May 2, 2008 - Ribbon Cutting
The third leg of the trail is now officially open. On Friday May 2, 2008 we had the official ribbon cutting ceremony opening the third leg to the public and adding another four miles of finished trail to the LOViT. We were fortunate to have several of the state's key recreation officials attend the ceremony. Richard Davies Executive Director of the Arkansas Parks and Recreation Commission attended and extended his thanks to the US Forest Service for its support as well as the US Corps of Engineers both of which extended their team's support during a time of dramatically reduced budgets to assist in completing this beautiful section of the trail. He spoke of the great efforts of the Traildog volunteers who provided over 1200 volunteer hours in completing this section of the trail.
Richard Stokes US Corp of Engineers Lake Ouachita Manger echoed Davies remarks and stated the coalition that was formed to support this project has now raised $890,000 of grants, matching funds, in kind land and materials and over two thousand hours of volunteer support.
We are all proud of our progress and eagerly look forward to our next dig this winter. The fourth section has been designed and laid out and will connect with the USFS Charlton Trail which will then connect the Crystal Springs Resort and USCOE campground to the LOViT making it the fourth resort and fourth campground to be connected by the trail. This new portion of the trail is now being evaluated for historical and environmental issues and, once approved, we can begin the actual construction this winter.
After the ceremony several of the Traildogs joined in for a hike of the new section to admire their handiwork. It was a great day to be a Traildog.
Jerry
