IN THIS ISSUE

• November 18 - Deadline to apply for help with trail planning and development
• Healthy Trails, Healthy People community updates: North Buffalo, Harlem
• Funding Opportunities: Quality Communities, Bikes Belong, Captain Planet
• Presentations from Healthy Trails, Healthy Communities Conference on-line
• Two new trail reports: Rail-Trail Maintenance and Operations, Understanding Environmental Contaminants
• Getting your project on the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)
• Safe Routes to School National Partnership
• Changes for ATVs in New York
• Heard On The Trail - Getting Publicity for your Trail Event
• Job Opportunities at Parks & Trails New York
• Events Calendar

HEALTHY TRAILS, HEALTHY PEOPLE

November 18 - Deadline to apply for help with trail planning and development

Need help getting a trail project started or a trails advocacy group formed? Want to get a stalled project moving? Parks & Trails New York may be able to offer assistance through its Healthy Trails, Healthy People program. As part of the program, funded in part by the Healthy Heart Program of the New York State Department of Health, Parks & Trails New York staff will provide technical and planning assistance, present workshops, and offer organizational support. Workshops will highlight the multiple benefits of trails and provide an opportunity for residents to explore trail development opportunities within their own communities. In subsequent years, selected communities will be eligible to apply for additional technical assistance, workshops, mini-grants ($500-1000), and organizational support from Parks & Trails New York.

Applications are being accepted until November 18, 2005. Level of community interest, partnership possibilities, and opportunities to increase physical activity levels will be considered in selection. It is advisable for potential applicants to email Parks & Trails New York or telephone 518-434-1583 to discuss their application before the submission deadline.

Community Updates

Corridor Sale Affects Trail in North Buffalo

In 2001, the City of Buffalo and Erie County received federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) funding to construct a nine-mile greenway on a former rail line that connects North Buffalo with the suburb of Kenmore, the City and Town of Tonawanda, and the Erie Canalway Trail. If developed according to the plan submitted in the original CMAQ funding application, the greenway has the ability to encourage more cycling, jogging, and walking; provide an alternative off-road route for shopping, errands, and commuting; greatly improve the connectivity of current off-road paths; and positively impact land values. The greenway would also intersect nine Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) bus routes and a light rail metro station and provide safe access to multiple city, county and town parks, the Amherst bicycle path, Erie Canalway Trail, and Buffalo's Riverwalk.

In North Buffalo, groups and individuals are rallying behind the greenway as the best option for the property's maintenance and preservation. Despite the best efforts from citizens, the property's current lack of care and seclusion make it ripe for underage drinking and drug use, arson, loitering, illegal dumping and noise. While development of a greenway has the potential to act as a catalyst to clean up and preserve this rare remaining parcel of urban open space, there are many challenges that have yet to be overcome.

Some residents are concerned about crime, loss of privacy, and continued maintenance of a greenway located in a fiscally troubled county and city. In addition, NFTA has sold a portion of the east-west spur in North Buffalo. A 30-foot easement was retained for the greenway and future light rail, but the easement does not include the former rail bed so the trail will need to be moved to a new location much closer to adjacent homes. Trail advocates are frustrated and neighboring residents are concerned, but both hope to have the opportunity to work with the city and their consultant in designing the re-aligned trail section.

Community leaders focus attention on Harlem riverfront restoration

Parks & Trails New York attended a panel discussion that included Healthy Trails, Healthy People partner, West Harlem Arts Fund (WHAF), state agency staff, planning / landscape architecture professionals, and community leaders connected with riverfront restoration projects along Harlem's Hudson River shoreline on the west side of Manhattan from 125th Street to Hamilton Heights. Panel members focused on two cutting-edge projects spearheaded by WHAF, the 125th Street Piers and Take Me to the River, and how these efforts will contribute to reestablishing West Harlem as a waterfront community. Parks & Trails New York is assisting WAHF with the Take Me to the River project, which involves restoration of the Enchanted Forest Pathway in Riverside Park North as a place for residents to engage in physical activity.

Many West Harlem residents and community leaders, along with professional members of the sponsoring organizations, AIA New York Chapter Planning and Urban Design Committee, American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association's New York Metro Chapter Waterfront Committee, and The West Harlem Art Fund, attended the evening meeting. The forum was one of many that are planned to help the West Harlem Arts Fund publicize the goals and financial needs of its riverfront restoration projects to key decision-makers and funders.

