Building Trails Page 8

Brent Hugh, executive director of the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, speaks at the rally. | Photo by Brandi Horton

Six Ways RTC Made a Difference for Trails This Year

Posted 11/30/17 by Brandi Horton in America's Trails, Building Trails, Policy, Taking Action | Tagged with Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, Best Of, California, Circuit Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Equity, Facts and FIgures, Florida, Funding, Local Organizing, Mapping and Technology, Maryland, Miami LOOP, Missouri, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, State and Federal Programs, Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities, Walkability and Bikeability

As 2017 draws to a close, here’s a look back at six ways RTC made a difference for trails. Through our work, we witness trails strengthening economies, putting people first when it comes to mobility, promoting health and protecting our environment.

Photo courtesy NVJ | CC BY-NC 2.0

Notice: Upcoming Railroad Abandonment in Stearns County, Minnesota

Posted 11/29/17 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Abandonment Notices, Corridors and Railbanking, Minnesota

On or about Nov. 20, 2017, BNSF Railroad Company filed for the abandonment of 1.75 miles of track in St. Cloud, Stearns County, Minnesota. We are providing this information because it presents an opportunity to develop a real regional asset: a multiuse trail that can accommodate hikers, bikers, equestrians and other appropriate uses.

Notice: Upcoming Railroad Abandonment in Portage County, Ohio

Posted 11/21/17 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails | Tagged with Abandonment Notices, Corridors and Railbanking, Ohio

On or about Nov. 13, 2017, Norfolk Southern Railroad Company filed for the abandonment of 5.5 miles of track in Aurora in Portage County, Ohio. We are providing this information because it presents an opportunity to develop a real regional asset: a multiuse trail that can accommodate hikers, bikers, equestrians and other appropriate uses.

Cleveland's Hope Memorial Bridge on the Ohio & Erie Canalway Towpath Trail | Photo by Paul F. Neumann

It’s Ohio’s “Year of the Trails”—and Big Things Are Happening. (Here Are Six.)

Posted 11/06/17 by Brian K. Housh in America's Trails, Building Trails, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Best Of, Connected Systems, Demand for Trails, Equity, Federal, Funding, Health and Active Living, IHTC, Ohio, State and Federal Programs, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Walkability and Bikeability

Here’s a brief overview of just six trail projects that are moving the dial in the Buckeye State. This fall kicked off Ohio’s Year of the Trails, and with so many trail networks under development, there is definitely cause for both celebration and promotion of these vital assets.

Photo by Amy Kapp, courtesy RTC

Ohio Legislative Trails Caucus Helps Kick Off Ohio’s “Year of the Trails”

Posted 11/06/17 by Brian K. Housh in America's Trails, Building Trails, Policy | Tagged with Community Events, Demand for Trails, Funding, IHTC, Local Organizing, Ohio, State and Federal Programs, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailNation, TrailsTransform, Why Use Trails?

This fall 2017 kicks off Ohio’s Year of the Trails, so named by the state legislature, and with multiple trail networks under development—at the local, cross-state and even interstate levels—there is definite cause for celebration.

Blue Springs trailhead, Chief Standing Bear Trail, Nebraska | Photo by Don Rice

Landmark and Legacy: Nebraska’s Chief Standing Bear Trail

Posted 11/01/17 by Cory Matteson in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Ecology and Environment, Featured Magazine Articles, Heritage and Restoration, History Happened Here, Local Organizing, Maintenance and Volunteers, Nebraska, Rock Island

The 22.9-mile Chief Standing Bear Trail helps memorialize the 1877 walk of the Ponca Tribe back to their homeland, led by Chief Standing Bear and known as the Ponca Trail of Tears.

Photo courtesy OneFuller | CC BY-NC 2.0

Notice: Upcoming Railroad Abandonment in Larimer County, Colorado

Posted 10/17/17 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Abandonment Notices, Colorado, Corridors and Railbanking

On or about October 10, 2017, BNSF Railroad Company filed for the abandonment of 0.5 miles of track between Milepost 74.5 and Milepost 75.0 in Fort Collins, Larimer County, Colorado. We are providing this information because it presents an opportunity to develop a real regional asset: a multiuse trail that can accommodate hikers, bikers, equestrians and other appropriate uses.

The Cowboy Trail's spectacular crossing of the Niobrara River near Valentine | Photo by Eric Foster

Nebraska's Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail

Posted 09/12/17 by Laura Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use, Building Trails | Tagged with Demand for Trails, Funding, Local Organizing, Maintenance and Volunteers, Nebraska, Trail Destinations, Trail of the Month

Adventurers, take out your bucket lists and write this one down. Nebraska’s Cowboy Recreation and Nature Trail offers an authentic Old West experience, small towns with genuine, friendly people and picturesque landscapes of the High Plains and pristine prairie. At a whopping 219 miles, it’s already the third longest rail-trail in the country and yet has 100 more miles awaiting future development.

Milwaukee Skyline | Photo courtesy iStock by Getty Images

A Plan for the Route of the Badger to Reconnect Milwaukee

Posted 08/28/17 by Willie Karidis in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Case Studies, Design Strategies, Equity, Facts and FIgures, Walkability and Bikeability, Wisconsin

Southeast Wisconsin has more than 340 miles of world-class trails and the potential for incredible low-stress bicycling routes, but the honest assessment of access to many of those trails is a story of inequality.

New River Trail State Park, Virginia | Photo by Tom Bilcze

Moving the Dial: RTC Celebrates 30 Years of Impact

Posted 08/15/17 by Brandi Horton in America's Trails, Building Trails, Success Stories, Policy, Taking Action | Tagged with Best Of, Case Studies, Facts and FIgures, RTC in Action, Success Stories, Walkability and Bikeability, Why Use Trails?

For three decades, we have served as the national voice for trails, establishing a movement and setting the precedent that rail-trails are need-to-have community assets. As we build momentum, it’s a great time to pause and reflect on our achievements—and those of the rail-trail movement—summarized in RTC’s recently released 2016 Annual Report.

Supporters of the Rock Island Trail rallied at the state Capitol in Jefferson, Missouri. | Photo by Brandi Horton

Rallying for Missouri’s Rock Island Trail

Posted 08/15/17 by Brandi Horton in America's Trails, Building Trails, Taking Action | Tagged with Community Events, Demand for Trails, Local Organizing, Missouri, Rock Island, RTC in Action, Rural Communities, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities

I’m just coming off of a trip to Jefferson City, Missouri, where I met dozens of people who live along the Rock Island rail corridor. Hearing their stories about what this future trail means to their lives affirmed the importance of the work that we are doing. Beyond that, though, it affirmed how critical this trail is to the well-being of the small towns it will pass through.

Tracks in Augusta | Photo courtesy Jim Grey | CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Notice: Upcoming Railroad Abandonment in Blackford County, Indiana

Posted 08/10/17 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with Abandonment Notices, Corridors and Railbanking, Indiana

On or about Aug. 1, 2017, Norfolk Southern Railway Company filed for the abandonment of 0.2 miles of track in Hartford City, Blackford County, Indiana. We are providing this information because it presents an opportunity to develop a real regional asset: a multiuse trail that can accommodate hikers, bikers, equestrians and other appropriate uses.