The Friends of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail seek to ensure that non-motorized users have a strong voice in decisions that are being made right now and in the immediate future regarding the long-term management of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail which at 96 miles will be Vermont’s longest rail trail.  There is a very serious effort by some in the ATV community to open the Trail for use by recreational ATV use despite the commitment over the past five years to keep ATV’s off this trail!  If you’d like to know more about the issues facing the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and help us build an organization to strongly represent the interests of non-motorized recreational users, here are three easy steps you can take RIGHT NOW:  

1.              HELP US GET THE WORD OUT about these meetings and our organization by forwarding this message and the application form to as many of your members, family and friends as you can. THIS IS CRITICAL, PLEASE DO THIS RIGHT AWAY. We need to grow this organization so that we can be a strong voice for the type of Trail use and development that is consistent with non-motorized uses.

2.              Come to an informative meeting near you to learn more about the current status of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail and see a slide-show presentation by Kevin Russell who walked the length of the Trail last October. Bring your friends.

·        June 20, 2006, at 7:00 PM at the Vermont Studio Center Lowe Lecture Hall on Main Street (Route 15) in Johnson Village, across from the Johnson Woolen Mill

·        July 19, 2006 at 7:00 PM at the Sugar Ridge Campground Recreational Hall, US Route 2 in Danville, VT.
·        July 26, 2006 at 7:00 PM at the Abby Restruant in Sheldon on Route 105 in Sheldon, VT.  

3.              Become a member of the Friends of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail using the attached membership application form. This will allow us to keep you informed about the Trail via newsletters, alerts and other means.

We need your help in building an organization to represent the interests of all non-motorized users as the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail is developed. This includes bicycling, hiking, horseback riding, walking, commuting, bird watching, cross-country skiing, mushing and other non-motorized uses. We support the winter use of the Trail by snowmobiles and expect to assist VAST in making the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail a recreational and economic asset for all of northern Vermont.   The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail corridor is 96 miles in length running from St Johnsbury, thru Morrisville to Swanton and holds the promise a being a premier recreational facility for a wide array of non-motorized recreational users year-round as well as by snowmobiles during the winter. Properly developed and managed, this Trail would be an important economic asset to businesses and communities located along and near the trail corridor. To ensure that this highly desirable recreational and economic opportunity is fully realized in a manner that reflects the interests of all non-motorized users we need your help right now!

The Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), Vermont’s 40,000 member Snowmobile organization, will have a lead role in planning the development and managing the use of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail under a lease from the Vermont Agency of Transportation which we expect will be made public very soon. Currently VAST envisions a limited role for non-motorized users in its decision making process.