Sections of the Fred J. Cusimano Westside Overland Trail in Chautauqua County will see significant upgrades and improvements in the coming months, thanks to a series of recently received grants from various local and regional foundations. Submitted photo

The Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth has been awarded $65,000 from local foundations to make improvements to the Fred J. Cusimano Westside Overland Trail in Brokenstraw and Panama state forests.

The funding will also help with trail improvements on sections of private properties south of Titus Road in Sherman. The latest improvements are part of Phase IV of the Chautauqua County Overland Trails Revitalization Project.

The Fred J. Cusimano Westside Overland Trail is a 24 mile-long nature trail spanning four towns and six state forests – all within Chautauqua County near Mayville, Sherman and Panama.

The foundations that helped CCPEG reach its Phase IV fundraising goal include the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, the Jesse Smith Darrah Fund, the Lenna Foundation, and the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation. To secure the grants, CCPEG collaborated with the Chautauqua County Parks Department, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and private landowners to plan and organize the best approach for Phase IV of the project. In addition, CCPEG allocated $15,000.

“Phase IV represents the first instance where we will be working with private landowners to improve sections of the Overland Trail that run through their properties,” said Jacob Bodway, CCPEG trail coordinator. “I can’t express how lucky we are to have our local foundations believe in this project and how indebted we are to have private landowners who understand that the Overland Trails are an important recreational asset to everyone who loves exploring the county’s beautiful forests and countryside.”

Like the previous phases, the trail upgrades for Phase IV will be completed by Trail Construction Associates, a trail building company located in Forestville. Work will begin by the end of July and should finish by late September.

“I am thrilled to see all of the work that is being undertaken on our county’s extensive trail system,” said Mark Geise, deputy county executive for economic development and co-chair of the CCPEG Advisory Board. “Maintaining our existing trails was one of the top ten recommendations put forth in the Chautauqua County Greenways Plan we developed back in April of 2012. Trails are one of the key assets we are promoting in our recently-unveiled branding campaign, and are the basis of the trails mapping initiative we rolled out last month. That being said, it is essential that we have a good product for our residents and visitors to experience. Thank you to everyone that is involved in keeping this initiative moving forward.”