Trail Groups Need a Statewide Perspective
I recently was struck by two things while looking at a state map of rail trails: just how far we've come and how far we still have to go. It was 1975 when the 8.9-mile Paint Creek Trail was built in Oakland County and 1989 when the Hart-Montague Trail opened. The latter was Michigan's first linear state park. Within a few years, it had 60,000 annual visitors. The 34-mile Kal-Haven Trail also opened around then. Five years later it had 75,000 using that trail annually. Back then, the White Pine and Musketawa trails were only a gleam in state trail planners' eyes. Today, there are 1,340 miles of rail trail in Michigan. Some are complete. Some not. There are 88 in all. The benefits to their respective communities have been inestimable, but most who have looked at the question agree that they provide strong economic, health and quality-of-life benefits.
State dream possible?
And yet, to look at the map, one has to wonder whether the state's vision of a network of interconnected trails ever will be possible. These are very different times. The story that changed is the usual one: State money and staffing is less available. The state was the major driving force for years. Today it is busy trying to get out of the business. Increasingly, it has looked for local partners. On the White Pine, much of the work is done by Friends of the White Pine Trail and adjacent communities. But in Van Buren County, things are different. The state just signed a 25-year lease with the county to manage 45.5 miles of rail trail there -- 14 miles of the Van Buren State Park Trail between Hartford and South Haven and most of the Kal-Haven Trail. The lease is for 25 years. The $4.4 million in rent will be offset by $4.5 million the county intends to invest in operations and maintenance.
Potential for confusion.
While those are examples of how things are changing -- and not necessarily for the worse -- management diversification rather than centralization brings with it the potential for greater confusion. You know: the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. And sometimes it simply doesn't care. For instance, Muskegon County has chosen not to get involved managing the Musketawa Trail, but Ottawa County has stepped forward. The trail runs through both. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the difficulties. What happens when you try to connect that local trail with another? What happens if you see the possibility for connecting it with another 100 miles away? The bold idea behind the Michigan Trailways Act of 1994, to form a state Trailways Commission and Trailways Fund -- a group whose job it was to coordinate and help fund state trailway development -- has gone the way of so many snowmen. It just melted into oblivion. Which where the value of grassroots coordinating groups has become essential. At the regional level there are groups such as West Michigan Trails and Greenways Coalition, which have brought together a strong core of local interests. It also has made it more important to have groups with a statewide perspective -- the Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance, for example. The role once played by the Michigan office of the National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has since shifted to this group. "There is so much to be done in Michigan that we felt we needed an organization here to keep that focus," said Nancy Krupiarz, the executive director for MTGA. Trail enthusiasts likely know her name. Krupiarz ran the Michigan Rails-to-Trails office before the national organization closed it, opting instead last October to consolidate its midwestern effort in Ohio. "We would have ended up lending our help to some of the other states," said Krupiarz, who jumped ship along with assistant director Barry Culham, who coordinated the RTC's popular Michigander bike ride. They formed the non-profit MTGA and the two are now focused intently on statewide coordination and trying to give a boost to mid-Michigan communities, which Krupiarz said "have been neglected for so long." In an effort to get the left hand communicating with the right, the MTGA is hosting Connecting Michigan:A Statewide Trails Planning Partnership conference in Flint on April 13. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been invited to speak. Department of Natural Resources director Becky Humphries has agreed to speak. Michigan Surgeon General, Kimberlydawn Wisdom has been invited also to speak. Krupiarz said considerable discussion is needed. "Fifty percent of the trails are the state's and the other 50 percent are locally operated," she said. "Whether it's way-finding signs, maintenance, promoting trail-based tourism or finding money, there isn't a lot of coordination. We're hoping to bring the other regional efforts into a statewide program." With such a long way to go and so many disparate parts, the idea of statewide connected trailways needs a friend. I suspect we will hear a fair bit more about MTGA in coming years.
By Howard Meyerson - Friday, March 17, 2006 - The Grand Rapids Press
Check out www.michigantrails.org for more information on the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. MTGA brochure/trail map is usually available at most Grand Rapids area bicycle shops.
