ENHANCING THE ENVIRONMENT
WITH TRAILS AND GREENWAYS
What are trails and greenways?
Greenways are corridors of protected open
space managed for conservation and recreation purposes. Greenways often follow
natural land or water features, and link nature reserves, parks, cultural
features and historic sites with each other and with populated areas. Greenways
can be publicly or privately owned, and some are the result of public/private
partnerships. Trails are paths used for walking, bicycling, horseback riding or
other forms of recreation or transportation. Some greenways include trails,
while others do not. Some appeal to people, while others attract wildlife. From
the hills of inland America to the beaches and barrier islands of the coast,
greenways provide a vast network linking America's special places.
"Protecting environmental corridors
through establishing and managing greenways represents one method (to be used in
conjunction with other approaches) to safeguard vital ecological processes.
- Jonathan M. Labaree, author of How
Greenways Work, A Handbook on Ecology
Tools for Conservation
As tools for conservation, trails and
greenways preserve important natural landscapes, provide needed links between
fragmented habitats and offer tremendous opportunities for protecting plant and
animal species. Partially due to expansive development, "islands" of
habitat dot the landscape, isolating wildlife and plant species and reducing
habitat necessary for their survival. Trails and greenways provide important
links between these island populations and habitat and increase the land
available to many species.
* The preserved Pinhook Swamp between
Florida's Osceola National Forest and Georgia's Okefenokee National Wildlife
Refuge protects a vital wildlife corridor. This greenway keeps intact an
important swampland ecosystem that sustains numerous wildlife species including
the Florida black bear, timber rattlesnake and the Florida sandhill crane.
* In March 1999, 12,638 acres of critical
wetland habitat along the Rio Grande in Cameron, Texas were added to the
National Wildlife Refuge system, creating a larger ecological system needed by
migratory birds.1
Improving Air Quality
Trails and greenways improve air quality by
protecting the plants that naturally create oxygen and filter out air pollutants
such as ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and airborne particles of heavy
metals. According to a study conducted by David Nowak, in 1991 natural
tree-related air filtration provided Chicago, Illinois with $1 million in annual
air pollution removal.2
Trails and greenways link neighborhoods with
shopping and entertainment districts and provide pleasant transportation
alternatives for commuting to work and school. Municipalities include trails and
greenways into city plans not only for recreational purposes, but also to
encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation.
* A 1991 Harris Poll found that 46% of those
surveyed said that they would bike to work if designated trails were built.3
* Seattle, Washington's Burke-Gilman Trail is
a popular route for commuting. A 1990 trail survey found that 37% of the
bicyclists and 7% of the pedestrians used the trail for commuting.4
* A 1997 trail use study of the Iron Horse
Regional Trail in California found that approximately one-third of those
surveyed use the trail for transportation purposes, including commuting to work
or school, or using the trail as an alternative route to access shopping areas
and restaurants.5
Water Quality
Trails and greenways are important tools for
improving water quality. Greenways provide natural buffer zones that protect
streams, rivers and lakes from pollution run-off caused by the frequent use of
fertilizers and pesticides on yards and farms. Such non-point source pollution
degrades waterways and threatens water quality and the health of aquatic
species.
According to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service, agricultural
buffers, if properly installed, can remove up to 50% or more of nutrients and
pesticides and up to 75% or more of sediment that would otherwise be washed into
waterways.6 Realizing the importance of these buffers, USDA launched an
initiative to help landowners install 2 million miles of buffers by the year
2002.
Communities realize the benefits of buffers
for raising water quality and saving money on artificial water filtration
systems.
* The lowest cost estimate for a water
treatment alternative to the natural water filtration created by wetlands in the
Conagree Bottomland Swamp in South Carolina was $5 million.7
* The estimated annual value of the water
filtration attributed to wetlands along a 3-mile stretch of Georgia's Alchoy
River is $3 million.8
* The U.S. Forest Service is acquiring stream
buffers to help protect the Pacific Northwest's $1 billion annual fishing
industry.9
"Greenways allow us to treat land and
water as a system, as interlocking
pieces in a puzzle, not as isolated
entities." - Edward T. McMahon, American Greenways Program, The
Conservation Fund
Flood Disaster Mitigation
River greenways mitigate damage caused by
floods by absorbing excess water when rivers overflow. Unfortunately, many
floodplains have been developed over the years. Today, almost 10 million homes
are located in floodplains, placing millions of people in danger every time a
river overflows. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
flooding causes over $1 billion in property damages every year.10 Some towns are
flooded repeatedly; Tulsa County in Oklahoma has been declared a federal
disaster area 10 times!
Many riverside communities have decided to
restore developed floodplains to their natural state by moving structures out of
the floodplain or by moving entire towns.