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Quality Communities Grants Available for Community Planning Efforts

Lieutenant Governor Mary O. Donohue has announced the availability of $3 million in Environmental Protection Funds for the Quality Communities Grant Program. Grants will provide up to 80% of costs to assist local governments with planning efforts to: encourage community growth, improve community centers, promote intermunicipal growth, enhance mountain communities, preserve open space and more. Eligible applicants are counties, cities, towns, villages, Indian-tribes/nations, local public authorities, public benefit corporations, and not-for-profits (under certain circumstances). Deadline for receipt of applications is December 5, 2005. For more information, call: 518-473-3355, or email:QC@dos.state.ny.us

Bikes Belong Coalition Grants Program
One remaining round for 2005

Bikes Belong, the national coalition of bicycle suppliers and retailers, provides grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofit organizations and public agencies at the national, regional, and local level for facility, capacity, and education projects. Priority is given to organizations that are directly involved in building coalitions for bicycling by collaborating the efforts of bicycle industry and advocacy groups. Grant applications are reviewed quarterly. The upcoming deadline is November 28, 2005.

The Captain Planet Foundation fosters environmental stewardship

The Captain Planet Foundation funds innovative programs that empower children and youth (ages 6 through 18) to work individually and collectively to solve environmental problems in their communities. There are four grant deadlines per year. The remaining deadline for 2005 is December 31.

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TRAIL AND HEALTH RESOURCES

Presentations from Healthy Trails, Healthy Communities Conference now on-line

Even if you missed the June Healthy Trails, Healthy Communities Conference in New Paltz, you can still get tips from the experts. Some of the handouts and most of the power point presentations from Parks & Trails New York's Healthy Trails, Healthy Communities conference can now be accessed on the Parks & Trails New York website.

Two Rail-Trail Reports Available

Two helpful reports from Rails to Trails Conservancy are available for download. Recently, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Northeast Regional Office released "Rail-Trail Maintenance & Operations: Ensuring the Future of your Trails - A Survey of 100 Rail-Trails". This updated version of a report previously published in 1996 offers the shared experiences and expertise of trail managers across the northeast on topics such as costs for maintenance and operation; methods of addressing liability, insurance, and public safety; selection and maintenance of trail surfaces; types of trail heads, amenities, signs, access control, bridges and tunnels. A detailed sample maintenance schedule is also included.

The Rails to Trails Conservancy has also published "Understanding Environmental Contaminants - Lessons Learned and Guidance to Keep Your Rail-Trail Project on Track". The publication discusses contaminants that might be found along former rail beds, provides information on what to do if contamination is found, presents case studies explaining how others have addressed contamination issues, and lists state and federal resources that are available to help.

Beyond Transportation Enhancements Funds
Getting your project on the TIP

The Enhancements and Recreational Trails Programs of SAFETEA-LU are not the only possible transportation funding sources for trails. Regular federal Surface Transportation Program and Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds can also be applied to trail projects. But to be eligible for these funds, a project must first be adopted into the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), a regional prioritized schedule of transportation project spending for a particular region for five years that is updated annually.

Established under federal transportation law, the TIP is formed through consultation between transportation agency professionals and local governments. In more populous areas, a Municipal Planning Organization (MPO) administers the TIP process. In rural areas, the TIP is administered by the regional Office of the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT).

Getting a project on the TIP typically starts when a municipal government or one of its departments submits an application that outlines the scope of the project and identifies the ways the project meets the defined selection criteria and benefits the local and regional transportation network. After review and comment by MPO or DOT staff, an official review committee, which includes local municipal representatives, votes to determine what projects will be listed and in what priority. A sample of a typical screening process and criteria can be viewed on the website of the Albany area MPO, the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC).

TIP selection criteria primarily focus on project merit. However, some consideration is generally given for geographic distribution and local preferences, since TIP projects are selected through consultation with county and local government. Therefore, it is very valuable to seek the active support of municipal chief elected officials to enhance a project's chances for inclusion in the TIP.

To find out about how your trail project might get on the TIP, contact the designated Bicycle/Pedestrian coordinator at your local MPO or regional DOT office.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Parks & Trails New York joins Safe Routes to School National Partnership

Parks & Trails New York has joined a growing nationwide network of more than 45 organizations and professional groups dedicated to ensuring that the $612 million in Safe Routes to School funding authorized by SAFETEA-LU is put to the best possible use. Initially funded by Bikes Belong Coalition, The Safe Routes to School National Partnership will set goals, share best practices, secure funding, and provide detailed policy input to implementing agencies for the Safe Routes to School Program. Bicycle and pedestrian groups across America are invited to join the Partnership and help create a new era for bicycling and walking in America.

Safe Routes to School was designed to address the growing trend toward child obesity and inactivity as well as reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Program funds will be available during the next five years to build facilities and run educational programs that will create safe ways for children to pedal and walk to school. Funding will be distributed according to the number of primary and secondary school students in the state, but no state will receive less than $1 million per year.

