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Rep. Rick Boucher |
Monday, February 1, 2010
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The Virginia Creeper Trail generates more revenue than personal property taxes and, according to U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, a similar project in Patrick County has the same potential.
The Abingdon Democrat, whose 9th District includes Patrick County and part of Henry County, is a proponent of building trails along abandoned rail lines as a way to boost the economy in rural areas.
The concept has brought dividends in other areas and does not drain resources, Boucher said.
In Abingdon, the 35-mile “fabulous terrain” of the Virginia Creeper Trail attracts about 300,000 people to the region each year, Boucher said.
Although there are other attractions, such as the Barter Theatre, restaurants and shops, Boucher said the Creeper Trail “is the major draw.”
Two localities — Abingdon and Damascus — consider it a major part of the local economy, he said.
The town of Abingdon in particular receives an economic boost from the trail because tourists also eat in local restaurants, shop at local businesses and stay in local accommodations, Boucher said.
“Abingdon collects more revenues from meals and lodging” that it collects in property taxes, he said. “That is all because of tourism.”
Trails also drive up the value of adjacent property because “people want to build homes near recreational resources,” he said.
The Virginia Creeper Trail begins in Washington County and “crosses a number of old wooden trestles built hundreds of years ago” as it goes into North Carolina, he said.
It is used year-round, attracting cyclists and hikers in mild weather and skiers and hikers in snow, according to www.vacreepertrail.us.
The New River Trail, which runs from Fries to Pulaski and also has a link to Galax, draws about 200,000 visitors each year, Boucher said.
The U.S. Department of the Interior designated the trail as an official National Recreation Trail, according to www.dcr.virginia.gov. The 57-mile park/trail parallels 39 miles of the New River — one of the world’s oldest rivers and among a handful of rivers that flow north.
“It is a fabulous bike trail, with a generally flat terrain,” Boucher said.
Neither trail drains local resources, he said.
For instance, because trails attract “people who are there for a recreational experience,” Boucher said crime does not increase.
Visitors “are not there to commit crimes,” he said. “The New River Trail and the Virginia Creeper Trail have never had any incidents like that.”
Maintenance costs along trail rights-of-way also are inexpensive.
“Those costs are at the lower end” of the scale, Boucher said, and added that maintenance is a minimal cost.
“Its basically mowing” grass on either side of the trail and removing trees that fall due to age or wind damage, Boucher said.
Paying for maintenance varies, he added.
The New River Trail State Park is state owned and state maintained, Boucher said.
Abingdon and Damascus agreed they would jointly maintain the right-of-way on the Virginia Creeper Trail, Boucher said, estimating those costs at $10,000 per year.
Volunteers with the Virginia Creeper Trail Club help oversee maintenance and raise money to install benches and interpretive signs that showcase natural features, according to Boucher and the Web site.
Maintenance on a trail to be built in Patrick County will be similar to the Virginia Creeper Trail, according to Assistant Patrick County Administrator Tom Rose, who also anticipates costs of maintaining the right-of-way in Stuart to be minimal.
A group of Patrick County volunteers has expressed interest in helping, Rose added.
Regardless of who pays, Boucher said the trails “contribute way more to the economy” than the cost of maintaining them. |
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