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Triangle Greenways Council Newsletter |
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May-June 2003
JUNE IS NATIONAL TRAILS MONTH Our Nation’s Trails – Pathways into Nature and History
During recent events in America and the world, perhaps we’ve reflected upon the gifts of freedom, as well as the beauty and majesty still extant in our Nation. In 2003, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of a defining event in our country’s history – the Lewis and Clark Expedition – the Journey of Discovery. The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail traverses 10 States, linking history, the environment, and “sustainable tourism for economic development.” See the official Internet portal for the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, which includes a link to the complete Expedition journals, at http://www.lewisandclark200.com/index.phtml
The Bartram Trail North Carolina is an Appalachian Trail state, but less known is the North Carolina Bartram Trail, also located in the western part of the state. The Bartram Trail enters the state just south of Highlands, near Rabun Bald. The trail curves in a north-to-west direction through Western North Carolina, joining the Appalachian Trail at two points and ending on Cheoah Bald. The North Carolina Bartram Trail Society maintains a 100-mile memorial trail in honor of the Philadelphia naturalist, William Bartram, who traveled throughout the Southeast from 1773 to 1777. During these travels, Bartram wrote vivid descriptions of the plants and animals he saw, and the Native American peoples he encountered, which he later published as ‘Travels of William Bartram.’ View the Bartram Trail Society’s website at http://www.ncbartramtrail.org/overview.htm Both of these remarkable trails, non-existent if not for the work of dedicated volunteers, trace the paths of the Cherokee and the land of the red wolf. They offer the presence of wildness, miniscule and precarious as it is. In a landscape overrun by consumer culture, we may still find traces of the untouched. To walk these paths is a journey deep into history - deep into a natural world where remnants of old growth forests can still be encountered.
The Trading Path Preservation Society
In the Triangle, a fledgling organization works to link the vestiges of our past with a trail for the future. The Trading Path Preservation Society seeks to preserve the historic Trading Path as a national heritage treasure. According to the organization’s web site (http://www.tradingpath.org/), the Trading Path was a “corridor of river crossings linked by roads and trails between the James River colonial settlements and the Catawba, Cherokee and other Indian towns in the Carolinas, Tennessee and Georgia. The Trading Path served Indian commerce prior to European colonization, and it served as one of the principal avenues for European penetration into the Piedmont of the Southeastern United States. Indian and, later, European settlements occupied key points along its course, many of which persist to this day. Around them, and in towns long abandoned and erased from the map, lies much of the history of the Southeastern Piedmont. Preservation of the remnants of the Trading Path will secure archeologically important materials as yet unstudied, create an unrivaled tool for education about the Piedmont’s peoples and environment, and bring heritage tourism to numerous economically bypassed rural communities in the Trading Path Corridor.” In our respective communities, local trails and greenways provide the transition into a natural environment, a respite from the urban milieu. They create the framework for a Green Infrastructure for generations to come. When our own history is written, perhaps the efforts to save these ‘emerald ribbons’ will be our greatest achievement, offering our progeny new pathways into nature and history.
National Trails Day 2003 – The Inauguration of the East Coast Greenway Thursday, June 5, 2003, 12:00 PM, Washington, DC The East Coast Greenway will be officially inaugurated in a gala event on the National Mall. Invited participants will include Members of Congress, Cabinet Secretaries, and hopefully the President himself. From the East Coast Greenway Alliance: “The inauguration will mark the 'Coming of Age' of the ECG vision, launched 10 years ago. There is now sufficient critical mass for the ECG "to go public." Not only is the ECG 20% complete with another 30% in various stages of development, planning, and construction, but we anticipate that a continuous on- and off-road route will be detailed for all 16 states so that by December 2003 users can travel from end-to-end. Our push then becomes to fill in the missing off-road gaps. We can best accomplish that by increasing public awareness, cementing strong government support and increase funding sources for constituent local trails. Inaugurating the East Coast Greenway aims to do that.”
