A new organization in Poplar Bluff recently formed to help take care of the region’s 150 or so miles of non-motorized trails used by the public for hiking, running, mountain biking and other uses.
The Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition formed in January, according to founder Jonathon Breithaupt.
Breithaupt, who serves as the zone wilderness and trails manager for the eastern half of the Mark Twain National Forest, began searching for trail volunteers when he arrived in his new position in September.
“When I first got here, I was trying to figure out who was involved with the local club, if there was one,” Breithaupt recalled. “It turned out there wasn’t a club already engaged in building and maintaining trails like there is in most communities of this size.”
Breithaupt said he believed there “had been some interest in having a group like this prior to my arrival” and decided he would “meet with various community leaders who share a passion for trails and outdoor recreation” to see if there was potential for such an organization.
“I talked to them about my idea of building a 501c3 nonprofit that works to promote, plan, build and maintain trails in the greater Poplar Bluff area,” Breithaupt said.
From those meetings, the organization was born, with a founding board consisting of President Brock Littles, Steve Halter, Clark Allen, Trevor Gregg, Kenny Rowland, Rob Nations and Bruce Haas. Park Department Director Lanny Corcimiglia serves as a liaison.
“You might call it a club, but we’re more than that. We’re an army of trail volunteers and supporters,” Breithaupt said.
“I applaud Jonathon and the many volunteers who will be working so hard to maintain our trails. Jonathon seems to have a wealth of knowledge and a real passion for trails,” said Halter.
“It is awesome how a community our size has such incredible outdoor resources like Wolf Creek Trail, our city trail system and the Ozark Trail. These trail systems are not only great for our local citizens, but also a huge draw for equestrian, hiking, biking and running enthusiasts,” Halter added.
The work of the new group, Breithaupt said, is critical because of shortfalls in staffing and funding at the nation’s major public land management agencies.
“I think the big reason why this group needs to exist in our public land management agencies, including my own, just don’t have the staffing to adequately steward our area trails,” Breithaupt said.
A generation ago, Breithaupt noted, every ranger district had a trail crew.
“Today, many of them don’t,” he said.
“The truth is, we don’t have a ton of funding or personnel in our trails program, yet the need for trail construction and maintenance still exists,” Breithaupt added.
Without such private organizations to fill in the work gaps agencies like the U. S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can’t, the trail systems would become more dangerous and less useful.
“I suspect you’d see a continual degradation to the quality of the trail experience in the region,” Breithaupt said. “That’s a fairly blunt way of putting it, but the fact of the matter is trails take an extensive amount of maintenance and ultimately, what they require is a passionate group of people who use them in order for them to be maintained at a high standard.
“It’s critically important that we have a group that’s focused on maintaining what we’ve got but also at the same time being a visionary and a partner of these public land management agencies to dream up new trail projects.”
Using the forest service as an example, Breithaupt said, “If we’re going to build a new trail, we pretty much have to have some sort of partner group associated with it.”
The coalition has a work day planned for Saturday at the Wolf Creek Trail north of Poplar Bluff, a popular and heavily used system of trails with 22 miles open to public use.
“We’ll be working to spruce up that trail and do routine maintenance,” Breithaupt said.
The group also will partner on April 10 with the local chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen of America to work on the Victory Horse trail which is located on Mark Twain National Forest property north of Poplar Bluff.
The “172 Loop Trail” north of Poplar Bluff on Forest Service and Missouri Department of Conservation land also is slated for a work day soon.
“That trail needs some love,” Breithaupt said.
Anyone interested in joining the Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition or learning more about its work, Breithaupt said, can email him at jonathon.breithaupt@usda.gov.