We in Connecticut, over the last decade, have made great progress in building and connecting our trail systems. So much so that the Connecticut Greenways Council believes now is the time to celebrate and shout about our trail systems assuring that all members of our communities can gather, recreate, relax, run errands and even commute or travel together. This year, the Symposium hopes to offer sessions that focus on engaging with state and local tourism and marketing resources as well as technology that can maximize effective delivery of your trail information.
Shout it Out! The Connecticut Trails Symposium is Thursday, October 24th atGoodwin Collegein East Hartford. We have a lineup of trails and tourism workshops and presenters for attendees. Registration is open – see the full agenda and register to attend athttps://cttrails.uconn.edu/2019symposium/
February is heart health month – to raise awareness about heart disease and how people can prevent it. Walking is one easy way to increase physical fitness. Every step counts. Most adults should try for at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) a week of moderate intensity activity. 30 minutes of brisk walking on at least five days a week is one way to meet this goal. Break it up in 10 minute segments – before , during and after work is an easy way to do this. Or do 30 minutes before or after work by walking in your neighborhood or on a walking trail. Know your maximum and target heart rate by checking the American Heart Association webpage at www.heart.org. You can learn tips for walking to improve your heart health! Find more information at: www.heart.org.
This message is brought to you by the UConn Extension PATHS team – People Active on Trails for Health and Sustainability. We are extension educators in health education and community development committed to implementing a social ecological approach to health education as well as understanding and promoting the benefits of trails and natural resources for health.
Our Connecticut Trail Census program recently received $206,049.50 in grant funding from the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) Trails & Greenways Program and the Connecticut Greenways Council. UConn Extension’s Connecticut Trail Census is a statewide volunteer-based data collection and education program implemented as a pilot from 2016-2018 on 16 multi-use (bicycle, pedestrian, equestrian) trail sites across the state.
Laura Brown receives her award from Bruce Donald of the CT Greenways Council.
The Governor’s Greenways Council on Friday commended eight individuals, and a volunteer committee of the Last Green Valley, that have made significant contributions to the promotion, development and enhancement of Greenways – linear open space in Connecticut – and designated three new State greenways at a ceremony at the Nathan Lester House, in Ledyard.
Laura E. Brown, MS, CEcD, Community & Economic Development Educator, University of Connecticut – Department of Extension, Fairfield County Extension Center – received the CT Greenways Council’s Education Award for development of the CT Trail Census (https://cttrailcensus.uconn.edu/ )
“Our State Designated Greenways provide great opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, whether you want to commute to work, exercise or shop using a bicycle, or simply go for a walk on a beautiful day,” said. Susan Whalen, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP). “Greenways and trails provide opportunities to local residents and visitors alike to enjoy the fresh air, while helping to boost the economy throughout Connecticut by visiting local restaurants and shops along the way.”
Bruce Donald, Chair of the CT Greenways Council, and Tri-State Coordinator for the East Coast Greenway Alliance stated: “Trails reinvigorate our souls. They strengthen our bodies. They build our communities in myriad ways we didn’t comprehend even ten years ago. They are a part of the fabric of Connecticut.”
Greenways in Connecticut cover thousands of acres throughout every county in the state and may include paved or unpaved trail systems, ridgelines, or linked parcels of open space. Many communities around Connecticut have chosen, through greenway designation, to also recognize the importance of river corridors for natural resource protection, recreational opportunities, and scenic values. The CT Greenways Council website contains details on how to get designations, assistance and a map of our State Greenways. www.ct.gov/deep/greenways
By Kristina Kelly, Connecticut Trail Census Statewide Coordinator
Naugatuck Greenway
Fall is a busy time for the Connecticut Trail Census team as we are nearing the end of our pilot year. We are so excited to have this important data finalized and ready for release in January 2018 so that our local communities can begin to put the data to use improving their local trail systems.
