Thank you for attending the 2022 Piedmont Legacy Trails Summit!
Find all the Recordings and Info on the 2022 Session below!
Piedmont Legacy Trails Summit is an annual educational offering where passionate trail advocates in the Piedmont Triad and across the State of North Carolina connect and learn. The 2022 Summit took place over the course of 4 Fridays in March with each day holding one educational zoom session in the morning featuring different speakers and topics relating to trails in the Triad and North Carolina (planning credits available). Along with these online sessions we offered limited capacity, outdoor fields trips lead by PLT partners at local trails.
This year sessions featured a short presentation of a Legacy Award, given to an outstanding trail advocate or trail project that for outstanding contributions and commitment to creating trails and working for enhanced trail recreation in the Piedmont Triad.
Thank you for joining us!
Sponsored by:
Summit 2022
March
4th
Successfully Engaging Volunteers on Trail Projects
Legacy Award Presentation
Falls Lake Trail – Engaging Volunteers on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
Jeff Brewer, MST Falls Lake Task Force Leader
How a Small Town Gets it Done
Bill Bruce, Town Manager, Oak Ridge
AICP Credit Reference: #9230605
Jeff Brewer of Raleigh NC started this trail work days on the MST when he was a student of the late Allen de Hart. In 2003 Jeff became the 6th person to thru-hike the MST across North Carolina. From 1997-2008 he served as the President of the FMST. Since 1997 he has been leading the trail work at Falls Lake on the MST. The first 26 miles was established in the mid 1980s with an extension of the MST started in 2007 for 30 miles. Currently the Falls Lake section of the MST is 63 miles and 3 LNT campsites.
Bill Bruce, AICP, is Town Manager for the Town of Oak Ridge. Bill has over twenty years of experience as a planner at the municipal, county, and regional levels and has been with the Town of Oak Ridge since 2014. He is responsible for implementing the overall strategic direction of the Town Council, which includes a strong commitment to investing in sidewalks, parks, and trails. Bill has a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Master’s in City Planning from Georgia Tech.
Field Trip:
Haw River Headwaters Trail
Oak Ridge
Hosts: Oak Ridge Town Manager Bill Bruce
March
11th
Thinking Bigger: State and Regional Trail Planning
Legacy Award Presentation
Introducing the Great Trails State Plan
Steve Bzomowski, ALTA
How to Harness the Great Trails State Plan for Statewide Advocacy
Palmer McIntyre, Piedmont Legacy Trails
The Evolution of a Regional Trails Network
Bret Baronak, Carolina Thread Trail
AICP Credit Reference: #9230603
Steve Bzomowski is a planner in Alta Planning + Design’s Durham, NC Office. His experience as part of Alta’s Durham team (2012 – present) is focused on active transportation planning projects at the local, regional, and statewide level across North Carolina and the southeast. Recent and current project work includes the Great Trails State Plan, Yadkin Valley Regional Bike Plan, Wake Forest University Mobility Study, High Point Greenway Plan, and the Franklin County Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan.
After an early career in environmental education, federal regulatory implementation and two years of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa, Palmer landed at Piedmont Land Conservancy in her hometown of Greensboro where she is a part-time Conservation Planner. She has held various positions since joining the Conservancy in 1996, including Program Manager, Executive Director and Board Member. She is currently leading the Great Trails State Coalition and fundraising for NC Year of the Trail. Palmer has a Masters of Regional Planning from UNC-CH. She and her husband have three teenage children and she enjoys hiking, gardening, volunteering in schools, serving as a Girl Scout leader, and spending time on their Ashe County farm, which is forever protected by a conservation easement.
Bret has been the Director of the Carolina Thread Trail since 2018 after originally joining the Thread Trail team in 2016 following a background in public sector land use and transportation planning. Throughout his career, he has specialized in bicycle and pedestrian planning. From 2006 to 2014, Bret served as the Bicycle, Greenways, and Pedestrian Coordinator in Palm Beach County, Florida, where he was responsible for planning, funding and elevating awareness for non-motorized transportation. In late 2014, he moved to the Charlotte region and held the position of Senior Transportation Planner with the Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln MPO. Bret is a native of western Pennsylvania and a graduate of Penn State University. He is an avid road and mountain cyclist and also enjoys hiking, travel and NASCAR racing.
Field Trip:
Winston-Salem Greenways E-Bike and Bike Tour
Winston-Salem
Big thanks to our hosts: Triad Eco-Adventures & Matthew Burczyk, Transportation Project Planner, City of Winston-Salem
Field trip session 2 was exploring sections of Winston-Salem’s exceptional interconnected greenway network and some of it’s notable features by bike and e-bike!
March
18th
Innovative Strategies for Funding and the Future
Legacy Award Presentation
Partnerships – Helping Build Greenways Without a Greenway Program
Chris Snow, Director, Wake County Parks, Recreation & Open Space
The Future of Parks, Trails and Public Space: What’s Next?
Mitchell Silver, Principal and Vice President of Urban Planning for McAdams
AICP Credit Reference: #9230606
Chris Snow is the Director of Wake County’s Division of Parks, Recreation and Open Space (PROS).
