See a video of Steve Buchtel and the Illinois Trail Corps vision online:
local match sources. At the same time, regulatory and administrative re- quirements for federally funded trail projects push overall project cost 50 percent higher than the same project completed with local funding. Using Federal funding, even the easiest-to- complete multi-use trail construction projects with no property acquisi- tion or expensive infrastructure like bridges typically cost $40-50 per linear foot including engineering, labor, and materials.
For similar projects, Illinois Trail Corps could build multi-use trail for $8-$12 per linear foot by coordinat- ing civilian conservation corps and volunteers to complete the work. At that level of savings, hiring Illinois Trail Corps becomes a true option for the State and local agencies unable to win a grant from a shrinking Federal program.
For many trail maintenance and re-
pair projects, Illinois Trail Corps may Illinois, no Federal or State trail grant programs are available to local agen- cies for trail maintenance and repair, and the State lacks the resources to repair damage on its own network of trails. By repairing trails such as the Rock Island State Trail, the I&M Canal State Trail, and the Hennepin Canal State Trail through civilian service and volunteer labor, Illinois Trail Corps can help the State re-open and main- tain these signature destination trails. Interestingly, Illinois Trails Corps can also lower the costs of public agencies receiving Federal grants in two ways:
1) By completing portions of a trail
project prior to pursuing a grant to shrink the amount of Federal dollars required to complete the work 2) As part of the Federal grant
process itself, which allows public agencies receiving Federal funds to contract with youth conservation corps in lieu of the typical requirement to hire professional contractors from a DOT-approved list.
The investments made since 2014 24 SPRING 2016
AmericanTrails.org
to equip Illinois Trail Corps with tools and equipment and to expand its capacity carry over into 2016, allowing Illinois Trail Corps to operate a fee- for-service model without additional donor capital. Overhead will remain small, with fees covering volunteer recruitment; training and coordination of volunteers and AmeriCorps NCCC; travel expenses; and equipment main- tenance.
While we work to complete ongo- ing trail projects, we will be scoping
https://goo.gl/5nRgzG
future projects to accommodate what we believe will be rising demand for Illinois Trails Corps are scaleable, and we believe can be funded organically. Ultimately, Illinois Trail Corps will be a truly statewide program, using a charter structure similar to peers such as Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail Alliance to - nation, and supervision to volunteer charter leaders.
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