Welcome!
Many people, passionate about what they do, are
volunteering time today to share their knowledge. Ask
questions, enjoy yourself, share stories.
Our goal is to make Vermont’s recreation trails the best
that they can be: safe, sustainable, and interconnected.
The Vermont Trials and Greenways Council
Seeks to ensure that people will always have access to adequate land and water-based trails and greenways.
Created through state statute in 1993, the Council is comprised of volunteers working to funnel information from user-groups to the Agency of Natural Resources, disperse competitive Recreation Trail Program Funds, and work to ensure a sustainable and safe network of recreation trails in Vermont.
“We do what we can, with what we have, where we are.” T. Roosevelt
Formed out of self organization, Vermont’s Recreation Trails practiced the systems of localvore back when
localvore was the way of life!
The goal of self organization systems is for the many different parts to work together, creating a better situation for all.
The history of Vermont Recreation Trails’ System of Self Organization
• Vermont’s uniquely oriented spine of ridge line sheds water to the Connecticut River and Lake Champlain, making for abundant recreation trail opportunities
• In 1910 the Green Mountain Club revolutionizes large scale landscape recreation management, paving the way for other user groups to create networks that branch beyond the local landscape
• Although these travel corridors are for the public good, needed funds to maintain the integrity of these systems necessitate the formation of membership based organizations
• Membership organizations develop and their efforts are subsidized by grants, allowing for heightened sustainability, standards, and navigation information for the user. This increases trail use and impact
• Non-profit membership organizations and towns take on large tasks and create organizational tunnel vision to achieve objectives and increase organizational effectiveness
All of these amazing developments lead to organizations finding common threads of benefit, working together, and shaping the future of Vermont’s Recreation Trails!
Vermont Trails and Greenways Council
Your unified voice for Vermont
Recreation Trails
ANR Commissioner
Vermont Trails and Greenways
Council
Catamount Trail
Cross-Country Skiers Vermont
Association of Snow Travelers
(VAST) Snowmobiliers
Northern Forest Canoe Trail
Paddlers
Cross Vermont Trail/Local Motion
Bicyclists Vermont ATV
Sportsman’s Association (VASA)
ATVers
Vermont Outdoor Guide Association
Guides Professional Trail Contractors
Trail builders Green Mountain
Club
Hikers Vermont
Towns
Town Forests, Conservation Commissions
Vermont Youth Conservation Corps/Northwoods Stewardship Center
Conservation Corps Upper Valley
Trails Alliance
Regional efforts
Hey, come on. Everyone’s doing it…..
http://www.outdoorindustry.org/images/researchfiles/OIA_OutdoorRecEconomyReport2012.pdf?167
Not surprising….. We like our outdoors.
A good way to see the bird’s eye view
• Vermont contains roughly 6 million acres of land and nearly a million acres of conserved land
• Vermont has approximately 7,099 miles of rivers and streams, 300,000 acres of fresh water wetlands and 809 lakes and ponds
• Trail Finder currently lists: – 198 trails for hiking – 155 trails for walking – 83 unpaved trails for biking – 23 paved on-road bike routes – 133 trails for xc skiing – 2 trails for ice skating – 13 trails for inline skating
To watch an emerging network of how recreation ties the state together you can go to the Vermont Trail Finder developed by Local Motion:
http://trailfinder.info/
What we have been doing to help:
• New website
• Vermont Trail Ethics
• Vermont Recreation Survey Series
• Developing an annual ANR Commissioner’s Report
Developed in the Vermont Trail Collaborative (2009-2011). The collaborative was comprised of three work groups: • Stewardship and
Communications • Landscape Management • Science Panel To explore all the resources that were developed during this process you can go to this link:
http://www.uvm.edu/tourismresearch/?Page=vttrailcollaborative.html
Survey 1 Statewide Recreation Trail Needs
December-February 2012 141 Responses
Survey 2 Landowner Incentives
April-July 2012 313 Respondents
Survey 3 Trail Permits
July-September 2012 39 Respondents
Trail Permit Survey
Please rank the permitting process in terms of how easy or difficult it is for each type of permit, if you have gone through the process.
Answer Options Very Easy Easy Moderate Difficult Very Difficult
Have not had to
use this
permitting
process
Rating Average Response
Count
Section 106- Archeological Permitting 0 2 7 4 1 17 4.77 31
Landowner agreements 0 3 13 6 0 11 4.09 33
Act 250 1 1 7 3 5 13 4.63 30
Wetlands 0 4 7 5 1 13 4.40 30
Ecological 0 2 7 2 1 14 4.69 26
Wildlife considerations 0 3 7 3 2 16 4.68 31
Other (please specify) 5
answered question 34
skipped question 5
How can we work together to make Vermont’s Recreation Trails Better? Reinstate the Recreation Division of the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation: • Currently there are no full-time recreation positions • The Division was disbanded over 15 years ago Increased funding developed at the state level: • Lifting the Gas Cap on the In-state Recreation Trails Program • Developing a recreation trails lottery ticket, similar to the Maine Outdoor Heritage
Program • Create a Recreation Trail License Plate • Tie Funding directly to user-groups Streamline the permitting process: • The various permitting systems need to collaborate and develop a minimum impact
threshold for recreation trails
Increase Landowner Incentives for allowing public use for recreation: • Create a tax incentive program for landowners who allow public recreation on their
property