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A Publication
of the Holmes County Rails to Trails Coalition
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A Publication
of the Holmes County Rails to Trails Coalition
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President's Comments >> |
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| Greetings
to all Friends of the Trail. 2001 has proven to be another busy year for
our trail project. It seems that each year provides new and different challenges
on the road to completing the Holmes County Trail.
We have been fortunate to have been awarded a grant for the completion of the northern third of the Holmes County Trail in 1999. This large grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation was a very welcome boost to our project. Upon acquiring sufficient local funding to supply the necessary match, we will proceed with construction. The Holmes County Commissioners have been very supportive in the project. They are working with our group and some other projects in the County to obtain necessary local funding through other sources. Keep watch in the local media for upcoming Trail events. The Trail will serve as a venue for the upcoming Cystic Fibrosis walk, the CROP walk, and other local fundraising events. Do you have any suggestions for our newsletter? Please let us know. We would like our newsletter to be informative and interesting. You will find several interesting articles in the newsletter that will be worth saving. We continue to need your support. Although we are seeking funding from a variety of sources, funding from private and corporate local donations has been the bedrock of our project from the beginning. Without this support, we could not have come to this point today. Thanks for your past support and please continue to support our project. Have a great year. Robert "Andy" Hart, MD Chairman, Holmes County Rails to Trails Coalition |
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|
Clean up Day A Success" |
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| "Spring on the Trail" |
On the day of the vernal equinox I walked and biked the wetlands section
of the Trail. Since the equinox is a seasonal marker on the great wheel
of time, I needed some assurance that winter may actually give way to spring.
This year winter was like (he guest who came for lunch and forgot to leave.
Curmudgeon that it was, on the first day of spring there were a few signs
that winter is, at last, packing its bags.
Even though the temperature was only in the upper 40s, a few spring peepers
were calling their shrill cries of hope. By the end of the month and in
early April when nighttime temperatures stay above 50 degrees, the little
chorus frogs, about the size of a man's thumbnail, will be joined by hundreds
of their kin and the marshes will become an exuberant concert of celebration.
A festival of fecundity.
In spite of the chilly weather, catkins on the willows and aspens were
swelling and turning silvery, another indication that spring, though timid,
is ready to burst forth. Likewise, along parts of the Trail the first coltsfoot
of the season were showing their bright yellow blossoms. Coltsfoot is one
of the few wildflowers that seem to thrive in the harsh environments of
roadsides and rail beds.
At first glance coltsfoot looks like a miniature dandelion, but on closer
examination its yellow blossoms are the only resemblance it shares with
dandelion. Coltsfoot blooms before any of its leaves appear, which convinced
early botanists that the plant was leafless. Only after its bright flowers
have turned to downy seed heads and line the nests of chickadees do its
horse-foot shaped leaves begin to grow. By mid-summer the leaves of coltsfoot
are the size of the foot of an adult Paint or a yearling Belgian.
I always thought that coltsfoot was the golden harbinger of spring until
I walked the Trail on the first of spring. I found another one! A new wildflower
entered my life that day and how pleasant it was. Between the washout of
Township road 92 (across the Trail from the swan), I found numerous yellow
wildflowers in bloom. Flowering low on the ground amid clumps of green
leafery, the five to seven petaled flowers were at least an inch across.
My first thought was marsh marigolds - not, it's too early for those water-loving
plants to bloom. Checking the filed guide, I identified the flowers as
chrysogonum (Chrysogonum virginianum). The common name for the pretty
flower is green-and-gold.
According to the guide chrysogonum is common in the southeastern United
States; from central Pennsylvania and southeastern Ohio through the Carolinas
to northern Florida across to eastern Louisiana. It prefers moist woodlands
like those between the Trail and Killbuck.
March was lion-hearted from start to finish but nature is telling that
the universe is still in order and that we are privileged to be a part
of the unfolding of another growing season.
