Upcoming Events on Trails

July 14 to 17, 2009

" Kalamazoo transportation planners will highlight getting around on foot during a statewide transportation conference in Kalamazoo.

The Kalamzoo Area Transportation Study will host the 33rd annual Michigan Transportation Planning Association and the Michigan Association of Regions Conference at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in downtown Kalamazoo from July 14 to 17.

Registration for the conference continues until July 6. Information on events and cost is available online at www.katsmpo.org"

(as reported in the Kalamazoo Gazette)

Gull Road to Mosel Avenue Construction Underway !

Click here for Photos of Construction in Progress

 

A Great Opportunity

The Kalamazoo River meanders through pristine wildflower fields and woodlots, and winds through some of our loveliest countryside and small towns in southwest Michigan.

Our vision is to revitalize the area around this once grand resource by completing a Trailway that will take us from Battle Creek to Lake Michigan. It will be one of the longest non-motorized recreational, historical and cultural greenway venues in the state.

The Trailway will connect Battle Creek’s Linear Park and the Kal-Haven State Trail Park, and embodies an expression of our deep community values of land preservation, conservation and restoration. It also presents a rare opportunity to tangibly enhance the possibilities for environmentally-sound, wholesome recreation, alternative transportation and shared community for generations to come.

We have garnered the financial interests of the State and have become a priority in the Trailway network expansion program. The State is committed to funding its share to complete the Trailway, with planned grants totaling $8 million. To receive these monies, however, we must match that $8 million from private funding, for a grand total of $16 million, which will be administered by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by getting. We make a life by giving.” To us, this means that every one of you has the opportunity to give back to your communities and return the blessings received for the betterment of those communities.


“This Trailway ties together various parts of the attractive state of Michigan.”

Edwin and Mary Meader
Honorary Co-Chairs

A Tribute to
Ed and Mary Meader

 

 

 

Local Contributions Needed to Complete 130-mile Nature Trail

by Bruce Johnson

Opportunity. That is what lies before us in the communities that stretch west from South Haven east to Battle Creek, south to Portage and north to Cooper Township.

The state of Michigan has committed to matching $8 million to construct and connect a trail that will result in more than 130 miles of continuous connections through many of our cities, towns and villages that will allow all of us to walk, pedal, run or roll for free. Much of this trail, known as the Kalamazoo River Valley Trail, already has been constructed including a spur that runs into Richland along M-43. Construction continues to take place and is currently visible between Riverview Drive and the Kalamazoo River with the assembly of a nature-sensitive boardwalk.

Opportunities continually surface throughout our lifetimes -- sometimes they are of our own creation, oftentimes they simply present themselves to us. These opportunities can encompass any aspects of our life from family to work to spirituality to community. We have all had opportunities appear before us that evaporated because we were either not ready to take immediate advantage or were uncertain of moving forward or did not want to make the necessary commitment of our valuable resources such as our time or money. We have learned that opportunities do not last forever and must often be seized when they are presented. Such an opportunity has been presented to our communities by the state of Michigan.

Click here to read the entire article posted by the

 

On behalf of the Parks Foundation of Kalamazoo County, we invite you to join us in helping to build upon the areas surrounding our regional natural resource that will enhance all of our lives. Completion of the Trailway ensures a plan towards preserving green space. It will be an open invitation to adventure extended to more than 400,000 community residents and visitors to experience and enjoy our great southwest Michigan outdoors. It is your chance to bridge history and nature, and an opportunity for you to be able to tell your children or your grandchildren the part you played in enhancing one of the best natural resource areas in the state. Please join us in this enterprise.

Happy Trails To You,
Al Gemrich & Bob Tower
Campaign Co-Chairs