The Great Trails State Coalition (GTSC) held their first statewide conference with the help of NCSU’s Recreation Resources Service. The sold-out event offered three days of breakout sessions and plenary meetings to the 375 attendees representing nonprofits, municipalities and industry. An Awards Luncheon was a featured event with two Burke County residents and one project being highlighted.
GTSC founding member Beth Heile was tapped to present the Legislative Champion Award to Rep Hugh Blackwell. Without his primary sponsorship of the NC Tear of the Trail bill and co-sponsorship of the Complete the Trails bill, the Coalition would not have had key successes early in the organization’s founding. Blackwell also supports the coalition’s efforts in updating policies to get trail on the ground faster and cheaper with sediment and erosion control permitting and natural surface trails in NCDOT right of way. He also sponsored legislation authorizing three state trails in Burke County – for the Fonta Flora State Trail, Wilderness Gateway State Trail, Overmountain Victory State Trail.
In presenting the award, Heile said, “Representative Blackwell does not just sit in Raleigh signing bills for others to do trail work. He got his boots on the ground when he followed through on his vision of a trail along the river and through downtowns in Burke County to provide economic development opportunities and quality of life to towns that had lost manufacturing. Representative Blackwell led site visits to all the municipalities and several large landowners to personally explain the trail, its benefits and gather support. With all that groundwork, Burke River Trail (BRT) held a ribbon cutting for the first section of trail built specifically for BRT with a new 0.6-mile trail on Burke County Public School Property in August.”
Thinking she was only there to spotlight Representative Blackwell, Heile was then recognized with the Year of the Trail Spirit Award, given to an individual who exemplified the core purposes of the campaign, inspiring people to discover trails, boosting rural tourism and demonstrating the importance of trails to elected leaders.
During the presentation GTSC Coordinator Palmer McIntyre shared, “Our recipient not only shepherded the legislative process for the Year of the Trail bill and devoted a ridiculous number of hours as a campaign volunteer at the state level, but she also championed year of the trail in her area through creative events and just an incredible amount of enthusiasm. Beth Heile, from Burke County, come on up.”
A local trail in the county was recognized with a Trail Impact Award for creating a much needed trail access. The Table Rock Climbers Access Trail was a combined effort between Carolina Climbers Coalition, the Access Fund, American Alpine Club, NC RTP Program, National Forest Foundation, Conservation Corps of NC, Wild South, Outward Bound, Access Fund, TAASC, area climbing gyms, and area volunteer rock climbers.
Several trail experts from Burke County led breakout sessions to educate small blocks of 30-60 attendees. Beth Heile, Executive Director, Burke River Trail Association led the session – Using Visitation Statistics to Show Economic Impact, Brandon Thrower, Race Director, Tanawa Adventures shared how three long distance running events each bring 300-400 people to Burke County during a session titled Programming Trails to Change Lives and Communities, Shane Prisby, Trails Program Director Foothills Conservancy of NC spoke about Trail Building: Best Practices, and Tim Johnson, Director of Outdoor Recreation Planning, Destination by Design – Trails as Community Identity – Case Studies and Equine Trails: New Equine State Trail and Best Practices. Rep Hugh Blackwell was part of a legislative panel at a conference wide event.
Other attendees from Burke included Sarah Chabaane, Trails Planner Burke County, Michael Berley, City of Morganton, David Andersen, Town of Valdese, Valerie Scott, President, Burke River Trail Association, Joseph Litaker, Black Diamond Designs, Bryant and Linda Lindsey with Overmountain Victory State Trail.
The Great Trails State Coalition, made up of nonprofits, local governments and industry partners, advocates for funding and policies for trails across the state. The organization is responsible for the NC Year of the Trail Campaign and is working to brand NC as The Great Trails State.