* The 900 residents of Valameyer, Missouri
decided to move to higher ground after the city was destroyed in 1993 by 16 feet
of water flowing from the Mississippi River.11
* Other cities have moved only those
residences and businesses located in floodplains. Since the 1970s, 900
structures have been moved out of the Mingo Creek floodplain in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This once-developed floodplain now includes woodlands, wetlands, parks and
trails.12
Eco-Tourism
By protecting critical habitat, trails and
greenways also support communities through eco-tourism. Some towns thrive on
eco-tourism, such as Damascus, Virginia. Once an industrial-based town, Damascus
now caters to users of the Appalachian Trail, Virginia Creeper Trail, the
Jefferson and Cherokee National Forest, and many other natural recreational
areas.
* The Slickrock Mountain Bike Trail in Utah
generates $1.3 million in annual receipts for the city of Moab.13
* In a 1992 study, the National Park Service
estimated the average economic activity associated with three multi-purpose
trails in Florida, California and Iowa was $1.5 million annually.14
* River recreation such as rafting and
kayaking contribute $50 million annually to Colorado's economy.15
* In 1991, 108.7 million people in the U.S.
spent $59 million on wildlife-related recreation in the U.S., according to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.16
Resources
The benefits of trails and greenways to
protecting and improving our environment are numerous. For more information
about the environmental benefits of trails and greenways, contact the following
organizations:
American Rivers
1025 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 720
Washington, DC 20005
www.americanrivers.org
Natural Resources Conservation Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
P.O. Box 2890
Washington, DC 20013
www.nrcs.usda.gov
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
1100 17th Street, NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20036
www.railtrails.org
The Conservation Fund
1800 N. Kent Street, Suite 1120
Arlington, VA 22209
www.conservationfund.org
Helpful resources:
Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers,
Trails, and Greenway Corridors, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance
Program, National Park Service. 1995. Can be found at www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca/econ_index.htm.
Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind, A
Handbook for Trail Planners. Colorado State Parks. 1998. Can be found at
www.dnr.state.co.us/parks/ or order from the Colorado State Trails Program,
(303) 866-3203 ext. 306.
Labaree, Jonathan M. How Greenways Work, A
Handbook on Ecology. Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program,
National Park Service, 1992. Available from The Conservation Fund, (703)
525-6300.
Flink, Charles A. and Robert M. Searns.
Greenways, A Guide to Planning, Design, and Development. The Conservation Fund,
1993. Available from The Conservation Fund, (703) 525-6300.
ENDNOTES:
1 "Texas Wildlife Refuge Gains Critical
Rio GrandeWetlands," The Conservation Fund, News Release, March 22, 1999.
2 Nowak, David J, "Air Pollution Removal
by Chicago's Urban Forest," Chicago's Urban Forest Ecosystem: Results of
the Chicago Urban Forest Climate Project, U.S. Forest Service, 1994. Cited in
Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers, Trails, and Greenway Corridors, National
Park Service, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance, 4th edition, 1995, p.
8-9.
3 Martin Guttenplan and Robert Patten,
"Off-Road but On Track," TR News, 178, May-June 1995.
4 Ibid.
5 Iron Horse Regional Trail, Trail Use Study,
East Bay Regional Park District, 1997, p. 11-12.
6 "Buffer Strips: Common Sense
Conservation," National Conservation Buffer Initiative, Natural Resources
Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/CCS/Buffers.html.
7 Floodplain Management Association
"Economic Benefits of Wetlands," MFA News, July 1994.
8 Steve Lerner and William Poole, The
Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space, The Trust for Public Land, 1999, p.
41.)
9 Ibid., p. 43.
10 "Mitigation, Reducing Risk Through
Mitigation," Federal Emergency Management Agency, www.fema.gov/mit/flood.htm.
11 "Floodplains," American Rivers,
www.americanrivers.org/floodcase.html.
12 Ibid.
13 Lerner and Poole, p. 26.
14 The Impacts of Rail-Trails, A Study of
Users and Nearby Property Owners from Three Trails, National Park Service,
Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, 1992.
15 Economic Impacts of Protecting Rivers,
Trails, and Greenway Corridors, Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance
Program, National Park Service, 4th edition, 1995, p. 2-8.
16 Ibid., 2-6.
About the Clearinghouse: The Trails and
Greenways Clearinghouse provides technical assistance, information resources and
referrals to trail and greenway advocates and developers across the nation.
Services are available to individuals, government agencies, communities,
grassroots organizations and anyone else who is seeking to create or manage
trails and greenways. The Clearinghouse is a joint project of Rails-to-Trails
Conservancy and The Conservation Fund's American Greenways Program.
Trails and Greenways Clearinghouse n 1100
17th Street, NW, 10th Floor n Washington, DC 20036
Toll free: 1-877-GRNWAYS n E-mail: greenways@transact.org
n Web site: www.trailsandgreenways.org