plow.

"I thought it was safer having those trails because pedestrians were walking on the trails instead of just anywhere on the lake," said Thiessen. "And most snowmobilers were respecting that."

Doug Gillard, Yellowknife's manager of municipal enforcement, said the city had no comment on Monday.

Thiessen said people frequently stopped him to say thanks for plowing the trails and he wished he could keep doing it.

"I loved doing it, it was a lot of fun," he said. "But with a cloud like this over my head … it's not worth it for me anymore."