Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alabama's Morning News. I'm JT and joining us in the studio,
and I was Brandy Horton, who is the vice president
of communications for Rails to Trail's Conservancy.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, welcome in, good to see you. It's so good
to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
So you're in town for a big event that's happening
tomorrow at Pepper Place, and we're going to get to that.
But I do want to talk about rails to trails
as you live in the DC area, that's correct. Where
do you live up there?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I live in Arlington, Virginia. Actually, yeah, I used to
live in Fairfax, right neighbors, old neighbors.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So we've kind of got the rails to Trails thing
going on in our area. But when did this start,
how does it work? And what's going on nationally with this?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sure, so Rails to Trails Conservancy really got to start
in the mid eighties, and when this whole idea came together,
there was really only a few hundred of these trails
in the whole country. That's it. And now there's over
forty two thousand miles of multi use trail and rail
trail nationwide. Every single state has these trails, including Alabama.
You got about one hundred and thirty miles of rail
(00:54):
trail in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I had no idea there were that many around the country.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So the whole idea came from all of the old
railroad corridors that were no longer really being used for freight,
and Congress said, we're going to lose these important transportation corridors,
so can we do something with them to protect them?
And that was where the trail idea came into play,
and it really changed our culture as a country. We
did not forty years ago you couldn't really walk and
bike safely relived, and now that's what we do. That's
(01:20):
what people do all over America.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So they were actually at the foundation was there with
the tracks obviously, and they didn't have to come in
and clear trees and bring machinery, and they just kind
of all right, well, let's get the tracks out of
here and the rocks and let's build in some walking.
And so the trails have parks around them, or are
they for walking, bicycling, or all of the above, all
of the above.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It's different everywhere. And you mentioned we're going to be
here for some events. One of the things that we've
done all week long is toward some of the trails
that exist in Alabama, showing off to some of our
board members people from across the country the great work
that's happening here in the state. And we were on
the Chief Ladaiga Trail, and that is an exceptionally goes
through the Talladega National Forest, it goes through university campuses,
(02:01):
it ends in Aniston, and they just extended it into
downtown Aniston to the train station. So now you can
take Amtrak, do a bike tour, go all the way
to Atlanta, and then get back on Amtrak if you
want to, and go home.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So these trails are not just a few city blocks long.
These are long trails, and I would imagine along the
way there are different things in each.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Part section You've got it, and some of that is
really key to kind of what the trails can do
for communities. It is really an economic development driver. All
across the country. Trails deliver about thirty four billion dollars
a year in economic activity. That's jobs, whether you have
a small business on the trail or it's the jobs
to maintain and create the trails. It's also people spending
(02:42):
money in the towns because they're stopping, they're getting water,
they're getting a snack, air, retail places, retrail places, all
of that. And so these are when you build these
corridors out and you really activate them with businesses, it
is an incredible opportunity for communities.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
We're talking with Brandy Horton with the Trails Rails to
Trails rather Conservancy and tomorrow's big event. Let's talk about
what's happening at Pepper Place and who all is going
to be there and what people can expect and enjoy
if they come.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, you're going to be there, absolutely, you're going to
be there with us. So this is a big celebration
that takes place all across the country. One of the
events happening is here in Birmingham at pepper Place Market
is Celebrate Trails Day. It is a national day of
action to show off all of the ways that trails
make a difference, that economic impact, that health benefit, the
community connection coming together. So at pepper Place Market, we're
(03:30):
going to have a whole lineup of folks from the city.
I'll be there, You'll be there. We'll have Kathy'sloss Jones,
who is the big driver behind Pepper Place really and
who has made this whole thing possible they have and
she is on our Board of Directors National Board of Directors,
so she is there. Woodfin will be there. We just
have a whole group of folks who will be there
(03:52):
to celebrate with us. And then we're going to go
on a little ride and we're going to tour the
developing trail network in Birmingham and show off all of
the great progress.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That's Is there already rails to trails here in our
area or are we in development there?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Sure is, there's a lot already in your area. This
railroad park that is a former Yeah, that's part of it,
Jones Valley Trail that's part of it, the Rotary Trail
that's another rail trail. So you have a bunch already
right here. And there's a big vision underway being led
by the Freshwater Land Trust to connect that into a
seven hundred plus mile trail network for all of Jefferson County.
