A ceremony marking the completion of the 51-mile Prairie Spirit Trail will be held in Iola on National Trails Day (Saturday, 6 June 2009). As details become available, they will be provided here in Kansas Trails News. Another National Trails Day celebration will be held in Merriam starting at 11:00 am. Participants are encouraged to walk or bike the three-mile Merriam Streamway Trail starting from the Farmers' Market located at 5740 Merriam Drive. The recreational path was dedicated last year.
The Kansas Supreme Court has decided to hear a legal challenge to the Kansas Recreational Trails Act which is actually an anti-recreational trails act. The legal challenge is being brought by Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy which is represented by noted Kansas rails-to-trails attorney Mike Mills, J.D. KRTC contends the Act is unconstitutional in whole or in part. The Act was pushed through the legislature in 1996 by the Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Livestock Association who were seeking to stop efforts to establish rail-trails in Kansas. KRTC contends that the National Trails Act pre-empts much of the Kansas Act as the latter places unreasonable roadblocks in the way of creating rail-trails in the Sunflower State. That, of course, is contrary to the intent of Congress.
The Supreme Court apparently thought enough about the issues (described in the docketing statement) that they took the case from the court of appeals. The case is Miami County Board of Commissioners, Appellee v. Kanza Rail-Trails Conservancy, Inc., et al, appellants (Case No. 101,811). The Kansas Farm Bureau is seeking to file an amicus brief in support of Miami County.
There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony of the newest section of the Landon Trail in Topeka on National Trails Day (6 June 2009) at 10:00 a.m. Participants are encouraged to walk or bicycle on the one-half mile section which stretches between 25th and 29th Streets east of Kansas Avenue. The ceremony will be at the USD 501 Service Center. Go on SE 25th to Monroe. Then south on Monroe to SE 27th and then west to the center.
Come join in the fun at the Kansas Sampler this May 2-3 in Concordia. Sunflower Recreational Trails will have a booth at which it will hand out trails maps and otherwise promote trails in the Wheat State. The Sampler is open on Saturday, 2 May from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday 3 May from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 pm. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children. To quote from the official website:
It's a living brochure of Kansas! In 2008, 145 communities provided a sample of what there is to see, do, hear, taste, buy, and learn in Kansas! The 2008 Festival went great in Concordia. Over 6,000 attended.
The SRT Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday 3 May 2009 in the cafeteria of the Cloud County Community College starting at 11:00 a.m. All trails supporters are invited to attend.