Brief Statement of Purpose - East Coast Greenway Inaugural Event
·To increase public and official awareness of the East Coast Greenway (ECG) · To build the support of national partner organizations and officials for the East Coast Greenway · To build the support of state and local partner organizations and officials for the East Coast Greenway · To promote National Trails Day, 'Healthy Trails, Healthy People' · To showcase the ECG as conducive to promoting an active-living urban environment which leads to greater health and fitness for Americans · To use the ECG to showcase how transportation funding has developed popular and beneficial bicycling and walking facilities along the East Coast. For more information, see http://www.greenway.org/ (submitted by Chuck Flink)
The American Hiking Society The American Hiking Society has a website dedicated to National Trails Day, with links to events throughout the country, located at http://www.americanhiking.org/events/ntd/
National Trails Day Events in the Triangle
National Trails Day 2003 – Events in the Triangle (all events Saturday, June 7 unless otherwise noted)
1. Great Outdoor Provision Company & Eno State Park, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. Contact: Adrienne Wallace at Eno State Park 383-1686 or enoriver@gte.net. Bring work gloves, and water. Project: Work on a new section of the MST. Limited to 25 volunteers.
2. Friends of the Mountains to Sea Trail (FMST) at Falls Lake, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Contact: Jeff Brewer (919) 789-0501. Bring a bag lunch and plenty of water. Project: Trail Maintenance, Waterbars, and Bridge Repair. Tools needed: Hammers, loppers, and handsaws. Location: From 4-40 beltline in North Raleigh, take the Six Forks exit North. Follow Six Forks up North Raleigh towards Highway 98 (10 miles). Before reaching Highway 98, the Falls Lake Boat Ramp is on the Right. We will meet there and then move on to project sites. >From Durham, take Highway 98 from US-70 up to Six Forks, turn right. The Falls Lake boat ramp is 0.6 mile on the left.
3. REI & Harris Lake County Park, 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Contact Person: Christina Sorenen (919) 387-4342. Project: Trail Maintenance. Meet at the Picnic Area across from the playground.
Directions: Harris Lake County Park is located south of the Raleigh Beltline, via US1 south. From US1 take Exit 89 (New Hill/Holleman Rd.) Turn southeast (look for park sign at top of exit ramp) and proceed 2.5 miles toward Harris Lake. The park entrance will be on you right and the Cypress Shelter is at the end of the park road.
4. Triangle Trail Blazers – 10K walk/run. Contact: Pat Graeber 919-847-1075
5. People for Parks at B.W. Wells, 9:00 AM. To RSVP or for more information, call: Jamie Ramsey (919) 821-9059 or Bill Flournoy (919) 828-8322. A trail building project will be followed by refreshments at Rock Cliff Farm. Refreshments provided by Wellspring Grocery. In the event of rain, this project will be cancelled. No tools necessary, but shovels and pruners welcomed. Please call for directions to B.W. Wells State Recreation Area, a part of the Falls Lake State Recreation Area.
6. North Raleigh Mountain Biking Association at New Light Trails, 9:00 AM. Contact: Sig Hutchinson 919-846-8198. Regular Trail Maintenance will take place on the New Light Trails. Tools needed are clippers and handsaws. No chain saws will be needed. Bring plenty of water and a bag lunch.
7. Walkable Hillsborough Day, 9:00 AM. Contact: Holly Reid 919-5999. Celebrate the first annual Walkable Hillsborough Day to encourage non-automobile transportation for increased community neighborliness and interaction, good health, reduced pollution, and street safety. Event starts at 9:00 AM. Meet at the Old County Courthouse grounds in downtown Hillsborough.
8. Town of Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation. 3rd Annual Greenways and Open Space Awards ceremony, Monday. June 9, 6:30 PM, at the Chapel Hill Town Hall to honor volunteers and visionaries. Contact: Bill Webster, (919) 968-2787 ext. 214, bwebster@townofchapelhill.org.
