ATTENTION: All Trail Groups, City Parks Departments, City Governments, County Governments, and Community Leaders

The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission is holding a press conference in the capital rotunda, Tuesday, March 3rd, at 3:30 p.m. to announce a $2 million dollar pilot trail grant program (available to cities, counties, and nonprofit organizations) that will be introduced in the Arkansas legislature in upcoming days. The press conference is the culmination of many months of hard work and negotiations between the bill's sponsor, Representative Robert Moore, Arkansas City, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Attached is a set of talking points about the legislation, and the draft bill, that should answer your basic questions about what is being proposed.  Essentially, this bill, and subsequent legislation to authorize the organizations involved to arrange the necessary accounting and grant program, includes the following:

1) A two-year pilot observation trail grant program funded by AGFC at $1,000,000 annually to facilitate community economic development via trails and natural resource education.

2) Authorization for the Arkansas Dept. of Tourism to establish an account (separate from AGFC funds) where additional state funding and private donations can be placed to augment or expand the pilot program.

3) Authorization for the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism to develop a streamlined application, advertise the program to intended recipients, select grant awardees, and submit the final list to AGFC for the purpose of issuing award checks for up to $1 million annually (over 2 years), or allowing ADPT to
access the new account for additional awards as funding becomes available.

4) Authorizing the Department of Finance and Administration to provide mechanisms permitting the grant programs to operate.

After over a year of work on this legislation in cooperation with Sponsor Representative Moore, Co-sponsor, Lance Reynolds of Quitman, I am absolutely convinced that is the best, and likely only, opportunity we have to move forward at this time and during this economic downturn. In other words, after exploring ALL options, considering all possibilities, convening multiple meetings with key state leadership, helping to draft multiple versions of the final legislation to suit interested parties, and investigating all possible economic resources to get this program started, this is the ABSOLUTE best that can be done.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Representative Moore for his persistence, his unwavering support, his negotiation skills, and his broad-based network who helped make this dream a reality.

Frankly, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission has expressed reservations that there are enough developing trail projects statewide to use a million dollars annually. It is up to us to prove that not only can we and will we use the $1 million, our needs are substantially greater still. The results of the pilot program will be used in 2 years to encourage the legislature to establish a $2 million dollar a year PERMANENT fund for our trail development needs.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP RIGHT NOW?

PLEASE SHARE THIS EMAIL WITH OTHERS. Encourage every trail lover, user, and community leader you know to be at the Capitol Rotunda at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday
March 3rd for the press conference. COME IN YOUR PREFERRED TRAIL USE CLOTHING!

Bikers wear biking gear, hikers wear hiking boots and jeans, joggers where tennis shoes and running gear, horsemen wear cowboy hats and bring bridles, ATV'ers come in muddy clothes, walkers bring children and grandmas. Birders,bring your binoculars! Engineers and landscape architects - bring your pencils.
Physicians/medical community members, come in your lab or doctor's coats. (If your organization has matching t-shirts, please wear them.)

THIS IS OUR TIME TO SHOW THE MEDIA, THE LEGISLATURE, AND OUR CITIZENRY THAT WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THE NEED FOR TRAIL GRANT FUNDING IN OUR STATE. The attention we draw before the cameras will funnel right back to the legislators who will be voting on the bill.

BE PART OF A "NOW OR MAYBE NEVER" ENDEAVOR!

Please feel free to email or call me with your questions at teastin@lynks.com or 479-236-0938. Time is short, but, we can do this for our trails, for our beliefs, and for our future. We know that comprehensive trail systems will impact the Arkansans' health, economic viability and conservation of natural
resources. It is time to step up, support AGFC's initiative, and prepare our cities, counties and nonprofits for a NEW trail development resource!

I am putting this project in your hands. This pilot program is for you and about you. Please come and show your support.

IF WE ARE SUCCESSFUL, HOW WILL I CONTINUE TO HELP? I pledge to seek private donors and to pinpoint potential other resources to augment this pilot program
through all available means.

Submitted by: Jacque Alexander <Jacque.Alexander@arkansas.gov>