TRAVERSE CITY (July 22, 2002) - TART Trails has been selected to receive a $4,000 trail improvement grant offered by Rails-To-Trails Conservancy (RTC), a statewide trail and greenways advocacy organization located in downtown Lansing. TART Trails is a nonprofit recreational trail and transportation organization operating in Grand Traverse and Leelanau Counties and maintains the proposed Boardman Lake Trail, TART Trail, Leelanau Trail and Vasa Pathway. The grant will provide funds for TART's capital campaign, Pathways to the Future, to build additional community trails and to upgrade and maintain the existing trail systems.
The Rails-To-Trails Conservancy's Michigander bike tour is a fundraiser for the organization and also enables RTC to award grants to worthy trail groups, like TART Trails. The tour is in its 11th year and offers a weekend, 6 or 7-day bike tour that features a roll across Michigan. This years tour proves to be one of the most scenic yet with the majority of the route within view of Lake Michigan. The weekenders will ride the Kal-Haven Rail Trail starting in Kalamazoo and riding to South Haven, one of the first rail-trails in Michigan. Riders will spend the night at South Haven before heading back to Kalamazoo on Sunday. "We have set a record this year with the number of participants and are excited that this years tour has been so well received," said Barry Culham, Michigander Event Coordinator. The 11th annual Michigander tour has around 1500 participants. The 6-day riders will be riding north along Lake Michigan beginning in South Haven including stops in Saugatuck, Holland, Grand Haven, Muskegon, Hart, Big Rapids, Cadillac and ending in Traverse City at the civic center. So, donât be alarmed on Friday, July 26th when 700 cyclists ride in to Traverse City.
The tour route changes each year. Nancy Krupiarz, Executive Director of Rails-To-Trails Conservancy says, "Each year the Board of Directors chooses the tour route for different reasons- many Michigander's have featured rail-trails that have recently been opened or expanded, other years Michigander has showcased scenic routes or booming communities." The Michigander Grant program was started in 1997 and is an opportunity for RTC to offer grassroots trail organizations funds to expand Michigan's recreational trails on a community-based level which also benefits the overall statewide network of trails and greenways. "The criteria that we are looking for when awarding Michigander grants are projects that seek to expand overall trail mileage or innovative projects that will serve as a model for other communities who are looking to develop and plan for a trail network," explains Krupiarz. For more information on the Michigander Grant program or the Michigander ride, please call RTC at (517) 485-6022 or visit online at www.railtrails.org/mi. For more information on TART Trails including trail events and maps, please call TART Trails at (231) 941-4300 or visit online at www.traversetrails.com.
Who: TART Trails and Rails-To-Trails Conservancy
What: Grant Award Presentation
Where: Lake Cadillac pavilion, downtown Cadillac
When: Thursday, July 25 on the Michigander tour in Cadillac at 7:30 pm
posted 07/23/02