One Voice for Trails: Sam England and the Push for a Statewide Trail Plan in West Virginia

Sam England put 2,000 miles on his vehicle just listening. Ten in-person conferences, electronic surveys, focus groups, stakeholder interviews — the whole process of renewing West Virginia’s statewide trail plan framework came down to a simple question: what do people actually want? The answer, across more than 1,000 data points, was remarkably consistent. More trails. Better connectivity. The ability to walk out your door and get somewhere meaningful on a trail. That much, at least, the bikers and the hikers and the equestrians and the off-road community all agreed on.

The trickier part is the 20 percent they don’t. Sam’s job has been to make sure that 20 percent doesn’t swallow the 80. What WV Trails is building is a framework that gives trail advocates, legislators, and land managers a clear picture of what West Virginians want in language they can act on. Connectivity, he says, is more than physical — it means organizations talking to each other, land managers and trail groups working across ownership lines, pulling the wagon together instead of in separate directions. The inaugural WV Outdoor Economy Summit felt like proof that people are starting to get there.

Learn more about: wvtrail.org/ / WV Statewide Trail Plan Framework