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 produce
a non-profit website and blog at trailsnet.com. As a lifelong bicyclist and
trail-user, I believe that the United States has one of the most incredible and
extensive systems of trails in the world. I also believe that this system is vastly
under-utilized and often unheralded.
Thirteen years ago, I had the opportunity to ride the
Trail of the Hiawatha in Idaho. It is easy for me to remember this event
because 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 such
trails existed that would allow three generations to explore history, nature,
tunnels and trestles while sharing valuable time together and getting an
abundance of fresh-air and exercise.
I began to research trails on the Internet and had a
difficult time finding any information about the vast network of trails that I
was 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 was
especially interested in highlighting family-friendly trails that could be used
for both recreation and transportation.
The more I researched, the more I discovered an abundance
of such trails. Now, after thirteen years of trail sleuthing, I have good news
and bad news. The good news is that there are not only thousands of great
trails out there, but there are also a multitude of websites devoted to helping
people find these trails. The bad news is that there is very little coordination
of the various trail entities and websites. The other bad news is that there is
still a lack of information (at least coordinated, comprehensive information) available
to potential trail users. The trails exist, but most people do not know about
the trails. And many of the websites devote the majority of their time and
resources to mountain bike trails than the utility trails that are useful to
most Americans. In fact, most of the trail websites still do not even have a
special category dedicated to multi-use, accessible trails such as rail-trails
and canal trails.
As I travel the country, riding and researching trails, I
am constantly amazed that people aren’t aware of the wonderful trails located
right in their back yards. Once these people are made aware of the trails, they
love them and use them prodigiously. And think of what that means for our
country. 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 our
American trails? Surprisingly, it would take very little. In a word, it would
take coordination. The trails already
exist in abundance. The organizations such as American Trails and Rails to
Trails Conservancy already exist. The websites such as Traillink, Everytrail,
and Alltrails already exist. The government agencies such as the Forest
Service, National Park Service, and Department of Transportation already exist.
What is missing is the coordination between these entities; and another missing
link is any type of coordinated communication to the general public. There is
no synchronizing body to bring these various agencies together.
It would not take a great deal of funding to provide the
coordination needed to bring this issue to the forefront. In fact, it would take
very little if any federal government funding. For a relatively small level of
funding, we could educate Americans about the trails that are available. We
could organize the systems that currently exist so that our trails are
discovered and utilized to their maximum potential. We could help individuals
take advantage of the health benefits of our trail system and small businesses
take advantage of the economic benefits of nearby trails. Studies have shown
that trails have a far-reaching and positive impact on the communities through
which they pass, but many of these communities have no idea how to take
advantage of such opportunities.
I would like to help develop a system that allows us to
coordinate and make use of our current trail system to a much greater extent
than it is currently being utilized. Whether this program is funded through
state government, federal government, corporate sponsors (REI, Trek, Microsoft,
etc.), non-profits (Rails to
Trails Conservancy, American Trails), website sponsors (Expedia, Trails.com,
Google) or private donations, it is time to introduce the American people to
the incredible resources already located within their country, state, and community.
I would greatly appreciate your help in getting this
initiative off the ground. Colorado has a rich history of outdoor recreation
and environmental stewardship. Wouldn’t it be great if Colorado’s elected
representatives took the lead on this issue? It is one of those rare
opportunities to make a substantial impact with very little government
spending. And the impact would be far-reaching including: recreation,
transportation, environmental responsibility, healthy lifestyles, and job
creation.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this issue. I
look forward to hearing from you about helping to create a new direction for
one of America’s greatest yet most underutilized assets. Please contact me for
further ideas, information, and suggestions. I greatly appreciate the
leadership you two have provided for our state and country. I am proud to have
you as Colorado’s elected representatives.
Respectfully yours,
Kevin L. Purdy
