Vermont Mountain Bike Association Awarded Grant To Construct New Trail
The Compass Claremont, NH Mar. 16, 2011
The Vermont Mountain Bike Association(VMBA)recently announced that it is receiving a $154,000 grant from the United States Forest Service(USFS),to create new bike trails and improve existing ones, while also increasing bike access throughout the Green Mountain National Forest.
Photos courtesy of VMBA
The VMBA is a non-profit organization based in Waterbury, dedicated to promoting trail advocacy through education, planning, funding, establishing and maintaining the multi-use trails throughout the state of Vermont. VMBA executes responsible, environmentally sensible trail use, as well as the creation and maintenance of community recreation trail networks.
Vermont Youth Conservation Corps(VYCC)is also a non-profit youth, leadership, service, conservation and education organization that instills and executes the values of personal responsibility, hard work and respect for the environment.
Through hard work and a strong partnership between the VMBA and VYCC, the focus of this project is to improve sustainable mountain biking locations which are compatible with other outdoor activities and will help diversify Vermont's recreational facilities.
The grant allocation comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and will be used to build a nine-mile mountain bike trail dubbed the Chandler Ridge-Leicester Hollow Loop Trail. The trail will start and end at the Silver Lake campground in Goshen, with the trail work taking place in Moosalamoo National Recreation Area, which is a congressionally designated area within the National Forest.
The VMBA has worked closely with the USFS on the project and will provide project management, as well as oversee the crews doing the construction of the trails. The trail system will also be accessible from Branbury State Park in Brandon and the Blueberry Hill Ski Center in Goshen, with an estimated completion date of fall, 2012.
"We have been partnering with the USFS for three years on this project and we saw good progress in 20010, through the hard work of VYCC crews and we are delighted with this funding allocation for 2011," VMBA Executive Director Patrick Kell said in a recent press release statement. "We expect to see the Chandler Ridge-Leicester Hollow Loop Trail completed or close to it, by the fall of 2011. A big thanks to the USFS for their vision in developing this trail."
The new trail will offer unique destinations, with combinations of trails along the shores of Silver Lake, a ridgeline trail on Chandler Ridge, fascinating geology in Leicester Hollow and camp ground facilities at Silver Lake, with the
aforementioned additional access from Branbury State Park.
The Vermont Department of Tourism is also encouraging the bike trail theme, certainly realizing the potential in which the new and improved trails promote the outdoor beauty of the Green Mountain State.
"Mountain bike tourism is the perfect fit for our Vermont Brand," Megan Smith stated in a recent press release. Smith is the Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism. "It encompasses the use of our natural landscape while promoting good health and family fun.
"As we expand our venues for mountain biking we will be contributing to local economies in areas that might not have already had a focus on outdoor recreation, therefore, bringing in new types of business."
The VMBA not only create new multi-purpose trails throughout the state, but also works to improve existing trails. Other current VMBA projects include the Adams Camp Ride Center in the Stowe-Waterbury area, Rocky Point Chandler Ridge Trail and the Riverside Farm Trails in Pittsfield.
To learn more about the Vermont Mountain Bike Association visit www.vmba.org or the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps at www.vycc.org.