(04:27):
So that is incredible. Basically the ideas you would have
within a mile of your house, safe access to walk them.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Back, right, And they're still under development across the country
and you're always developing new ones.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Right, developing more and connecting more. When you have forty
two thousand miles. That's almost as many miles as the
highway system in our country. But the highways are all
connected and the trails are not. So the focus now
is how do we take these corridors and stitch them together.
And it means that we can't put an old railroad
bed right there. You have to look at other public
rights of way. Sometimes it's utility corridors, sometimes it's road
(04:58):
rights of way. They're separated and safe. There's lots of
ways that you can do it. But that connectivity makes
it so that more people will use it, and we
actually see rates of use go up by almost eighty
percent when you connect those trails.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Well, it's a daunting task. I'd love to see the
big map in your office. I'm sure that shows all
of these and go, okay, these are developed, these are
where we need to go, and these are off limits.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So what you can see the map, it's online. A
Trail Link is our mapping tool, and it's a public
tools so you can find trails. It's also the GIS
data we use to see where all of those corridors are.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, it's fascinating and I'm learning as i go with you,
and it's been great pleasure chatting with you over the
last few weeks about this event coming to Birmingham in
our state of Alabama, as well as you've been out
and about in Huntsville and Aniston and tomorrow Pepper Place, folks,
So come down. This is going to be a lot
of fun. The weather looks great. We'll get started with
about ten ten thirty or so, right, Well.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
The market events are going to start at about seven am. Yeah,
they're always open early if you're open early, and the
whole day they're going to have activities and they'll be
talking about Celebrate Trails Day. Our big thing is at
ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, perfect, Well, we will see you there Brandy tomorrow.
Appreciate you And where can people go to find out more?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
On the website Railstrails dot org slash Celebrate Trails is
a go to spot where you can find information about
this event. You can find information about events across the
state of Alabama. There's other activities that are happening, and
you can find trails and that's most important.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We will see you tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Sounds good. Can't wait.
Alabama's Morning News. I'm JT and joining us in the studio,
and I was Brandy Horton, who is the vice president
of communications for Rails to Trail's Conservancy.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hey, welcome in, good to see you. It's so good
to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
So you're in town for a big event that's happening
tomorrow at Pepper Place, and we're going to get to that.
But I do want to talk about rails to trails
as you live in the DC area, that's correct. Where
do you live up there?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I live in Arlington, Virginia. Actually, yeah, I used to
live in Fairfax, right neighbors, old neighbors.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
So we've kind of got the rails to Trails thing
going on in our area. But when did this start,
how does it work? And what's going on nationally with this?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sure, so Rails to Trails Conservancy really got to start
in the mid eighties, and when this whole idea came together,
there was really only a few hundred of these trails
in the whole country. That's it. And now there's over
forty two thousand miles of multi use trail and rail
trail nationwide. Every single state has these trails, including Alabama.
You got about one hundred and thirty miles of rail
(00:54):
trail in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
I had no idea there were that many around the country.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
So the whole idea came from all of the old
railroad corridors that were no longer really being used for freight,
and Congress said, we're going to lose these important transportation corridors,
so can we do something with them to protect them?
And that was where the trail idea came into play,
and it really changed our culture as a country. We
did not forty years ago you couldn't really walk and
bike safely relived, and now that's what we do. That's
(01:20):
what people do all over America.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
So they were actually at the foundation was there with
the tracks obviously, and they didn't have to come in
and clear trees and bring machinery, and they just kind
of all right, well, let's get the tracks out of
here and the rocks and let's build in some walking.
And so the trails have parks around them, or are
they for walking, bicycling, or all of the above, all
of the above.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
It's different everywhere. And you mentioned we're going to be
here for some events. One of the things that we've
done all week long is toward some of the trails
that exist in Alabama, showing off to some of our
board members people from across the country the great work
that's happening here in the state. And we were on
the Chief Ladaiga Trail, and that is an exceptionally goes
through the Talladega National Forest, it goes through university campuses,
(02:01):
it ends in Aniston, and they just extended it into
downtown Aniston to the train station. So now you can
take Amtrak, do a bike tour, go all the way
to Atlanta, and then get back on Amtrak if you
want to, and go home.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
So these trails are not just a few city blocks long.
