The local government's draft Trails Strategy 2014-24 said the management and maintenance of trails was under-resourced, which meant it was difficult to keep trail infrastructure to an appropriate standard.

The strategy suggests some dangerous trails be closed to allow focus on maintaining more valuable tracks and suggests bush trails become part of a push to bring more nature-based tourism to the ACT.

Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said the ACT's growing population meant it was important to plan for conflicts that may arise between people pursuing different recreational activities on the trails.

The document said bush trails should be recognised through the Territory Plan or other development codes, because there was no explicit trigger in the planning process to ensure important bush tracks were protected from development.

Mr Rattenbury said in Molonglo, a newly developing area, it had taken a lot of work to ensure access to trails for horse riders had been preserved.

''That would be an example where it has been resolved, but it certainly required some quite dedicated effort and I think at the start the horse riders were very nervous that that access might be cut off,'' he said.

The release of the strategy comes after the government received criticism last month over the upkeep of the ACT's fire trails, when the opposition raised concerns that a lack of maintenance work on the trails could stop firefighters moving where they needed to go if there was an emergency.

But Mr Rattenbury said there was no danger firefighting efforts would be hampered by unmaintained trails this season.

He said the reference to unsafe trails referred to the personal safety of people using them for recreation, not to fire safety.

''Every fire trail that we need access to this summer we have access to, we have 100 per cent access to the fire trails that are necessary for strategic bush firefighting,'' he said.

Members of the public can comment on the draft strategy at www.timetotalk.act.gov.au.