Event marks milestone with featured speakers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 14, 2009
The
Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) at an event on Saturday, May 16 will officially designate the start of the
Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network (PHTN), a major milestone in creating the proposed regional
trail network that would traverse the 13-county Pennsylvania (PA) Highlands and offer new close-to-home recreational opportunities for millions of residents. The PHTN will begin in Bucks County at the Riegelsville Toll-Supported Bridge in Riegelsville, PA and connect to the 150-mile Highlands Trail in New Jersey (NJ) and New York (NY), which recently reached the NJ / PA border. Additionally, a new series of free “
Hike the Highlands” cards featuring 22 trail systems within local, state, and federal parks throughout the PA Highlands will be unveiled.
“The protection of our rivers, lands, and trails in the Pennsylvania Highlands region is of vital importance to the continued ecological and economic health of Pennsylvania. As citizens of the Commonwealth, we must do all we can to promote the conservation of these precious natural resources,” said State Senator Rob Wonderling (R-24th). “The Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network is a key piece to achieving the conservation of ecological and recreational resources in the Pennsylvania Highlands.”
As envisioned, the PHTN will expand on the multi-state Highlands Trail and stretch east- to-west more than 100 miles from Bucks to Adams Counties through a combination of co-alignment with existing trails, such as the Delaware Canal Towpath, Horse-Shoe Trail, Mason-Dixon Trail System, and new trail segments. The project’s initial focus for implementation is Bucks County, considered the gateway into the PA Highlands for its potential to connect with other trails, including the Highlands Trail, and form a protected greenway with priority conservation areas in Lower Northampton and Montgomery Counties.
The AMC is leading the PHTN effort in coordination with county greenway plans, trail stakeholders, local and state agencies, trail clubs, and land trusts. Over the last two years, the AMC has held roundtable discussions, convened a steering committee, and developed a prioritized action plan for the PHTN. Most recently, municipal outreach and community open houses have taken place in Upper Bucks and Lower Northampton Counties to begin implementing the action plan.
“The AMC has a long history of advocating for protection of the Pennsylvania Highlands and managing large-scale trail and recreation projects,” said Jennifer Heisey, AMC Mid-Atlantic Recreation Planner. “The possibility of conserving important natural lands in the region and providing more ways for the public to recreate in this area gives the Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network incredible significance.”
Major benefits of the PHTN for Bucks County and the entire PA Highlands region, which receives an estimated 14 million recreational visitors a year, will include:
- Expanded close-to-home opportunities for walking, hiking, biking, and horseback riding that are easily accessible to residents in over 180 municipalities in 13 counties. The PHTN is also a short distance from major cities such as Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Allentown, and Reading.
- Increased protection for the natural, scenic, recreational, and historical resources of the PA Highlands, which is recognized as a statewide mega greenway and designated as nationally significant by the federal Highlands Conservation Act.
“The Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network will provide communities in Bucks County with a physical connection to nature and a heightened awareness of the highly accessible outdoor resources that are available to them,” said State Representative Marguerite Quinn (R-Bucks).
The AMC along with a PHTN Bucks County Steering Committee consisting of residents from local municipalities in Upper Bucks and Lower Northampton Counties, the Bucks County Planning Commission, and PA DCNR will develop an initial action plan for the Bucks-Northampton section of the trail. The Steering Committee will work with local communities to identify a proposed trail corridor and complete a trail feasibility study and land protection plan for Bucks County. Trail options would start in Riegelsville and potentially connect with protected public lands at Nockamixon State Park and link Quakertown, Perkasie/Sellersville, and Milford Township to Green Lane Park in Montgomery County. Most of the 17 municipalities in Bucks County have already passed resolutions in support of protecting the PA Highlands and are expected to support the PHTN project.
“Riegelsville is very excited about being at the beginning of the Highlands Trail as it reaches Pennsylvania,” said Kathleen Weiss, Vice-President of the Riegelsville Borough Council. “We believe that as people become more and more concerned about their health and their need to connect with nature, there will be a need for more and more trails in this area.”
The AMC has received funding for PHTN coordination and planning through the support of state sources and private foundations, including PA DCNR, William Penn Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Claneil Foundation, and assistance from the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program.
“A major goal of DCNR is to establish close to home greenways and trails in 1,000 communities by 2010,” said Diane W. Kripas, Division Chief - Greenways & Conservation Partnerships Division - PA DCNR. “Thanks to the outstanding leadership of the AMC, the Pennsylvania Highlands Trail Network will connect communities to each other and to destinations like the Delaware Canal Towpath, allowing people to experience the natural beauty of this region.”
The PA Highlands region is a 1.9 million-acre forested greenbelt spanning the southeastern corner of PA, from South Mountain at the Maryland border to the Delaware River on the NJ border. The PHTN is expected to run through existing public lands wherever possible. The AMC will work with landowners to secure trail easements on private lands.
AMC partners actively involved in the PHTN project include the PA DCNR – Bureau of State Parks and Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Bucks County Planning Commission, Lancaster County Planning Commission, Montgomery County Planning Commission, Horse-Shoe Trail Club, Mason-Dixon Trail System, and Wildlands Conservancy.
The AMC has been active in outdoor recreation and conservation in southeastern PA for many years. Its Delaware Valley chapter offers hundreds of hiking, paddling, and bicycling trips each year and maintains a section of the Appalachian Trail in the state. AMC leads the Highlands Coalition, which advocates for federal land conservation funding through the Highlands Conservation Act, Forest Legacy, Land and Water Conservation Fund and other programs. AMC staff has collaborated with the PA DCNR in greenway mapping and has worked with local communities and agencies in identifying land conservation priorities in the Highlands.
The public is invited to attend the May 16 “Welcome to PA” Highlands Trail celebration in Riegelsville, PA with featured speakers State Representative Marguerite Quinn (R-Bucks), State Senator Rob Wonderling (R-24th), and Diane W. Kripas, Division Chief - Greenways & Conservation Partnerships Division – PA DCNR. The event is being coordinated by the AMC, New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, and the Borough of Riegelsville. Details are available at:
www.amcdv.org/HighlandsTrail/HighlandsCelebration2.jsp.
A PDF map of proposed PHTN routes and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) are available on AMC’s website at:
www.outdoors.org/about/newsroom/press.
To learn more about the PHTN project, download “Hike the Highlands” cards created by the AMC and Wildlands Conservancy, and to find out about Highlands recreational activities visit:
www.outdoors.org/hikethehighlands.
Founded in 1876, the Appalachian Mountain Club is the oldest conservation and recreation organization in the nation. With 90,000 members in the Northeast and beyond, the nonprofit AMC promotes the protection, enjoyment, and wise use of the mountains, rivers and trails of the Appalachian region. The AMC supports natural resource conservation while encouraging responsible recreation, based on the philosophy that successful, long-term conservation depends upon first-hand enjoyment of the natural environment.
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