David Kline
Author & Rails to Trails Board Member
| McCULLOCH BRIDGE MEMORIAL |
| Correction :
In the previous newsletter, a misprint for the Trail Train Sponsors should have been Schlabach Custom Homes. Thank YOU for your support! |
| Troops on the Trail |
| The Killbuck District Boy
Scouts have really taken a liking to the Holmes County Trail project. On
April 28th these Boy Scouts and their leaders cleaned up litter along old
State Route 62 and CR 91 in Killbuck They had over 25 garbage bags full
of glass bottles, cans and plastic. Thank you Scouts, for your continued
support of the Holmes County Trail!
Troop
69 Apple Creek, Ohio
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What
Are Trails and Greenways?
Greenways are corridors
of protected open space managed for conservation and recreation purposes.
Greenways often follow natural land or water features, and link nature
reserves, parks, cultural features and historic sites with each other and
with populated areas. Greenways can be publicly or privately owned, and
some are the result of public/private partnerships. Trails are paths used
for walking, bicycling, horseback riding or other forms of recreation or
transportation. Some greenways include trails, while others do not. Some
appeal to people, while others attract wildlife. From the hills of inland
America to the beaches and barrier islands of the coast, greenways provide
a vast network linking America's special places.
Why
Establish Trails and Greenways?
Trails and greenways positively
impact individuals and improve communities by providing not only recreation
and transportation opportunities, but also by influencing economic and
community development. Some of the many trails and greenways benefits include:
"Three new gift shops have recently opened, another bike shop, a jewelry store, an antique and used furniture store, a thrift shop, a Wendy's Restaurant and a pizza and sandwich shop have also cropped up. All this is happening, and only with the PROSPECT of the trail opening in July. There is an air of excitement and anticipation now within this community. Something Connellsville has not felt for many years." - Chris Wagner, Executive Director of the Greater Connellsville Chamber of Commerce, Pennsylvania
Environmental
Benefits
Greenways protect important
habitat and provide corridors for people and wildlife. The preserved Pinhook
Swamp between Florida's Osceola National Forest and Georgia's Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge protects a vital wildlife corridor. This important
swampland ecosystem sustains numerous species including the Florida black
bear, timber rattlesnake and the Florida sandhill
crane.
Trails and greenways help improve air and water quality. For example, communities with trails provide enjoyable and safe options for transportation, which reduces air pollution. By protecting land along rivers and streams, greenways prevent soil erosion and filter pollution caused by agricultural and road runoff.
Greenways also serve as natural floodplains. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, flooding causes over $1 billion in property damages every year. By restoring developed floodplains to their natural state, many riverside communities are preventing potential flood damage.
Finally, trails and greenways are hands-on environmental classrooms. People of all ages can see for themselves the precious and intriguing natural world from which they often feel so far removed.
Preserving
Our History and Culture
Trails and greenways have
the power to connect us to our heritage by preserving historic places and
by providing access to them. They can give people a sense of place and
an understanding of the enormity of past events, such as Native American
trails and vast battle-fields. Trails and greenways draw the public to
historic sites. The six-mile Bethabara Trail and Greenway in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina draws people to the birthplace of the city, the original
Moravian Christian village founded in the late 1700s. Other trails preserve
transportation corridors. Rail-trails along historic rail corridors provide
a glance at the importance of this mode of transportation. Many canal paths,
preserved for their historic importance as a transportation route before
the advent of railroads, are now used by thousands of people each year
for bicycling, running, hiking and strolling. Many historic structures
along canal towpaths, such as taverns and locks, have been preserved.
Through their votes, thousands
of Americans have said 'yes' to preserving open spaces, greenways, farmlands
and other important habitat. During the 1998 election, voters in 44 states
approved over 150 conservation-related ballot initiatives. Trails and greenways
provide what many Americans seek - close-to-home recreational areas, community
meeting places, historic preservation, educational experiences, natural
landscapes and beautification. Both trails and greenways help communities
build pride by ensuring that their neighborhoods are good places to live,
so that children can safely walk or bike to a park, school, or to a neighbor's
home. Trails and greenways help make communities more attractive and friendly
places to live.