Utah Taps Congress to Fund Wasatch Loop Trail

May 06, 2008 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Utah Division of Parks and Recreation and local trails organizations are asking Congress to approve federal funds to build a 340 mile-loop skirting the Wasatch Range. State Trails Coordinator John Knudson says about 100 miles of the trail are already constructed.

"A few years ago, there were a number of communities across the nation that received a substantial amount of money to complete their Dream Trails network," Knudson says. "Now there's a move in Congress in the next session under the transportation bill, to provide dollars for maybe 40 projects nation-wide."

Tapping into this federal funding would accelerate the development of would be called the Wasatch Loop Trail, Knudson [NUDE-son] says. Planning for the trail system started in January. Since then, a group of more than a dozen stakeholders have held monthly meetings. The group includes representatives from Salt Lake, Davis, Wasatch and Utah counties, the Trust for Public Lands, The Mountainland Association of Governments, and the Mountain Trails Foundation of Park City. While planning is underway, Knudson says it could take decades to finish the Wasatch Loop Trail.

"There's a lot of things involved in planning a trail," Knudson says. "There's property acquisition. There's the actual financing of construction, proper location, negotiation with utilities, railroads, and on and on and on."

When completed, the trail will run through seven counties. Stakeholders meet monthly to develop the idea and are planning to launch a Web site soon to promote the new trail.

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