PROS is comprised of eleven units including Lake Crabtree County Park, Blue Jay Point County Park, Historic Oak View County Park, Harris Lake County Park, Historic Yates Mill County Park, Crowder County Park, Green Hills County Park, the American Tobacco Trail, and the Turnipseed, Robertson Millpond and Sandy Pines Nature Preserves. The Division’s open space program seeks to protect water quality by acquiring land or easements in critical stream corridors or watersheds. In addition to its own parks and preserves, the County actively seeks partnerships with local municipalities in the areas of Community Use of Schools and Greenways. As Director, Chris is responsible for all aspects of park operation and management as well as open space acquisition.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Resources Administration and a Masters in Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management from North Carolina State University. He began his professional career as a Park Ranger with the North Carolina Division of Parks & Recreation at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. After returning to the Triangle he held positions at the County’s Lake Crabtree County Park and Blue Jay Point County Park before assuming the role of Division Director in 2006.
Mitchell is principal and vice president of urban planning for McAdams; responsible for providing advisory services in urban planning, land use, parks and public space planning with an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. He is an award-winning planner with more than 35 years of experience and is internationally recognized for his leadership and contributions to contemporary planning issues. He specializes in comprehensive planning, place making and implementation strategies. For McAdams, Mitchell acts as a visionary, thought leader and an advisor on current and future projects, and serves as an ambassador and leader for the company in regional and national organizations and events. Prior to joining McAdams, Mitchellserved as the commissioner for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation; overseeing the management, planning and operations of nearly 30,000 acres of parkland, which includes, parks, playgrounds, beaches, marinas, recreation centers, wilderness areas and other assets.
Field Trip:
History and Adventure in the Sauratown Mountains: Vade Mecum and Moore’s Springs Mountain Biking Trails
Danbury
Big thanks to our hosts: Hanging Rock State Park Ranger Jason Anthony and Tony McGee, of Round Rock Design (Trail Design, Construction, and Education)
Hanging Rock State Park Ranger Jason Anthony took the group on a backstage tour of Vade Mecum. Then we went a mile down the road to Moore’s Spring Bike Trails, another part of Hanging Rock State Park with 15 miles of hike/bike trails and heard from Tony McGee who started this project.
March
25th
Trail Case Studies: Effective Partnerships in Rural and Urban Communities
Legacy Award Winners: Harry Clapp & Yadkin River Park
Princeville’s Heritage Trail:
Achieving Buy-In and Support Through Community Collaborations
Mary Alice Holley, Conservation Trust for North Carolina
The Circuit Trails, Philadelphia’s regional trail network: How We Got to 100s of Miles of Happy
Spencer Finch, Principal of Engineering, Alta Planning and Design
AICP Credit Reference: #9230608
Mary Alice liaises with CTNC’s staff, board, and partners to ensure the organization advances its mission to build resilient, just communities for all North Carolinians. For the past two years, she has successfully managed a partnership with the Town of Princeville and NC State as they apply smart and innovative conservation strategies to help the flood-prone region rebuild with resilience. In her spare time, Mary Alice enjoys hiking with her family and exploring North Carolina’s hidden treasures in her kayak.
Spencer is an Engineer with over two decades of experience in both the consulting and public/non-profit sectors. He brings distinctive multi-disciplinary skills in transportation engineering, Complete Streets, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure design. With a focus on environmental engineering and sustainable infrastructure, Spencer provides strategic guidance to help communities plan and design healthy active transportation networks. Spencer also specializes in grant writing and grant management, resiliency planning and retrofitting, and sustainability programs.
Field Trip:
Madison River Park
Madison
Hosts: Kevin Baughn, Madison Town Manager
For our final field trip we toured Madison River Park, which opened in May 2021. This dam removal and natural boulder weir restoration is a unique and well executed blueway project that improves habitat for a rare fish and creates more opportunities for recreation.
We appreciate everyone who contibuted to the 2022 Summit by attending, speaking, sponsoring, and organizing.
Thank you for joining us!
2022 Legacy Award Recipients
Mary Joan Pugh
Randolph County Trails Coordinator
Mark Gatehouse
Piedmont Fat Tire Society
Harry Clapp
North Carolina Rails-to-Trails Volunteer
Yadkin River Park
Outstanding Trail Project in Davidson County
In 2022 we continued our tradition of honoring local trail advocates by presenting four Legacy Awards. Because of the pandemic and lack of an in-person Summit in both 2020 and 2021 these awards were placed on hold.
Because of this pause, we awarded three outstanding trail advocates and one outstanding project, instead of our usual two. The award presentations were given at the beginning of each session.
These awards are given to an individual or organization for outstanding contributions and commitment to creating trails and working for enhanced trail recreation in the Piedmont Triad.
Past Legacy Award Recipients
2018
Roger Bardsley
Retired, Guilford County Planning
Elkin Valley Trails Association
2019
Greg Yahn
MST Crew Leader, Guilford and Alamance Counties
Haw River Trail
Hosted by:
