SYRACUSE - The Cattaraugus Local Development Corporation (CLDC) has received a Green-way and Community Trail Innovation Award from the New York Parks and Conservation Association (NYPCA) for its work to create the future Iroquois Recreation Trail.
The NYPCA program recognizes individuals or organization working in New York state to create greenways, rail-trails, canal trails, bikeways and river walks. The innovation Award honors creativity in greenway and community trail design, management, fund raising or organization. CLDC plans to convert an abandoned rail line into a 12-mile multi-use trail from Salamanca to Cattaraugus.
"Innovation means thinking outside the box and that's certainly what the Cattaraugus Local Development Corp. did when it took on a protect to turn a long-abandoned rail corridor owned by the local Industrial Development Agency into a community asset." said NYPCA Conservation Director Robin Dropkin.
A committee, called S.T.A.R.T. (Southern Tier Association for Rails to Trails) formed under the umbrella Local Development Corp. in 1998, meeting with municipalities, government agencies, civic organizations, concerned citizens, and user groups. The group applied for and was awarded $1.5 million in state and federal funds for the project.
"CLDC used an innovative means to procure the required local match for these grants; it had an appraisal made of the rail bed, convinced the (Cattaraugus County) IDA to sell the rail bed to the organization for $1, and used the difference as the match," said Dropkin. "The innovation does not stop there, either. CLDC negotiated a 30-year agreement with Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. which allows the utility to use the right-of-way in return for a fee that will go toward managing and maintaining the trail. The agreement also includes a wildlife and forestry management program that makes utility a strategic partner in stewardship of the corridor."
The Innovation Award was presented to the CLDC Executive Director Richard LeFeber at an awards dinner Oct. 28 at the Hotel Syracuse in Syracuse.
The target date for the completion of the Iroquois Recreation Trail is December 2001, with the ribbon-cutting scheduled for midnight New Year's Eve.
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