RTC Launches Rail-Trail Hall of Fame First Inductee: The Great Allegheny Passage (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
 
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy presented its first Rail-Trail Hall of Fame award to the Great Allegheny Passage on Wednesday, June 27, at 6:30 p.m. in Cumberland, Md. Accepting the award was Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the coalition of seven organizations building the Great Allegheny Passage. This recently completed section allows passage from Washington, D.C., to Pittsburgh by linking six well-established pathways to form the 150-mile rail-trail, which then connects to the western end of the 185-mile C&O Canal Towpath.
 
"We are very proud to be named to the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame," says McKenna Boxx. "Our trail system has been in development for 30 years. It's been an enormous effort of thousands of volunteers. The national recognition of their efforts as well as the end product is a very fitting honor."
 
Beginning this year, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is nationally recognizing exemplary rail-trails around the country for induction into the Rail-Trail Hall of Fame. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy will select first-year inductees on merits such as scenic value, high use, trail and trailside amenities, historical significance, excellence in management and maintenance of facility, and geographic distribution.
 
"The Great Allegheny Passage is a perfect example of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's vision for communities across the country," said Rails-to-Trails Conservancy President Keith Laughlin. "We see an America where 90 percent of residents live within three miles of a trail system. The Great Allegheny Passage gets us one step closer to that vision. This passage is a true asset to the wonderful cities it connects and to the millions of East Coast residents and tourists who will now enjoy this marvelous corridor."
 
Inductees for 2007 will be announced this July, September, October, November and December. Promotion of the program will include award signage for the trail, a special feature on Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Web site, and a story in Rails to Trails magazine. The five-year program will run through December 2011 when the 25th—and final—Rail-Trail Hall of Fame inductee will be selected to coincide with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's 25th Anniversary.