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TACI first announced its plans to build the technical trails in June 2019, but president Vaughn Filmer said the project was on hold while DOC reviewed its conservation management strategy for the area. In the meantime, funding had been received from Meridian s Manapōuri Power Up Fund, The Backcountry Trust, and the Kepler Challenge Mountain Run Trust; and with the designs complete, TACI was just waiting for consent. Filmer agreed that technical tracks for experienced riders would bring tourists to the region. “In places like Queenstown and Rotorua, the contribution to the economy has been in the tens of thousands,” he said. “No one would argue that it’s not worthwhile.”