Services
Trail Design and Route Marketing
Trail design is the most significant factor needed to have a sustainable, low maintenance trail. Bob has over 48 years of trail design and construction experience and notable early projects include the backcountry trail systems at Savage Gulf State Natural Area (50 miles) and Fall Creek Falls State Park (25 miles), as well as 200+ miles of trails in other Tennessee state and local park trails.
While there are technical rules to follow to layout a trail, getting to know and understand the landscape of the property is an essential part of the design work. While there are a number of possibilities for a trail route, the trail MUST blend into and become a part of the fabric of the landscape! This is what Bob can do for your property or park.
Trail Construction
The most recent trail construction project (2022) was the 0.80 mile trail at Aspire Park in Clinton, TN. This is a Green (easy) trail designed for Shared Use. This was a combination machine build and hand finish project.
Another recent project (2022) was a trail design/route marking project on a 100 acre property in Sevier County, TN. This project included two loop trails totaling about 1.6 miles long.
The 2017 trail design and route marking project was with the town of Thompsons Station, at the 207 acre Preservation Park property. Two trails totaling 2.1 miles were marked in March, 2017. Please see the presentation on this project.
In the past 17 years, Bob's Trails design projects include the 2006 Beaman Park trail reroute project (0.8 mile), the 2007 Henry Hollow Creek trail bridge project (56 feet long), the 2009 Sedge Ridge Trail (0.6 mile) and the 2010 accessible trail project funded with a three year grant through the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP). This project included a 350 linear foot by 6 ft. wide accessible boardwalk and another 0.25 miles of hard surfaced trails.
Grants
There are numerous grants to apply for to help fund park and recreation and greenway and trails facilities. These grants can be small or large, but each grant program has its specific requirements to be able to secure the funding. All grant programs have applications so the earlier you can secure the grant application, the more time you have to be able to create or acquire the needed information.
From 2005 -2016, Bob worked for the TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation, Recreation Educational Services Division as the TN Greenways and Trails Coordinator. He was on the team scoring and evaluating hundreds of grant applications. He understands what it takes to score points in each of the scoring criteria.
With all grant programs, the requirements for state and federal funding are different. Federal programs have more involved National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements as well as eligibility for different portions of the project process.
Most communities will allow for the state funded, Local Park and Recreation Fund, (LPRF) which is a 50% grant, 50% matching funds program. Eligible project include both indoor and outdoor recreation facilities as well as land acquisition for new parks.
Another popular grant program is the federal funded, Recreational Trails Program (RTP). This is an 80% grant with a 20% matching funds program which provides funds for new trail construction, trail maintenance, and new trailhead and trailside amenities.
If you have a project that needs funding, check with Bob to see which program might be best to leverage your local funding.
Contact Bob to discuss your potential project.
Gardens
Residential Garden
The gardens and landscaping pictured below were created in Nashville, Tennessee
