Champions

A Conversation With the 2021 Rail-Trail Champion: Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb

Posted 01/25/22 by Brandi Horton, Cory Matteson in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, Indiana, Rail-Trail Champion

Gov. Eric Holcomb at the Next Level Trails program announcement in 2019 | Courtesy Indiana Department of Natural Resources

The state’s Next Level Trails program, part of the broader Next Level Connections infrastructure directive pushed by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, is investing millions to accelerate trail development across the state. The program, which levels the playing field for trail projects of all sizes and spreads investment to small towns, suburbs and urban hubs alike, could serve as a model for other states and is one reason that RTC is honoring Holcomb as the 2021 Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion.

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Gov. Eric Holcomb at the Next Level Trails program announcement in 2019 | Courtesy Indiana Department of Natural Resources

A Conversation With the 2021 Rail-Trail Champion: Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb

Posted 01/25/22 by Brandi Horton, Cory Matteson in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, Indiana, Rail-Trail Champion

The state’s Next Level Trails program, part of the broader Next Level Connections infrastructure directive pushed by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, is investing millions to accelerate trail development across the state. The program, which levels the playing field for trail projects of all sizes and spreads investment to small towns, suburbs and urban hubs alike, could serve as a model for other states and is one reason that RTC is honoring Holcomb as the 2021 Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion.

Vermilion River Regional Greenway in Minnesota | Photo by TrailLink user travistschepen

Tom Petri Awards Honor 13 Outstanding Trail Projects and Programs in 2021

Posted 11/11/21 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Policy, Success Stories | Tagged with Champions, Federal, Funding, Maintenance and Volunteers, Motorized Use, Recreational Trails Program, State and Federal Programs, Success Stories, Transportation Alternatives

This week, the Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT) honored this year’s recipients of the Tom Petri Recreational Trails Program Annual Achievement Awards, including twelve projects and a state recreational trails program. The awards—honoring former U.S. Representative Tom Petri (WI)—specifically recognize outstanding use of Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funds, which have historically supported states in developing and maintaining recreational trails and trail-related facilities around the country.

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton delivering her keynote remarks at the May 8, 2019, launch of the Great American Rail-Trail in Washington, D.C. | Courtesy RTC

Rail-Trail Champion Eleanor Holmes Norton on Linking the Nation by Trail

Posted 01/28/21 by Brandi Horton, Cory Matteson in Success Stories, Policy | Tagged with Capital Trails Coalition, Champions, Rail-Trail Champion

For her long-standing efforts to support trail networks in her native Washington, D.C., and across the United States, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has named Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) America’s 2020 Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion.

Graphic courtesy RTC

Ask Me Anything: RTC President Ryan Chao and Midwest Director Eric Oberg Chat Trails, Tourism and Transportation

Posted 12/06/19 by Brandi Horton, Ryan Chao in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Route of the Badger, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, TrailNation, Wisconsin

Through a special live-streamed Ask Me Anything-style conversation, we caught up with Ryan Chao, president of team RTC, and Eric Oberg, director of trail development for the Midwest Regional Office.

Keith Laughlin riding Caracara Trails | Photo courtesy RTC

Former Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin Named 2019 Rail-Trail Champion

Posted 12/02/19 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Connected Systems, Great American Rail-Trail, RTC in Action, TrailNation, Transportation Alternatives

Former Rails-to-Trails President Keith Laughlin Named 2019 Rail-Trail Champion. When Keith Laughlin became the second president of RTC in 2001, he did not envision he’d help usher in a golden age for trails.

Facatativá to Puerto Salgar rail-trail project corridor field visit | Photo courtesy RTC

RTC Brings TrailNation Vision to President Duque of Colombia

Posted 10/11/19 by Liz Thorstensen in Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Demand for Trails, Heritage and Restoration, RTC in Action, Rural Communities, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trails of the World, Urban Pathways

RTC was invited to Bogotá, Colombia by the city’s renowned Mayor Enrique Peñalosa to lend our assistance in the planning of the country’s first rail-trail project, just outside of Bogotá, culminating with a presentation to Colombia President Iván Duque Márquez.

Ian Mackay, founder of Ian's Ride (second from left), at the foot of Mount Rainier with friends Jesse Collens, Kenny Salvini and Todd Stabelfeldt | Photo by Teena Woodward

A Serious Injury Changed Cyclist Ian Mackay’s Life. Trails Helped Him Rebuild It.

