A letter to Governor Youngkin

November 1st 2022

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 1475

Richmond, VA 23218

Dear Governor Youngkin,

Thank you for all you have done to support trails and green spaces in Virginia, especially the creation of the Office of Trails and the $93 million investment in multi-use trails. We are grateful for your current and future commitment to trails and green spaces in Virginia.

The Virginia Trails Alliance (VTA) is a coalition of trail organizations and businesses that creates an annual common agenda to improve and support trail development across the Commonwealth of Virginia.  From the famous Appalachian Trail to the Beaches to Bluegrass Trail, land and water trails connect communities and are essential for Virginia’s outdoor recreation economy, community vitality, and public health. The outdoor industry in Virginia correlates to 104,000 direct jobs, $7.9 billion in outdoor recreation value added, $4.4 billion in wages and salaries, and a $1.2 billion share of the state’s GDP.

Virginia has seen significant growth in trail usage since the beginning of 2020, with upwards of 30% to 300% increases in some areas. The Virginia Trails Alliance encourages you and your administration to pursue the following recommendations to meet trail demand across the Commonwealth and reap the economic, health, transportation, and recreation rewards:  

• Dedicated Funding for New Multi-Use Trails and Maintenance: Create a dedicated fund of $28 million per year for the construction and maintenance of such trails as the Tobacco Heritage Trail, Eastern Shore Trail, Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail, Shenandoah Rail Trail, the Fall Line trail, and many others to increase connectivity and maintain the existing but vulnerable infrastructure throughout the Commonwealth.  This dedicated funding will close the $140 million funding gap left after the FY22 budget process over the course of five years. Virginia should ensure equitable distribution through a grant process led by the Office of Trails, and leverage these funds to seek additional federal funding where possible.
• Expand the Recreational Trails Program:  The Recreational Trails Program, which funds both motorized and non-motorized trails, is underfunded.  Virginia should match the 2022 federal RTP grant program’s $1.5m to accelerate the construction of much-needed Recreational trails.
• Office of Trails: The VTA is grateful to the administration for establishing Virginia’s Office of Trails under the Virginia Department of Transportation.  We ask that the Office of Trails be fully funded for three staff positions. The VTA is ready to support and assist the Office of Trails in its creation and growth in its early stages of study, design, and implementation.   

We are committed to working alongside you and your administration to advance trails in Virginia and welcome an opportunity to meet with you and your Secretary of Natural Resources and Secretary of Transportation in the near future. We are more than willing to offer our experience and expertise to help with the implementation of the Office of Trails and other trail-related initiatives.

Should you wish to schedule a meeting with the Virginia Trails Alliance, please contact our Vice-President, Peter Krebs, at pkrebs@pecva.org.

Sincerely,

Virginia Trails Alliance