Recreational Trail Grants Awarded for 2009

The Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Recreational Trail Grants. The Recreational Trail Program is a federally funded competitive and reimbursable matching trail grant program. Grants are available for development and maintenance of recreational trails and facilities, acquisition of trail right-of-way, and development of safety and environmental protection education programs. This year's awards go to the following projects:

INTERIOR ALASKA:

EASTER DOME SINGLETRACK TRAIL: Happy Valley Phase: Funding will be used to construct a five mile, non-motorized, multi-use trail in Happy Valley (Fairbanks). The trail will be built to Forest Service, Class II, mountain bike trail standards. These standards incorporate sustainability requirements for alignment, grade, integrated water control, and durable tread. Alaska Trails was awarded $50,000 for this project.

CHENA FLATS GREENBELT PROJECT: Dosch/Vanderpool Acquisition: Funding will allow the Interior Land Trust to acquire two parcels of land adjacent to other trust lands acquired with grant funds. Parcels will be included in the Chena Flats Greenbelt Project, and increase the size of the greenbelt to 241 acres, preserving 1.1 miles of trail in the process. The Interior Land Trust was awarded $50,000 for this project.

DENALI HIGHWAY TRAIL CLUB: Project funds will be used to help the Denali Highway Trail Club provide winter trail grooming on the Denali Highway. Currently their Piston Bully is in need of a new set of tracks and funds from this grant will be used to replace them. Funds will also be used to address safety concerns along the Denali Highway winter trail by purchasing and placing an emergency shelter in a high wind area that has periodically left trail users stranded.

COMPEAU CONNECTOR TRAIL – PHASE II: Funding will be used to hire a contractor to operate a tracked dozer. The operator will be employed to cut an 8' bench, finishing the Compeau Trail. This is a continuation of work conducted in the summer of 2007 and 2008 in which grant funds were used to layout and construct 5.6 miles of trail. The Alaska State Parks, Northern Area Office was awarded $49,860 to complete this project.

IRON DOG TRAIL RESTORATION PROJECT: Project funding will be used to clear, brush and place signage on a 1.1 mile trail re-route around private property. This new section of trail was created as a joint effort by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the State of Alaska and volunteers to eliminate private property conflicts along the trail. An easement for the trail and reroute was recorded in 2003, and will be cleared and completed with grant funds. The Mat-su Trails Council was awarded $50,000 for this project.

WESTERN ALASKA:

SOCKEYE RUN BIKE PATH AND FITNESS TRAIL: The Sockeye Run Fitness Trail/Bike Path is a proposed 1.5 mile non-motorized use trail starting at the intersection of the Alaska Peninsula Highway and School Road in downtown Naknek. The trail will follow School Road then form an exterior circle around the Bristol Bay Borough K-12 school, the Southwest Elders Home, Bristol Bay Borough pool facility, the ambulance barn, EMS housing and Camai Clinic. Thus, allowing easy access to the school children for daytime physical education classes, the elders, emergency services staff, and the public. The Bristol Bay Borough was awarded $50,000 for this project.

NORTWEST ARCTIC BOROUGH TRAIL STAKING: Funding will maintain and restore trail markers on approximately 1,034 miles of existing winter trails connecting villages and communities in the Northwest Arctic Borough. The Northwest Arctic Borough was awarded $50,000 for this project.

KUSKOKWIM 300 TRAIL SYSTEM: Funding will be used to purchase and post reflective trail markers along the entire Kuskokwim 300 trail system. Use of wooden stakes with reflective markers along the trail will increase public safety and reduce the likelihood of deviating from the trail and becoming lost. The Kuskokwim 300 Race Committee was awarded $44,175 for this project.

KENAI PENINSULA:

CALVIN AND COYLE WOODLAND PARK NATURE TRAIL RE-DEVELOPMENT: Funding will re-route sections of trail to a more sustainable alignment. It will also be used to improve the tread of the existing trail system and develop trail interpretive materials. The Homer Soil and Water Conservation District was awarded $21,098 for this project.