I recently was struck by two things while looking at a state map of rail trails: just how far we've come and how far we still have to go. It was 1975 when the 8.9-mile Paint Creek Trail was built in Oakland County and 1989 when the Hart-Montague Trail opened. The latter was Michigan's first linear state park. Within a few years, it had 60,000 annual visitors. The 34-mile Kal-Haven Trail also opened around then. Five years later it had 75,000 using that trail annually. Back then, the White Pine and Musketawa trails were only a gleam in state trail planners' eyes. Today, there are 1,340 miles of rail trail in Michigan. Some are complete. Some not. There are 88 in all. The benefits to their respective communities have been inestimable, but most who have looked at the question agree that they provide strong economic, health and quality-of-life benefits.
State dream possible?
And yet, to look at the map, one has to wonder whether the state's vision of a network of interconnected trails ever will be possible. These are very different times. The story that changed is the usual one: State money and staffing is less available. The state was the major driving force for years. Today it is busy trying to get out of the business. Increasingly, it has looked for local partners. On the White Pine, much of the work is done by Friends of the White Pine Trail and adjacent communities. But in Van Buren County, things are different. The state just signed a 25-year lease with the county to manage 45.5 miles of rail trail there -- 14 miles of the Van Buren State Park Trail between Hartford and South Haven and most of the Kal-Haven Trail. The lease is for 25 years. The $4.4 million in rent will be offset by $4.5 million the county intends to invest in operations and maintenance.
Potential for confusion.
While those are examples of how things are changing -- and not necessarily for the worse -- management diversification rather than centralization brings with it the potential for greater confusion. You know: the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. And sometimes it simply doesn't care. For instance, Muskegon County has chosen not to get involved managing the Musketawa Trail, but Ottawa County has stepped forward. The trail runs through both. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see the difficulties. What happens when you try to connect that local trail with another? What happens if you see the possibility for connecting it with another 100 miles away? The bold idea behind the Michigan Trailways Act of 1994, to form a state Trailways Commission and Trailways Fund -- a group whose job it was to coordinate and help fund state trailway development -- has gone the way of so many snowmen. It just melted into oblivion. Which where the value of grassroots coordinating groups has become essential. At the regional level there are groups such as West Michigan Trails and Greenways Coalition, which have brought together a strong core of local interests. It also has made it more important to have groups with a statewide perspective -- the Michigan Trails & Greenways Alliance, for example. The role once played by the Michigan office of the National Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has since shifted to this group. "There is so much to be done in Michigan that we felt we needed an organization here to keep that focus," said Nancy Krupiarz, the executive director for MTGA. Trail enthusiasts likely know her name. Krupiarz ran the Michigan Rails-to-Trails office before the national organization closed it, opting instead last October to consolidate its midwestern effort in Ohio. "We would have ended up lending our help to some of the other states," said Krupiarz, who jumped ship along with assistant director Barry Culham, who coordinated the RTC's popular Michigander bike ride. They formed the non-profit MTGA and the two are now focused intently on statewide coordination and trying to give a boost to mid-Michigan communities, which Krupiarz said "have been neglected for so long." In an effort to get the left hand communicating with the right, the MTGA is hosting Connecting Michigan:A Statewide Trails Planning Partnership conference in Flint on April 13. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been invited to speak. Department of Natural Resources director Becky Humphries has agreed to speak. Michigan Surgeon General, Kimberlydawn Wisdom has been invited also to speak. Krupiarz said considerable discussion is needed. "Fifty percent of the trails are the state's and the other 50 percent are locally operated," she said. "Whether it's way-finding signs, maintenance, promoting trail-based tourism or finding money, there isn't a lot of coordination. We're hoping to bring the other regional efforts into a statewide program." With such a long way to go and so many disparate parts, the idea of statewide connected trailways needs a friend. I suspect we will hear a fair bit more about MTGA in coming years.
By Howard Meyerson - Friday, March 17, 2006 - The Grand Rapids Press
Check out www.michigantrails.org for more information on the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. MTGA brochure/trail map is usually available at most Grand Rapids area bicycle shops.
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