(Atlantic) Dave Chase, with Nishna Valley Trails, Inc., led a symposium this morning with individuals interested in the development and improvement of recreational trails in Cass County and southwest Iowa.
Chase said trail development in Iowa is at a peak interest point. He said this interest led to updating the Cass County Recreational Trails plan. The full plan can be found on the Cass County Conservation Board website.
Chase said he got involved in this back in the 90’s with the abandonment of the Iowa Interstate Railroad, which is now the T Bone Trail. He said unfortunately, that trail terminates three miles northeast of Atlantic and they have been working for 25 years to get that connection.
Chase said this wouldn’t just have local significance, it has statewide and national significance with the Great American Rail Trail initiative to get a cross country trail to cover 12 states.
53-percent of the trail is completed across Iowa.
Chase said Snyder and Associates has developed three connection plans to connect the T-Bone Trail. He said this is going to be an off-road, safe trail, and will involve some private land easements; but they want to be as less-intrusive as possible.
The focus isn’t just on the T-Bone trail connection, but adding more trails throughout the county and possibly connecting to trails in surrounding counties.
Bob Mortenson, President of Shelby County Trails, said they are also looking into connecting to other trails outside of their County because it has been shown that those connections multiply the usage of the trail and brings an economic boost to the County.
The next Trails Forum will be held September 19th at 10:30 a.m. at the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce meeting room. Anyone interested in the development of trails is encouraged to attend.