SOUTHCENTRAL:

HILLSIDE SINGLETRACK PROJECT, PHASE II: Funding will provide for the design and construction of approximately 4 miles of singletrack trail in Far North Bicentennial Park in Anchorage. Trails will be built to sustainable standards for bikers and hikers. Alaska Trails was awarded $50,000 for this project.

DECEPTION AREA TRAILS/ LLOYD'S HISTORIC TRAPLINE TRAIL: The purpose of this project is to have the Deception Area Highland Trails / Lloyd's Historic Trapline Trail, which are part of the Haessler-Norris Winter Trail System, referenced in the Willow Area Trail Plan, to be surveyed with the state's minimum mapping standards. This survey will then be used in the near future to determine land status and to start the easement adjudication process for the trail system. The Willow Trail Committee was awarded $8,250 for this project.

COPPER CENTER SCHOOL TRAI PROJECT: Funding will be used for the maintenance and implementation of interpretive signage along 0.95 miles of trail. Funds may also be required to re-route a 500' segment of this trail if land-use authorization is not provided by the adjacent landowner. The Copper Valley Development Association was awarded $25,000 for this project.

TRAIL CREW LEADER - NANCY LAKE STATE RECREATION AREA: Funding will be used for a Trail Crew Leader at Nancy Lake State Recreation Area to supervise paid and volunteer trail crew members. Grant matching will be achieved through additional labor, supervision, transportation, and tools provides by Alaska State Parks. Funding will go towards a variety of trails within Nancy Lake and other Willow area parks. Funding request is for a two-year period. Alaska State Parks was awarded $44,730 for this project.

SEVEN-MILE LAKE TRAIL RE-ROUTE: Funding will be used to develop a new trail to Seven-Mile Lake along a sustainable route that was previously mapped by the Rivers, Trails, & Conservation Assistance Program. The new trail will be constructed to discourage the use of the existing degraded trail. The Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining, Land and Water was awarded $50,000 for this project.

SITKA CROSS TRAIL RECONSTRUCTION - SITKA HIGH SCHOOL TO KISHMAN AND GAVAN HILL - Sitka High School to Kishman and Gavan Hill: Funding will reconstruct over 5,000 ft of a popular trail in Sitka. The project will correct environmental degradation and resolve dangerous trail structures. Culvert installation will correct standing water and flooding of the trail bed, failing trail structures will be removes, and the trail will be widened and hardened to 8-10 feet. Sitka Trail Works was awarded $50,000 for this project.

NAGOONBERRY LOOP TRAIL: The Nagoonberry Trail will be 2.5 miles of gravel path winding through iris meadows, sweet gale thickets, stands of spruce and pine, along an open sand beach with panoramic views of Icy Straight and the Fairweather Mountains. The trail will provide the only established hiking route on the Gustavus Forelands. Both summer visitors and year-round locals will benefit from the trail. The trail will be owned, managed, and maintained by the Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy was awarded $50,000 for this project.

HOLLIS HARIS RIVER TRAIL: Funding will be used to reconstruct .75 miles of highly degraded trail by hardening and widening it to 60". The trail will terminate at a scenic waterfall. Funding will also be used to provide a sheltered picnic area with restrooms for area residents. If additional funding becomes available, a parking area will also be constructed, which will accommodate 10 vehicles. The Hollis Community Council was awarded $23,902 to partially fund the project. Insufficient funds were available to fully fund the entire proposal.

MIDDLE-DANGEROUS RIVER TRAIL: Project funds will be used to divert water from an existing, motorized trail by elevating and hardening trail tread with turnpike, geo-fabric and Geo-Block. Intermittent sections of boardwalk will also be integrated into the trail where necessary. The USFS - Yakutat Ranger District was awarded $50,000 for this project.

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