Regional Trail Network Development
Introduction
Downstream Strategies works at the forefront of regional trail network development in West Virginia.
Since 2019, Downstream Strategies and our partners, Friends of the Cheat, have spearheaded efforts to develop the Mountaineer Trail Network and its governing body, the Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Authority (MTNRA), from a concept into reality.
Working closely with 15 participating counties, our team led a grassroots planning effort from 2019–2021, supported by the Just Transition Fund, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and a myriad of local entities. We developed a unified vision and scope for the Mountaineer Trail Network and built a regional coalition of 15 West Virginia counties and 20+ supporting organizations. As a direct result of this work, MTNRA is now West Virginia’s first fully recognized multi-county trail authority for non-motorized recreation.
Modeled as a non-motorized equivalent to the Hatfield-McCoy Trails, the Mountaineer Trail Network is poised to be a game-changing driver of trail-based tourism and economic development in our region.
The Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Authority
MTNRA is an economic development authority created by the West Virginia Legislature in 2019. MTNRA’s mission is to oversee the creation, launch, and operation of the Mountaineer Trail Network, a tourism-focused trail network highlighting the best of northern West Virginia’s trails for biking and boating.
As of 2021, MTNRA’s Board of Directors includes representatives appointed by 15 participating county commissions spanning northern West Virginia: Barbour, Doddridge, Grant, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Mineral, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Ritchie, Taylor, Tucker, Upshur, and Wood.
As the driving force behind the Mountaineer Trail Network, Downstream Strategies and Friends of the Cheat continue to co-facilitate MTNRA. Downstream Strategies staff serve as the technical experts providing research, strategy, grant writing, and outreach for MTNRA and Friends of the Cheat. We also serve as the lead trail and tourism planners behind the Mountaineer Trail Network. Friends of the Cheat serves as MTNRA’s initial fiscal sponsor and houses its interim executive director.
Launching the Mountaineer Trail Network
Through our role as MTNRA’s lead technical experts, Downstream Strategies staff have led grant writing and fundraising efforts that have secured over $1.3 million for the Mountaineer Trail Network to date.
Among our key achievements was a $1.1 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s POWER Initiative, crafted by Downstream Strategies and awarded to Friends of the Cheat on behalf of MTNRA in October 2021. The goal of this project is to launch the Mountaineer Trail Network in 2024.
Over the next three years, Downstream Strategies will guide MTNRA through the process of evaluating trails across our 15-county region and selecting the top existing, tourism-focused trail areas for inclusion within the Mountaineer Trail Network. POWER funds will be used to enhance and market these trail areas and nearby tourism businesses as a nationally and world-renowned tourism destination for biking and boating.
Within its first 10 years of operation, the Mountaineer Trail Network is expected to bring an increase of 1 million new visitors to the region and create 300+ local jobs in northern West Virginia.
Groundbreaking legislation
In March 2019, Governor Jim Justice signed SB 317 into law as West Virginia Code §20-17, which authorized the creation of MTNRA. SB 317 also authorizes three or more adjacent counties elsewhere in the state to form a multi-county trail network authority for non-motorized recreation.
Once an authority is formed, it has the power to enter contracts that provide liability protection for landowners who have recognized trails on their property.
Based on staff analysis of the legislation and comprehensive research into models used by other states, Downstream Strategies staff developed recommendations on how to improve SB 317 and worked with Friends of the Cheat and local elected officials to incorporate those recommendations into House Bill (HB) 4499. Signed into law in April 2020, HB 4499 expanded the Mountaineer Trail Network footprint to 15 counties and added flexibility for the Network to include commercial trail entities and allow user permits as desired.
As of 2021, all 15 counties have appointed representatives to serve on the Mountaineer Trail Network Authority board of directors.
Preston County Trail Plan
From 2019–2020, Downstream Strategies crafted the first in a planned series of county-level plans for the Mountaineer Trail Network as part of Friends of the Cheat’s POWER-funded planning initiative. Focused on Preston County, this document pilots a custom planning methodology developed by Downstream Strategies staff for counties within the Mountaineer Trail Network.
Designed as a tool for leveraging trail-based tourism development, this plan catalogs existing assets and highlights key opportunities for trail and tourism infrastructure development in Preston County. As such, the document serves as a stand-alone planning tool for Preston County stakeholders to guide local trail and tourism development efforts already underway. It is also a critical first piece of what will become a greater Network-wide master plan.
Photos: Big Bear Trail Center (left); Adam Webster (top)
