A public meeting will be held on 7 October in Cottonwood Falls to discuss the possibility of creating a network of equestrian trails on private ranchlands in the Flint Hills. Kansas State University Professor Tom Warner believes a private horse trail system would provide increased opportunities for people to experience the Flint Hills and it would also be good for ranchers. The riders would be supervised by the ranchers. The meeting is sponsored by Flint Hills landowners, Kansas Horse Council, Ranchland Trust of Kansas (KLA), Flint Hills Tourism Coalition, Kansas Division of Tourism, and the K-State Research and Extension. Registration is required by September 30. Contact Prof. Warner at twarner@ksu.edu or 785-539-7565 to register.
Diane Novak, WAM-SAG-MAN Trail Chairperson for trail between Wamego and Manhattan, reports that the Union Pacific Railroad has agreed to sell a 30-foot strip for the trail project. She hopes to have the agreement in hand yet this month. This will make part of the trail a rails-with-trails project. The Whistle Stop Trail in Elkhart is the other known rails-with-trails project in the Sunflower State. Novak's group is meeting with the Pottawatomie County Commission soon to see if the group's lawyer can assist with the quiet title action. www.wam-sag-man.org
The Lawrence Journal-World (9 September 2009) reports that the eastern Lawrence Burroughs Creek Trail project winning bid came in about $300,000 less than engineers had estimated because of the slowdown in construction activity. Lawrence-based R. D. Johnson Excavating was awarded the contract for $591,632. This will allow the City to either extend the concrete paving from 23rd Street to 29th Street utilizing the Haskell Rail-Trail or build feeder trails from parks and neighborhoods. Construction on the rail-trail is slated to begin by the first week of October and be completed in January.
The Prairie Spirit Trail is one of the twenty-four finalists in the Eight Wonders of Kansas Customs. Trail enthusiasts are encouraged to vote for the PST so that it may become one of the 8 Wonders. Vote online at www.8wonders.org.
Development of the Prairie Spirit Trail Extension is moving forward according to the Iola Register (10 September 2009). The City of Iola is using eminent domain to acquire a tract of land currently used for the storing of vehicles and will convert it into parkland along the trail. The trail extension will stretch from Madison Avene (US 54) to Riverside Park. This is one of the few cases nationally where eminent domain has been used along a rail-trail. The City has railbanked 1.5 miles of the rail corridor under the National Trails Act. The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks operates the 51-mile Prairie Spirit Trail which ends at US 54 in the city.