In September, volunteers and trail enthusiasts performed Intercept Surveys at our 15 participating trail sites. These surveys feature multiple choice and open-ended questions such as the user’s age range, motivation for using the trail, frequency of trail use, and whether they planned on spending money on that trip to the trail (such as stopping at a coffee shop in a community along the way). These questions are intended to collect valuable qualitative data that the Infrared (IR) Counters cannot. So far, we have received over 400 surveys from this fall session and the data is currently being compiled into a database for organization and presentation.
In other news, we are looking forward to presenting at the 2nd Annual CT Trails Symposium on October 19th. In addition to speaking about the current progress and planning for the future of the program, we will be unveiling a preview of how and where the survey data will be available to the public in January. Click here for more information on the Symposium and register to join us!
In the public outreach department, we have released a CT Trail Census Facebook page where we post program updates, connections with statewide trail groups, and useful articles regarding trail use! Check us out on Facebook and be sure to click “like” so our posts show up in your newsfeed.
Finally, at the end of this month, we will be collecting another round of quantitative data from the IR counters that are counting trail uses 24/7 on our trail sites! We will then perform preliminary analysis and continue working on calibrating and correcting this data for our final report release in January.
Stay tuned for more updates and feel free to reach out to me or visit our website if you would like more information or to get involved!
We welcome our new Trail Census Coordinator Kristina Kelly!
Kristina has experience coordinating volunteer data collection programs such as DEEP’s Riffle Bioassessment by Volunteers (RBV), and has developed a passion for citizen science as away to involve the community in environmental education, protection and advocacy.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Geography with a concentration in Sustainability where she enjoys studying environmental protection, community engagement, and natural resources. At home, she enjoys gardening, photography and taking care of animals. She has two cats, a hamster, and maintains bird feeders for all of the neighborhood squirrels.
Stay tuned for trainings as we enter the fall data collection season as an opportunity to say “Hi!” to our new Coordinator, and to stay up-to-date in program goals and expectations.
Naugatuck River in Waterbury. Photo: John McDonald
Greenways are multi-use trails that act as linear parks, often following the course of a river or former right-of-way such as a canal, railway or trolley line, or abandoned road. The Greenway movement gathered momentum in the United States through the 1980s and ’90s, and in 2001, the Naugatuck River Greenway was conceived. As of September 2015, there are only four unconnected, short segments totaling 4.1 miles in length. Completion of the greenway requires buy-in on behalf of the Valley municipalities and, with this in mind, an economic impact analysis was proposed by the Naugatuck River Greenway Steering Committee. The economic impact analysis will be a collaborative effort between the University of Connecticut Extension, UConn’s Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, and the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
This study will be the first economic impact analysis of a Connecticut greenway or multi-use trail. To date, a literature review has been drafted examining similar studies and situating the project within its historical and regional context. Trail user intercept studies are planned for fall 2015, and focus groups with administrators of existing Connecticut trails will follow in the spring of 2016. The data gathered by these methods will supplement the formal economic analysis done by CCEA and the end result will be a comprehensive evaluation of the impact that the construction of the Naugatuck River Greenway will have on the Naugatuck Valley. It is hoped that the findings will encourage Naugatuck Valley municipalities to invest in the construction of the greenway, which has the potential to be beneficial in many ways to the communities it will pass through.
Potential monetary benefits include jobs added, increases in property values and, by extension, property tax revenue, and recreational expenditures by trail users which is hoped will stimulate more purchases in the Naugatuck Valley. CCEA will conduct a formal economic analysis using existing economic data and an economic simulation model called REMI, designed by Regional Economic Modeling, Incorporated. This analysis will examine regional trends and the impact that the construction of the Naugatuck River Greenway will have on the regional economy. This, however, is only one part of determining the value of the greenway. Non-monetary benefits include health benefits due to increased physical activity, preservation value due to the conservation in perpetuity of the greenway as open space, and the sense of the greenway as a community resource with aesthetic and social significance.