Posted 08/27/19 by Scott Stark in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Champions, Design Strategies, Featured Magazine Articles, Great American Rail-Trail, People with Disabilities, Trail Use Tips, Walkability and Bikeability, Washington, Why Use Trails?

A motorized wheelchair powered by sip-and-puff inputs coupled with the ever-improving voice recognition capabilities of a smartphone offered Mackay a degree of independence, and allowed him to get outside without a caregiver at his side at all times. The Olympic Discovery Trail, a rail-trail that runs near his home, called to him. “That trail is where I found my solace,” Mackay said. “I was a field biologist before. I spent a ton of time outside.” Now, he said, “I could start exploring the Pacific Northwest on my own and appreciate those loves I had before I was injured.”

Katy Trail State Park | Photo by TrailLink user ryskat

A Loss for the Rail-Trail Community: Missouri Trail Champion Darwin Hindman Passes Away at 86

Posted 06/18/19 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in America's Trails | Tagged with Champions, Missouri

The lasting gift Darwin Hindman helped to provide, not only to the state of Missouri, but to the entire country—the 237-mile Katy Trail State Park—a project, was convincing former Missouri Governor John Ashcroft and the state legislature to convert from an unused rail line.

Along the route of the Great Redwood Trail in California | Photo by Charles Gandy

Seeds Planted for California's 300-Mile Great Redwood Trail

Posted 05/17/19 by Laura Cohen in Building Trails, America's Trails | Tagged with California, Champions, Connected Systems, Ecology and Environment, RTC in Action, Rural Communities, Tourism and Economic Development, Tourism and Economic Stimulus, Trail Destinations, Walkability and Bikeability, Wild and Wonderful

Hundreds of trail enthusiasts gathered in Arcata, California, on May 4, for a Town Hall to learn more about the Great Redwood Trail—a 300-mile proposed walking and biking trail that would stretch from the shores of San Francisco Bay to the redwoods of Eureka on Humboldt Bay, highlighting California’s wine country as well as some of the state’s most treasured and remote natural areas.

Photo by Eva Garcia

A Grand Slam: 2019 Opening Day for Trails

Posted 04/16/19 by Suzanne Matyas in America's Trails, Trail Use, Health and Wellness | Tagged with Repairs and Trail Safety, Baltimore Greenway Trails Coalition, BATC, California, Capital Trails Coalition, CelebrateTrailsDay, Circuit Trails, Community Events, Demand for Trails, Encouraging Trail Use, Health and Active Living, Healthy Aging, IHTC, Local Organizing, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Route of the Badger, RTC in Action, Tourism , Tourism and Economic Development, Trail Businesses, Trail Communities, Trail Destinations, Trail Use Tips, TrailNation, Walkability and Bikeability, Wisconsin, Young Champions

On Saturday, April 13, people across the country kicked off the spring trail season on Opening Day for Trails (Opening Day). For the last seven years, Opening Day has brought trail newbies and long-timers together to say goodbye to winter and get outside on America’s spectacular trails and trails systems.

Pat Jones (left) on Katy Trail State Park in Missouri | Photo courtesy Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Twitter

Missouri Trail Patron and Conservationist Pat Jones Passes Away at 93

Posted 12/19/18 by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in America's Trails, Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Missouri, Rail-Trail Champion, Rural Communities

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was deeply saddened to learn that Hilda P. Jones—known to family members, friends and colleagues as “Pat,” passed away on Dec. 17 at her home in Williamsburg, Missouri. Pat and her husband the late Edward Jones, who died in 1990, are known for their important contributions to the conservation movement, including supporting the creation of two epic rail-trails in Missouri: the 240-mile Katy Trail State Park and the developing 144-mile Rock Island Trail.

2018 Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions Award ceremony | Photo by Hung Tran

Central Author of Historic Trail Legislation Named 2018 Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion

Posted 09/27/18 by Amy Kapp in America's Trails, Policy, Taking Action, Success Stories, Building Trails | Tagged with Champions, Demand for Trails, Federal, History Happened Here, Rail-Trail Champion

One of the most important moments in the history of the rail-trail movement happened behind the scenes, with little fanfare or notice, when National Park Service (NPS) staffer Peter Raynor drafted an invaluable piece of legislation in just a few words.