I recently met with a representative for Senator Michael Bennet. I was scheduled to meet with Senator Udall in June, but was unable to make it to Washington D.C. as planned.
At my recent meeting with Representative Bennet’s assistant, I asked him to deliver the following letter to Colorado Senators about assisting me in developing a coordinated network of trails in the United States:
Dear Senators Bennet and Udall,
Thank you for the opportunity to present you with my ideas.I am confident that you will find this information useful and worthwhile.
I am a retired public school teacher and currently producea non-profit website and blog at trailsnet.com. As a lifelong bicyclist andtrail-user, I believe that the United States has one of the most incredible andextensive systems of trails in the world. I also believe that this system is vastlyunder-utilized and often unheralded.
Thirteen years ago, I had the opportunity to ride theTrail of the Hiawatha in Idaho. It is easy for me to remember this eventbecause my daughter was one year old and my father was in his mid-seventies.This was a pivotal moment in my life, because I had not realized that suchtrails existed that would allow three generations to explore history, nature,tunnels and trestles while sharing valuable time together and getting anabundance of fresh-air and exercise.
I began to research trails on the Internet and had adifficult time finding any information about the vast network of trails that Iwas starting to discover through travel, word-of-mouth, and extensive research.So I decided to develop my own website to help people find trails. I wasespecially interested in highlighting family-friendly trails that could be usedfor both recreation and transportation.
The more I researched, the more I discovered an abundanceof such trails. Now, after thirteen years of trail sleuthing, I have good newsand bad news. The good news is that there are not only thousands of greattrails out there, but there are also a multitude of websites devoted to helpingpeople find these trails. The bad news is that there is very little coordinationof the various trail entities and websites. The other bad news is that there isstill a lack of information (at least coordinated, comprehensive information) availableto potential trail users. The trails exist, but most people do not know aboutthe trails. And many of the websites devote the majority of their time andresources to mountain bike trails than the utility trails that are useful tomost Americans. In fact, most of the trail websites still do not even have aspecial category dedicated to multi-use, accessible trails such as rail-trailsand canal trails.
As I travel the country, riding and researching trails, Iam constantly amazed that people aren’t aware of the wonderful trails locatedright in their back yards. Once these people are made aware of the trails, theylove them and use them prodigiously. And think of what that means for ourcountry. With increased trail use, comes decreased obesity, decreased traffic,decreased fossil fuel use, decreased sedentary lifestyles, decreased pollution…
What would it take to vastly increase the use of ourAmerican trails? Surprisingly, it would take very little. In a word, it wouldtake coordination. The trails alreadyexist in abundance. The organizations such as American Trails and Rails toTrails Conservancy already exist. The websites such as Traillink, Everytrail,and Alltrails already exist. The government agencies such as the ForestService, National Park Service, and Department of Transportation already exist.What is missing is the coordination between these entities; and another missinglink is any type of coordinated communication to the general public. There isno synchronizing body to bring these various agencies together.
It would not take a great deal of funding to provide thecoordination needed to bring this issue to the forefront. In fact, it would takevery little if any federal government funding. For a relatively small level offunding, we could educate Americans about the trails that are available. Wecould organize the systems that currently exist so that our trails arediscovered and utilized to their maximum potential. We could help individualstake advantage of the health benefits of our trail system and small businessestake advantage of the economic benefits of nearby trails. Studies have shownthat trails have a far-reaching and positive impact on the communities throughwhich they pass, but many of these communities have no idea how to takeadvantage of such opportunities.
I would like to help develop a system that allows us tocoordinate and make use of our current trail system to a much greater extentthan it is currently being utilized. Whether this program is funded throughstate government, federal government, corporate sponsors (REI, Trek, Microsoft,etc.), non-profits (Rails toTrails Conservancy, American Trails), website sponsors (Expedia, Trails.com,Google) or private donations, it is time to introduce the American people tothe incredible resources already located within their country, state, and community.
I would greatly appreciate your help in getting thisinitiative off the ground. Colorado has a rich history of outdoor recreationand environmental stewardship. Wouldn’t it be great if Colorado’s electedrepresentatives took the lead on this issue? It is one of those rareopportunities to make a substantial impact with very little governmentspending. And the impact would be far-reaching including: recreation,transportation, environmental responsibility, healthy lifestyles, and jobcreation.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this issue. Ilook forward to hearing from you about helping to create a new direction forone of America’s greatest yet most underutilized assets. Please contact me forfurther ideas, information, and suggestions. I greatly appreciate theleadership you two have provided for our state and country. I am proud to haveyou as Colorado’s elected representatives.
Respectfully yours,
Kevin L. Purdy