9. Friends of the American Tobacco Trail/Triangle Rails-to Trails Conservancy Workday. Meet at 9:00 AM at Scott King Road and ATT intersection in Durham County. Rain or Shine. Help open this 2.85-mile rail-to-trail greenway. Tools needed: loppers, shovels, and several pickup trucks (for hauling gravel or mulch down the trail). Bring water, work gloves, and lunch. Directions: to Trailhead from I-40 exit Fayetteville Road south go past SouthPoint Mall approximately 2 miles and turn left on Scott King Road. Drive east approximately 1 mile to where the power line crosses Scott King Road. The ATT crosses there also. Contact: Thad Howard (H) 544-9126, thad.howard@duke.edu for directions or questions. 10. Durham Open Space and Trails Commission: Dedication ceremony at Sandy Creek Trail in SW Durham. The 10:00 AM ceremony will be followed by a leisurely fun walk. DOST and the Durham Parks and Recreation Department will be using NTD to dedicate the first phase of the Sandy Creek Trail. The first phase starts at the site of the future Sandy Creek Environmental Education Center and runs along the creek to Pickett Road, approximately 1 mile. The trailhead can be reached from Pickett Road by taking Sandy Creek Road that runs parallel to the 15-501 Bypass across from the Herald-Sun newspaper offices. On the Eve of National Trails Day: Events on the American Tobacco Trail Along with The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe, Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy will co-host an American Tobacco Trail workday on Friday afternoon, June 6, starting at 4:00 PM (the day before National Trails Day). The plan is to work on the ATT immediately south of Dunhill Drive and north of the Southpointe Crossing (Kroger) shopping center at the intersection of NC 54 and Fayetteville Road in southern Durham. This is the portion of the trail that was not improved in Phase C in southern Durham. It currently looks overgrown and unmanaged - which it is. Meet at the ATT gravel parking area between Southpointe Crossing (Kroger) shopping center and Fayetteville Street. From the I-40 Fayetteville Road exit, turn right or north onto Fayetteville Street at the top of the exit ramp and go toward Durham, go through the NC 54 light. Take the first left into the shopping center. Take the first right into the gravel parking area. Work will continue until dark or whenever finished. Please join TRTC anytime from 4:00 – 8:00 PM. TRTC will be working on the trail or perhaps gathered at the Nature Conservancy gazebo, at the end of the first office strip just to the north of Dunhill Drive on the right. Signs will be posted.
This will clean up a neglected but very much used portion of the ATT. The folks at NatureServe and TNC will make sure that it is done in environmentally conscious way. After the cleanup, the City of Durham may be able to install drop down bollards in place of the large boulders at the entrance of this portion of the trail, as well as paint some stripes along this portion so it will match the other segments of the ATT. Since TRTC wants to have enough refreshments for everyone, please let them know if you plan to make it to the event. Bill Bussey (billbus@gte.net) is the contact person for this event, so if you want more info, please let him know. (Submitted by Bill Bussey) TRIANGLE GREENWAYS UPDATE Durham Designers for the Downtown Trail section of the North/South Greenway (Haden-Stanziale) presented their work to the Durham Open Space and Trails Commission (DOST) and Durham Central Park on April 18. They will work up the construction drawings next, then put the project out for bids.Next month the Durham City Council will be asked to approve the municipal agreement with NCDOT for a new bike/ped bridge over NC 147 (Durham Freeway). The agreement will fund both the removal of the old, closed bridge (the rusty green eyesore over the Freeway between Bacon St. and Alston Ave.) and the installation of a new bridge. The new bridge will connect bikers and walkers south of the Freeway into the site of the planned TTA station. Several members of DOST and City staff are working on a native plant trail management scheme, with the aim of replacing turf grass along the greenways with native plants in appropriate locations. The ultimate aims are an introduction to native species for trail users and less mowing maintenance for staff.
(Submitted by Beth Timson) Cary On April 8, Cary citizens approved $30 million of Recreation Bonds that will be used for a variety of parks, recreation, and cultural arts opportunities, including 20 miles of greenways. Other items to be funded by the bonds include a performing arts center, a downtown park, a pedestrian crossing for US HWY 1/64 to Kids Together Park (from the Hinshaw Greenway trail), completion of Thomas Brooks Park, 7 neighborhood parks, and community parks. Chatham County At their March 17 meeting, the Chatham County Commissioners approved signing a lease of the American Tobacco Trail corridor with NC Department of Transportation. The Chatham section of the American Tobacco Trail corridor is owned entirely by NCDOT and will be leased by Chatham County for a period of ten years for the sum of a dollar a year.Chatham County still must enter into a lease and license agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers, similar to a lease and license already negotiated between the Corps and Wake County. The lease is vital because COE owns the portions of the corridor surrounding the Northeast and Panther Creek trestles, arguably the most scenic sections trail. Other than the bridge over I-40, these trestles will be the most expensive single links left in the entire ATT project.
