Making the Connection II:
International Trails & Greenways Conference

IMBA Trail News
Volume 12, Number 3
August 1999

The Second Annual International Trails and Greenways Conference, put on by the Rails To Trails Conservancy, was a smashing success perhaps even better than the first one in San Diego last year. It took place in Pittsburgh June 23-26, and included at least a hundred separate sessions. Participants learned how to build organizations, web sites, and trails, and how to fund these efforts. While the emphasis was not on the backcountry trails that IMBA members favor, it was none the less important for IMBA and for the rest of the trail community. As always, it provided one of the best networking opportunities of the year, since most of the critical players in the national trail movement were there. Participants from several states represented IMBA.

IMBA board member Michael Kelley chaired a presentation entitled "Jump Starting Trail Movements Around the World," which focused on a fledgling trail project to put a trail in along an abandoned rail route from Mexico City to Cuernavaca, a distance of 75 miles. The "Parque Lineal Mexico-Cuernavaca" would be Mexico's first big recreational trail. Developing such a trail is difficult in a nation that lacks much of a trail or open space movement, and is afflicted by extreme poverty and deep political problems. The Rails-To-Trails Conservancy (RTC) provided a generous scholarship to enable Kelley and two key activists to attend the Pittsburgh symposium and present the project. After their show, a distinguished international panel discussed strategies for getting the trail off the ground.

Kelley commented, "The panel members were superb in their comments and their enthusiasm. They gave telling remarks about the strategies for development. The mood was elevated as the workshop ended. Now the task is to make Parque Lineal Mexico-Cuernavaca a reality."

Stay tuned to IMBA Trail News for continuing updates on this this innovative and challenging Mexican project.