Adventure Cycling has started a "Trailblazer" program for the
Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. So far donors have "purchased" 216
miles of the route at $100 per mile. Proceeds will go toward
developing, mapping, and publicizing the off-pavement touring route
that follows the Continental Divide from Montana to New Mexico.
The Howell Wetlands Outdoor Education Center of Evansville,
Indiana, is building a half-mile boardwalk from recycled-plastic
lumber. Indiana Power and Light Co. gave $5,000. The utility
has contributed $147,000 to environmentally-oriented projects in the
last three years. Another $10,000 came from the Wal-Mart
Foundation.
Another utility company involved in trails is the Salt River
Project, which is helping the Arizona Trail with a $3,400 grant
to produce directional and interpretive signs. Other corporate
partners for the Arizona Trail are Hughes Missile Systems, BHP
Copper, and Pace American, Inc.
A pivotal 40-acre section of the Ice Age Trail between the
cities of Madison and Verona, Wisconsin, has been acquired with the
help of the Madison Area Youth Soccer Association. The group's
payments over 50 years for leasing 30 acres of the parcel for a
soccer complex will cover a substantial part of the $600,000
acquisition [from Trust for Public Land publication Greensense]
Mitigation requirements for developments and highway projects are
routine, but an unusual twist helped fund the Clear Creek
Greenway near Golden, Colorado. After a massive beer spill into
the creek by Coors Brewing Company, the brewer agreed to
donate $1 million to stream projects, including a long-sought
corridor for the trail.
Indiana drivers are paying extra for special license plates
that benefit greenways open space, parks, and recreation. In 1995,
about $1.9 million was netted from sales of 75,740 plates. The plates
cost an additional $35, of which $25 goes to the Indiana Heritage
Trust. The state of Maine also has a "loon" license plate
which funds parks and wildlife. Since 1993 over 80,000 of the $20
plates have been sold.
In Idaho, cross-country skiers help pay for parking area
plowing and trail grooming through the Park 'N' Ski program. Skiers
can use 18 sites statewide by the purchase of a $15 annual
sticker.
In Colorado's San Luis Valley the Juvenile Restitution
Program has become a key source of labor for trail projects.
Mountain Trails Youth Ranch supervises the young people, who
have committed crimes and are required to earn money owed for
damages. Several community agencies and the State Off-Highway Vehicle
Program combine to support the program.
As part of a major training exercise, the Connecticut Army
National Guard reconstructed an abandoned railroad between Vernon
and Bolton. The combat engineer battalion will leave three miles of
trail that will be part of the Central Connecticut Greenway
system.
We hear so often about adjacent landowners opposing trails it's nice
to hear about the other side of the coin: In Colorado Springs,
the Rock Island Rail Trail is being partly funded by the
Rustic Hills Improvement Association of local homeowners.
Other work on the trail was done by a Boy Scout troop who
cleaned up ten miles of left-over railroad ties in the corridor.
The frogs, geese and waters of the Alcovy River Greenway near
Atlanta are making money with the help of Soundfisher Productions'
Steve Hulse (404/493-8218). Hulse has hiked, canoed and boated
through Georgia's wilds to record natural sounds and put them to
music. His first audio portrait "Sound Journey: The Natural Sounds of
Georgia," has paid for itself and now brings in $1,400 a month for
Alcovy greenway.