The Greenways Foundation promotes greenways, blueways and multi-use trails in Indiana.

Legislation pending in the General Assembly

The Greenways Foundation supports HB 1220 and HB 1191, both of which call for funding for the already established Trails Maintenance Fund. The Trails Maintenance Fund was established in last year’s legislative session with the passage of Senate Bill 4 as amended, which became law July 1, 2014. The Trails Maintenance Fund does not have a source of funding; hence, the two proposed bills (HB 1220 and HB 1191) are before the House Ways and Means Committee. As of February 24, 2015, there hadn’t been any movement for either of these two bills, so the bills are likely dead. The Greenways Foundation is examining ways to resurrect HB 1220 in the Senate or attaching 1220 as a rider on another bill, such as HB 1471.

As for HB 1471, this bill had its third reading February 24, 2015 and passed 95-0 in the House. At the request of the bill’s author, Representative William Friend, the Greenways Foundation did attend a House Ways and Means Committee Hearing on the bill and spoke in support of the bill. We look forward to working with the Indiana DNR to establish a statewide trails policy which will support trail development, trail maintenance and trail usage.

The Foundation encourages you to contact your legislator about any of these bills.

Thank you for attending!

The Greenways Foundation wants to thank everyone for the tremendous support we received during our recent luncheon. We enjoyed a memorable presentation titled “Exploring Indiana’s Trails,” given by various Hoosier greenways leaders, heard an update on our grant recipients and their progress, and recognized several outstanding leaders of the trails movement in Indiana.

We especially want to thank our luncheon sponsors, who provide generous support for trail projects across the state. Visit our Luncheon & Sponsors page to read about award winners and see our list of sponsors.

Arlinghaus named Trail Advocate of the Year

The Greenways Foundation is pleased to name Paul Arlinghaus as our 2015 Trail Advocate of the Year. His leadership, passion and commitment to natural surface trails in the State of Indiana is inspirational and it rubs off on those around him.

Paul has served as President of the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association (HMBA), a chapter of the International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA), since 2006. During this time, HMBA has built and maintained more than 100 miles of single track, natural surface trails in Indiana. Paul has served as a leader of trail advocacy in Indiana for the last 10 years. He has taught hundreds of trail volunteers how to build and maintain sustainable natural surface trails throughout the state, and personally spends hundreds of hours and weekends building and maintaining trails.

In 2014, HMBA was approved by the Department of Natural Resources to start building Phase 3 in Brown County State Park, adding another 12 miles to an already impressive 30-mile trail system. In 2013, Brown County State Park was named an IMBA Epic Trail System and Paul is working on making it a Ride Center, the national recognition for mountain biking. This is bringing riders from all over the country. Paul’s vision is to build a 100-mile natural surface trail system connecting Brown County State Park, Yellowwood State Forest and the Hoosier National Forest.

Under his leadership, HMBA has successfully written and been awarded three Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grants, bringing almost $450,000 to natural surface trails in Indiana, as well as a $250,000 state trails grant. HMBA is currently working on two RTP grants for Southwestway Park in Indianapolis and O’Bannon Woods State Park in Southern Indiana. adding more than 20 miles of natural surface trails to both projects.