Equestrian Trail Group Hopes Grant Will Help Them Grow
Trending
A Chautauqua County horse trail organization has received funding that members hope will sustain the club for the next few decades.
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced that the Chautauqua County Equestrian Trail System has been awarded a $68,000 grant from the Park and Trail Partnership Grants Program to develop a multi-year strategic plan focusing on marketing, fundraising and volunteer support to broaden the diversity of trail users and expand and strengthen partnerships.
Melissa Whittington, the president of CCETS Inc., is excited about the grant and is in the process of putting it to use.
Whittington noted that CCETS was formed about a decade ago when Chautauqua County first created its Greenway plan. "We were ranked one of the highest projects to happen first," she said.
The goal was so that horse trails could be placed in Boutwell Hill State Forest, which is in the Cherry Creek area. "The county championed horse trails for us and helped these volunteers because we didn't have any experience with grants or things like that. We did training on trail construction, trail sustainability and trail maintenance," she said.
From that grant and working with the county, the CCETS was formed. Today Boutwell Hill has about 25 miles of trails that are used not just by horse riders, but lots of different people, including bicyclists, hikers, cross country skiers, and more.
The group today holds a Volunteer Stewardship Agreement with New York state for Boutwell Hill State Forest as well as for some trails in North Harmony State Forest. "With us signing that, we agree to maintain the trails that are in those forests that are multi-use," she said.
The problem is manpower. "We are a passionate but small group of people and we really need to grow in order to sustain the trails," Whittington said.
They have about 30 active people in their organization, with about half of them serving on their board.
Whittington said they want to use the grant for marketing to bring more awareness of the trails and the organization, and to get more volunteers. Some of the volunteers may be for short-term projects, instead of making a lifelong commitment.
They have two consultant companies that have given them proposals to help them meet their goals with marketing and generating volunteers. The money will be used for one of the consultants.
Whittington said it's important that their base of volunteers grows, to avoid burnout as well as to make sure they can continue to meet their agreement with the state to maintain the trails. They also need to be continuing to seek grant funds as well. "As president, I'm also looking at where is CCETS going to be in five years, 10 years, 25 years, and 50 years. This is the stuff I'm really looking forward to work with our consultants," she said.
The issue of volunteers and seeking grants is one of the main reasons why the Friends of Chautauqua County Greenways was formed. The CCETS is one of many trail groups that came together late last month to talk about ways to grow all their groups and be united when it comes to seeking funding.
One of the main topics discussed at the Greenways meeting was to create and maintain multi-use trails among the various groups, instead of individually.
Whittington said she really likes that concept and really wants to see multi-use trails flourish. She notes that some people have physical disabilities that can't hike in the woods, but can get out there with the right mode of transportation. "The aides are e-bikes and horses and these track wheel chairs. We need trails that are accessible," she said.