Re: Rails to Trails

[Tom Lamar <lamar@pcei.org>]

Wayne and others,

I wanted to give an update on Wayne's question about the status of the
proposed trail on the abandoned railbed east of Moscow.

The Latah Trail Foundation has been working closely with Latah County on a
proposed non-motorized trail between Moscow and Troy.  A funding proposal
submitted to the Idaho Transportation Department was rejected earlier this
year, but there has since been encouragement to resubmit the proposal in
the next cycle.  Over 1500 signatures have been collected on a petition
supporting the preservation of this entire railbed (from Moscow - Arrow
Junction) for use as a non-motorized trail.

Much of the land for the railbed is held by the rail salvage company,
private landowners, the State of Idaho, and the federal government.  The
Latah Trail Foundation has set a fundraising goal of $150,000 to raise the
money necessary to acquire the land.  To date, we have raised over $25,000.
If you would like to contribute to this fund, send checks to the Latah
Trail Foundation PO Box 9344 Moscow, Idaho 83843.  Volunteers are also
needed for a variety of tasks.  If you want to volunteer, you could email
me and I will set you up with a committee or a task.  Thanks for asking!

Tom

>From: "Wayne H Beebe" <whbeebe@turbonet.com>
>Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 09:57:03 -0800

>What is the status of the discussion about converting the abandoned
>railroad >R/W from Moscow to Troy to Kendrick and Lewiston?
>I have been taking my dog on walks on abandoned RR right of ways lately.
>I >find that many R/Ws still in relative good condition.  I also note that
>it is >possible to connect nearly every town in the Palouse and
>beyond using abandoned R/Ws.  As the Chipman trail has shown, there can
>>be strong support for such projects.  I do hope some of these R/Ws can be
>>preserved and utilized in this way.

Thomas C. Lamar, Executive Director

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Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute
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Please note our individual staff email addresses below:

Thomas C. Lamar, Executive Director: lamar@pcei.org
Kimi Lucas, Office Manager lucas@pcei.org
Laurie Gardes, Financial Manager:  gardes@pcei.org
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Ashley Martens, Environmental Education: martens@pcei.org
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