These are long trails, and I would imagine along the
way there are different things in each.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Part section You've got it, and some of that is
really key to kind of what the trails can do
for communities. It is really an economic development driver. All
across the country. Trails deliver about thirty four billion dollars
a year in economic activity. That's jobs, whether you have
a small business on the trail or it's the jobs
to maintain and create the trails. It's also people spending
(02:42):
money in the towns because they're stopping, they're getting water,
they're getting a snack, air, retail places, retrail places, all
of that. And so these are when you build these
corridors out and you really activate them with businesses, it
is an incredible opportunity for communities.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
We're talking with Brandy Horton with the Trails Rails to
Trails rather Conservancy and tomorrow's big event. Let's talk about
what's happening at Pepper Place and who all is going
to be there and what people can expect and enjoy
if they come.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Well, you're going to be there, absolutely, you're going to
be there with us. So this is a big celebration
that takes place all across the country. One of the
events happening is here in Birmingham at pepper Place Market
is Celebrate Trails Day. It is a national day of
action to show off all of the ways that trails
make a difference, that economic impact, that health benefit, the
community connection coming together. So at pepper Place Market, we're
(03:30):
going to have a whole lineup of folks from the city.
I'll be there, You'll be there. We'll have Kathy'sloss Jones,
who is the big driver behind Pepper Place really and
who has made this whole thing possible they have and
she is on our Board of Directors National Board of Directors,
so she is there. Woodfin will be there. We just
have a whole group of folks who will be there
(03:52):
to celebrate with us. And then we're going to go
on a little ride and we're going to tour the
developing trail network in Birmingham and show off all of
the great progress.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
That's Is there already rails to trails here in our
area or are we in development there?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Sure is, there's a lot already in your area. This
railroad park that is a former Yeah, that's part of it,
Jones Valley Trail that's part of it, the Rotary Trail
that's another rail trail. So you have a bunch already
right here. And there's a big vision underway being led
by the Freshwater Land Trust to connect that into a
seven hundred plus mile trail network for all of Jefferson County.
(04:27):
So that is incredible. Basically the ideas you would have
within a mile of your house, safe access to walk them.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Back, right, And they're still under development across the country
and you're always developing new ones.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Right, developing more and connecting more. When you have forty
two thousand miles. That's almost as many miles as the
highway system in our country. But the highways are all
connected and the trails are not. So the focus now
is how do we take these corridors and stitch them together.
And it means that we can't put an old railroad
bed right there. You have to look at other public
rights of way. Sometimes it's utility corridors, sometimes it's road
(04:58):
rights of way. They're separated and safe. There's lots of
ways that you can do it. But that connectivity makes
it so that more people will use it, and we
actually see rates of use go up by almost eighty
percent when you connect those trails.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Well, it's a daunting task. I'd love to see the
big map in your office. I'm sure that shows all
of these and go, okay, these are developed, these are
where we need to go, and these are off limits.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
So what you can see the map, it's online. A
Trail Link is our mapping tool, and it's a public
tools so you can find trails. It's also the GIS
data we use to see where all of those corridors are.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Well, it's fascinating and I'm learning as i go with you,
and it's been great pleasure chatting with you over the
last few weeks about this event coming to Birmingham in
our state of Alabama, as well as you've been out
and about in Huntsville and Aniston and tomorrow Pepper Place, folks,
So come down. This is going to be a lot
of fun. The weather looks great. We'll get started with
about ten ten thirty or so, right, Well.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
The market events are going to start at about seven am. Yeah,
they're always open early if you're open early, and the
whole day they're going to have activities and they'll be
talking about Celebrate Trails Day. Our big thing is at
ten thirty.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, perfect, Well, we will see you there Brandy tomorrow.
Appreciate you And where can people go to find out more?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
On the website Railstrails dot org slash Celebrate Trails is
a go to spot where you can find information about
this event. You can find information about events across the
state of Alabama. There's other activities that are happening, and
you can find trails and that's most important.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
We will see you tomorrow morning.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Sounds good. Can't wait.
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