The Triangle Greenways Council Board of Directors held a retreat on March 24 to set the Board’s direction for the future. The retreat enabled the Board to conduct a self-assessment of its effectiveness, and sharpen its planning strategies on the critical issues challenging land conservation in the Triangle. The Board will establish four committees to help define the TGC’s work program and more efficiently direct the Board’s energies toward achieving its goals. These are: Executive Committee, a Board Development/Nominating Committee, a Strategic Planning Committee, and a Public Relations/Outreach Committee. REGIONAL GREENWAYS UPDATE
On June 7, the Friends of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail will conduct a statewide workday for the MST. A total of seven worksites will be taking place on the MST or trails connecting to the MST. From west to east, these sites are: Mt. Mitchell State Park These events will run from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM and will consist of routine trail maintenance such as clearing brush, moving logs, installing water bars, repainting blazes, and picking up debris. Additional volunteers and volunteer groups are welcomed. Tools needed for the day include loppers, bow saws, and chainsaws. The FMST will supply most of the tools. Please bring a bag lunch, plenty of water, hiking boots, and wear work clothes. Check out the website of The Friends of the Mountains-To-Sea Trail, www.ncmst.org, for the latest updates and information. ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER – A FORMULA FOR GREENWAY SUCCESS (Editor’s note: The location of this metropolitan area was purposely omitted so that you may consider the similarities and differences with Greenway efforts taking place in our own Triangle region. The city is identified in the credit at the end of this article.) The greenway phenomenon in this large metropolitan area is noteworthy for the lack of formal planning. So how do we account for its success?One factor is the combination of clout and leadership demonstrated by [influential government officials and corporate leaders]. Together, they could get things built quickly and set an example. Another factor is the simplicity of the original greenway concept. River cleanup, small parks, boating improvements, and a continuous trail from city limit to city limit were easy to understand and hard to oppose. Once most of the city’s system was in place, the surrounding communities had a model to emulate and a system to connect with.Soon similar projects sprang up in the suburbs. It became a goal to have the greenway reach the larger reservoir-based parks and other destinations on the periphery of the metro area. Key public agencies also chimed in, adding a greenway or trail element to their infrastructure. The Department of Transportation added a trail to its beltway highway system, and the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District included trails (a.k.a., floodway maintenance roads) along stream corridors in their capital and maintenance funding programs. Developers also picked up on the process and added trail and greenway corridors to their projects.The system took on a life of its own, spreading, replicating, and integrating into the nation's most extensive regional urban greenway network. Now plans are afoot to link the greenway and trail systems into a 300-mile-long network that will eventually run north-south to adjoining state borders, connecting all the state’s major cities. Although there is no formal plan, a similar east-west system is also in development. (Excerpted from “Happy Trails: Greenways put their stamp on the Denver area” by Robert M. Searns, AICP. The article by Mr. Searns, co-author of ‘Trails for the 21st Century: Planning, Design and Management’, appeared in the January 2003 issue of Planning magazine, the publication of the American Planning Association.) ABOUT THE TRIANGLE GREENWAYS COUNCIL: WHO WE ARE · An advocacy organization: promoting greenways in the Triangle; organizing regional conferences; raising awareness; increasing networking; building a pro-greenway constituency. · An informational clearinghouse: a single source of information about every greenway project and program affecting our region; providing ‘trail alerts’ about important trails and greenways issues coming before local town boards, city councils, and county commissions; mapping the network of regional trails and greenways; sharing resources among the region’s trails, greenways, and parks advocacy groups. · A land trust: accepting donations of important greenway corridors; building a fund to purchase critical open space; maintaining and constructing trails within the region. QUOTE “The natural world is subject as well as object. The natural world is the maternal source of our being as earthlings and the life-giving nourishment of our physical, emotional, aesthetic, moral, and religious existence. The natural world is the larger sacred community to which we belong. To be alienated from this community is to become destitute in all that makes us human. To damage this community is to diminish our own existence.” -From: Thomas Berry, ‘The Dream of the Earth’ Savings
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