Trust for Public Land
Don't miss three great stories about the impact TPL members are having
around the
country.
Trust for Public Land.
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Hey John,
I was so inspired by my colleague Lisa's recent article on tpl.org, I
wanted to share some highlights with you. So much of the work we do
here at Trust for Public Land is made possible by member support, and
these three projects represent the best of what we do.
From Lisa:
Across the United States, communities are embracing the power of the
great outdoors to revive or bolster their economies and attract
residents. This is especially true for rural towns and urban cities
where once-prevailing agricultural or industrial industries have
declined.
Trust for Public Land has partnered with many such communities in
recent years, helping to install mountain bike trails, convert defunct
railways to multiuse paths, buy and create town-owned community
forests, and reclaim brownfields for new green space.
Life After Agriculture on the Florida Gulf Coast Trail
Passing through eight counties, the Florida Gulf Coast Trail, when
completed, will stretch roughly from Tampa to Naples. Decades ago, the
entire region was dominated by agriculture, but farms have given way
to suburbs. While sections of the trail already exist, many gaps
remain.
Trust for Public Land is overseeing a regional effort with public and
private partners to complete the trail and connect communities along
the corridor. One city that is already reaping the benefits of the
Florida Gulf Coast Trail is Dunedin, a waterfront community just west
of Tampa. There, the so-called Pinellas Trail, which connects to the
Florida Gulf Coast Trail, has energized the downtown, with new
restaurants such as the Black Pearl and new shops like Thistle
Boutique and Gallery.
Bicycle riders in Florida.
People riding bicycles on the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail in downtown
Dunedin, Florida. Photo: iStock
Breathing New Life Into Klamath Falls
Trails are also a lynchpin of the future in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The
city of 22,000 was once a thriving timber town, with dozens of lumber
mills busy cutting fir and pine. The industry thrived until the 1990s,
when changing forest policies and a severe earthquake took a toll on
the town's economic and built environments.
Trust for Public Land has since helped Klamath Falls divine a new
future. Just 10 miles outside of town rises Spence Mountain, where a
private landowner had allowed the community to create 50 miles of
trails on 7,500 acres. Working with the Klamath Trails Alliance, TPL
and other partners bought the property in 2022-to ensure all
that trail work will continue to benefit the community for generations
to come.
Bicycle rider on a trail.
A person riding a bike on a dirt trail on Spence Mountain. Photo:
Flickr.
The Greening of Pittsburgh
In 2020, Trust for Public Land provided the City of Pittsburgh and
community partners with a grant to launch a pilot program for
ecological restoration on a 183-acre site known as Hazelwood Greenway.
TPL's support enabled the partners to remove abandoned appliances and
invasive species such as knotweed, as well as plant trees and improve
access.
Doug Hattaway, TPL's southeast regional conservation director, notes
that communities are sometimes motivated initially by a desire for
recreational opportunities and economic development. But the ripple
effects of that can be even more serendipitous.
"If you give people a place where they can visit and exercise, they
are going to use it," he says. "Exercise is vitally important. We are
creating safe routes to work, to play, and to shop while fostering a
sense of community. If you are walking on a trail or in a park, you
are more inclined to say hello than if you are driving in a car."
Pittsburg as seen from afar.
Sunset on the river in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Photo: iStock
These few stories don't show the breadth of what we accomplish
together, John, but they
speak to the heart of what we do, and why we do it.
You can browse all of our projects on our website, where you can
filter by topic, location, and project status. I'm particularly
excited about the fact that
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we have more than 150 projects currently in the works. You can view
all of those by filtering for "Status: Coming Soon"!
Thank you for spending a little time reading about our work, and thank
you for contributing whenever you can.
Take care,
Josh VanDavier signature.
Josh VanDavier
Trust for Public Land
P.S. To read the full version of Lisa's article, visit our website.
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