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Western PA Trails Symposium
"Strengthening Our Connections"
October 22, 2010
The Regional Learning Alliance Conference Center
Cranberry Township, PA
Description/Goals/Agenda
The Western PA Trails Symposium will bring together the leaders in land and water trail development from Western PA. The symposium stems from the desire to capitalize on our increasingly connected trail system. How can we increase and take advantage of our connections to benefit more from our growing trail system? Western PA is well-poised to be a major statewide and national destination for outdoor recreation. This event is all about working together to capitalize on our success.
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AGENDA:
| 8:30 - 9:00 AM |
Registration & Continental Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:45 AM |
Welcome & General SessionTrails in the 21st Century Ted L. Eubanks, Fermata Inc. |
| 10:00-11:00 AM |
Concurrent Sessions |
| 11:15-12:15 PM |
Concurrent Sessions |
| 12:30-1:30 PM |
Lunch Buffet & Keynote Speaker John Quigley, Secretary, PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (invited) |
| 1:45-2:45 PM |
Concurrent Sessions |
| 3:00-4:00 PM |
Concurrent Sessions |
| 4:00-5:30 PM |
Happy Trails Dessert Reception hosted by the Rails to Trails Conservancy |
Trails in the 21st Century: Smart Trail App
This session will be a continuation of the opening session about new trends in technology that we can use to market our trails in the 21st century. Specific focus of this session is to discuss a Smart Trail App technology that will help trail builders to reach new users for their trail. This is also the opportunity to ask questions from the opening session.
Trail Maintenance Panel I: Day to Day Maintenance
Visitors and residents count on well maintained trails. Maintenance of our land trail system is vital to the ongoing success of the Western PA Trail System. If our trails fall into disrepair who will want to use them? Come to this session to learn about some good maintenance techniques to address your day to day maintenance issues and to engage in a discussion about what we need to do regionally to better maintain trails. Bring your maintenance related questions.
Trail Maintenance Panel II: Long-Term Sustainability
How are we going to keep the promise of well maintained trails into the future? It is more than just learning how to prepare and maintain a good trail surface. Trail managers must also assure that we have the resources to successfully maintain and manage our trails into the future. What are the policy implications of our need for more resources? This session is designed to be especially interactive so please come prepared to share your ideas.
Engaging With Water Trails
The PA Water Trails Partnership has a lot of new resources for local project managers wanting to develop water trails. Western PA has some great examples of creative ways that people are developing water trails. From mapping to signage to development of access, come to this session to learn about the statewide system and a local example.
Stormwater, Green Infrastructure and Trail Development
We might think that trail projects are green and sustainable by default, but there are ways that we can all improve the sustainability of our construction projects. DCNR has identified a “greening policy” for their grant program so it is more important than ever that we are all up on the latest strategies. We will talk about sustainable trail development, green infrastructure and stormwater issues.
Interpreting Your Trail
Our trails are natural corridors, but they can also be used to tell the stories from the past. What shaped out region and how did we get where we are today? There are some very interesting ways to tell our history. Please come to this session prepared to learn how and why to interpret your trail. This session will also give you an opportunity to “ask the expert” with your interpretation questions.
Reaching Your Audience
Marketing and communications are changing at a rapid pace. Tourism and marketing professionals will share some tools and tips for reaching your trail audience. They will also talk about how trails are being used in marketing this region. Come to this session to learn how to better coordinate with the tourism professional in your area.
Connecting Trails via Organizations
Not only does Western PA have several examples of major greenways, but we also have varying organizational models for development of our major trail systems. This session will discuss the similarities and differences between the major greenway efforts in Western PA so that participants can develop a system that will work in their local area and also learn how to learn from and connect to these efforts.
Legal Expert Discussion – Trail Development
Legal issues can be a challenge for trail development. We are bringing our legal expert to the table to discuss several relevant issues including rails with trails, liability concerns, railroad crossings, defending your corridor against quiet title action and more. Presenters will be available during lunch for an “ask the expert” time in case your questions are not fully answered by this session.
Keeping Vibrant Trail Volunteers
All trail groups struggle with keeping an active and engaged core of volunteers. Engaged volunteers are key to the ongoing maintenance of our trails. This is especially true as many groups experience an aging volunteer population. Come to this session to hear about some innovative ways to get and keep people involved in your trail.
Delivering on the Promise of Economic Development
Trails and greenways are important contributors to the local economy. We will learn about some examples from Western PA of communities who are experiencing economic benefit of their trails. The Trail Town Program has been working since 2007 to, “create jobs and grow businesses ‘one community at a time’”. Come to this session to hear from this group and others who are connecting their trail efforts to economic development for their local community.
Shared Use Trails
Representatives from motorized and non-motorized trail communities will discuss the issue of shared use trails. Drawing from specific project examples presenters will participate in a discussion about managing different users on trails and working together to get trails built.
For more information contact:
Hannah E. Hardy
HHardy[at]pecpa.org
412-481-9400
Sponsors:
Laurel Foundation
Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Rails to Trails Conservancy
Pennsylvania Environmental Council