The program will be administered by state DOTs, which must hire a full-time Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator by December 31, 2005. State, local, and regional agencies, and nonprofit organizations are eligible to receive Safe Routes to School funding. Funds may be used for planning, design, and construction of infrastructure that will substantially improve the ability of students to walk and bicycle to school, on any public road or any bicycle or pedestrian pathway or trail within approximately 2 miles of a primary or middle school. Funds can also be used for activities that encourage walking and bicycling to school, such as public awareness campaigns and outreach to press and community leaders, traffic education and enforcement, student training, and training for volunteers and managers of Safe Routes to School programs. No match is required.

Some Changes for ATVs in New York

All-terrain vehicles are a frequent topic whenever multi-use trails are discussed. Passage of New York's 2005-2006 Budget resulted in several changes that affect their operation in the state.

ATVs must now be registered at the point of sale. Annual registration fees have increased from $10 to $25. For 2005-2006, registration fee monies will go to the General Fund, but in future years it is anticipated that these revenues will be directed to an ATV Trail Program Fund. The Legislature must still create legislation that will define the nature and operation of a state ATV Program and the distribution of program funds.

Presently, New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law regulates the operation of ATVs. The booklet, ATVs - Information for Operators and Owners, summarizes the important points of the law, but the following should help answer some of the more frequently asked questions.

ATVs must be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) if they are operated anywhere in New York State, including on the owner's property. The exception is that ATVs used only for agricultural purposes, or for snow plowing (except for-hire plowing), are exempt from the registration requirement. ATVs also cannot be operated anywhere in New York State, except on the owner's property, unless they are covered by liability insurance.

ATVs cannot be operated on public land unless it is specifically designated for ATV use, and a posted sign allows that use. Operation of an ATV on private land requires permission of the landowner or the person leasing the land.

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HEARD ON THE TRAIL
Getting Publicity for your Trail Project

"Getting publicity for your trail event is always a challenge. Building a good rapport with reporters really helps. Don't just send a release...always try to make personal contact with the reporter or community liaison. Send pictures so even if they can't visit they have a clearer idea of the details of your project or activities. Follow up with the reporter after any coverage by telling them how valuable the news article was. This should help the next time you send them a press release. You might also find it easier to build rapport with news staff at weekly newspapers and weekly advertising papers. They are often more accessible than reporters at large market daily papers."

Keith Kroon, President
Canalway Trail Association of New York

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT PARKS & TRAILS NEW YORK

Project Director

Parks & Trails New York seeks a Project Director to join a team of committed, enthusiastic professionals working to expand, protect, and promote a statewide network of parks, trails, and open spaces for all to use and enjoy. Duties include technical and organizational assistance to aid trail development in communities along the Erie Canalway Trail and throughout the state; trail and park advocacy at the local and state level; preparation of planning studies, marketing reports, newsletters and other publications, outreach; event planning; and new program development. Competitive salary and excellent benefits package. Full job description, including minimum and desired qualifications. The position is open until filled. Submit letter of interest and resume to: Project Director Search, Parks & Trails New York , 29 Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, careers@ptny.org.

Internship - Assistant Bike Tour Director

Parks & Trails New York seeks an intern to serve as Assistant Bike Tour Director for its two bicycle tours: Cycling the Erie Canal and Great Hudson Valley Pedal. Duties include working with the Bike Tour Director to provide: 1) administrative support from February through the early summer and then again for a week or so after each event and 2) direct service to volunteers and participants during the rides. Position begins January or February and ends third week of August; 10 hours/week with hours increasing closer to ride dates. Estimate of total hours: 600 to 700. $9 - 11/hour, based on experience. Full job description. Submit letter of interest and resume to: Internship - Assistant Bike Tour Director, Parks & Trails New York, 29 Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, interns@ptny.org

Internship - Road and trail intersection safety study

Parks & Trails New York seeks an intern to assist with a groundbreaking study to develop best practices standards that will improve the safety of road and trail intersections. Duties include review of nationwide publications and transportation guidelines to determine existing practices for design of road-trail intersections, survey of New York trail managers to assess the present nature and safety of road-trail intersections, and assistance with production of a summary report including best practice standards recommendations. Academic year with potential for summer extension; 10 - 20 hours/week, flexible hours and days. $ 9 - 12/hour, based on experience. Full job description, including minimum and desired qualifications. Submit letter of interest and resume to: Internship - Road/Trail Study, Parks & Trails New York, 29 Elk Street, Albany, NY 12207, interns@ptny.org

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EVENTS CALENDAR

Email your events related to multi-use trails and greenways for the next edition of Parks & Trails E- NEWS. Entries should include: 1) Name and date of event, 2) Brief description, 3) Where to go for more information. Submit items to: ptny@ptny.org All listings are at the discretion of the editors and as space allows.

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