RTC TrailBlog : rail-trail champions

From Florida to Prince William Sound, Linda Crider's Wide-Reaching Legacy

Jake Lynch — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:00:00 GMT

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration in October, we honored a group of men and women--the inaugural Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions--who have made a remarkable contribution to the rail-trail movement during the past quarter century. We will be posting a blog story on each of the honorees during the coming weeks. Today we pay tribute to Dr. Linda Crider, who in a wide-reaching career has promoted opportunities and education for walking and biking in a diverse range of communities.

Dr. Linda Crider describes her advocacy of bicycling and trails as "one of her life's passions." From bicycling education programs in her native Florida to transportation planning in a remote Alaskan village, Crider's promotion of active transportation has spanned a number of decades, and many landscapes.

Crider's involvement in Florida's trails and cycling community began in the 1970s, first during her work in the governor's office, and then as an active member of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's Florida Chapter (and later an RTC Florida advisory board member).

Crider was a founding board member of the Florida Bicycle Association in the 1980s. She later founded and served as executive director for Bike Florida, Inc., and for 18 years was director of the University of Florida's Bicycle and Traffic Safety Education Program. She directed a number of multi-modal research efforts and training programs for the Florida Department of Transportation, helping make bicycling and walking safer and a more integral part of communities.

In 1997, Crider launched one of the nation's first Safe Routes to School programs. In 2009, she was contracted to shape a plan to address the needs and opportunities for non-motorized transportation in the Prince William Sound region of Alaska, where she had spent a number of summers earlier in the decade. During Crider's time there in 2009, she helped the city of Cordova develop a Safe Routes to School program, and her work led to the nomination of the Copper River highway as a Scenic Byway.

Crider was recently recognized with a Lifetime Achievement award by the national Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.

To receive the Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion grant named in her honor, Crider selected the Palatka to Lake Butler State Trail. RTC played a key role in preserving the corridor for conversion to a rail-trail, which Crider says has the potential to "redefine Palatka as the trail hub of northeast Florida."

Photo of Dr. Linda Crider, being presented with her Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion award by RTC President Keith Laughlin, by Scott Stark/RTC

'Cockeyed Optimist' Peter Harnik Honored as Rail-Trail Champion

Jake Lynch — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration in October, we honored a group of men and women--the inaugural Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions--who have made a remarkable contribution to the rail-trail movement during the past quarter century. We will be posting a blog story on each of the honorees during the coming weeks. Today we recognize the enduring legacy of Peter Harnik, who, along with friend and colleague David Burwell, founded RTC in 1986.

Peter Harnik's name is inextricably connected with the formation of RTC. A self-described "bicycle enthusiast and cockeyed optimist," Harnik's first introduction to rail-trails came during a failed quest to close Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, D.C., to automobiles.

Still determined to build a landscape more open to cycling and walking, Harnik began researching Seattle's Burke-Gilman Trail and the Elroy-Sparta State Trail in Wisconsin. His subsequent article for Environmental Action magazine, "I've Been Walking on the Railroad," in 1982, is one of the key treatises in the formation of a rail-trail movement in America.

Three years later, Harnik joined David Burwell in founding RTC.

At that same time he co-founded the Coalition for the Capital Crescent Trail. After 10 years as RTC program director and vice president for programs, during which time he walked 137 different rail-trails, he left to become director of the Center for City Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land.

As a published author and speaker, Harnik continues to advocate for the benefits of trails and green spaces to modern communities. His latest book, Urban Green: Innovative Parks for Resurgent Cities, features a chapter on rail-trails, and a photo of New York's High Line graces the cover. Harnik is currently at work on a book blending rail-trails, railroads and bicycling.

Harnik awarded the Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion grant given in his honor to the Metropolitan Branch Trail Committee of the Brookland Neighborhood Civic Association, reflecting his strong belief in their mission to build a strong culture of community ownership around the trail.

Photo of Peter Harnik at RTC's 25th Anniversary celebration by RTC.

Barbara Burwell Inspires Son, David, and a National Rail-Trail Movement

Jake Lynch — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration in October, we honored a group of men and women--the inaugural Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions--who have made a remarkable contribution to the rail-trail movement during the past quarter century. We will be posting a blog story on each of the honorees during the coming weeks. Today we pay tribute to David Burwell, RTC's co-founder, and his mother, Barbara, who inspired her son's passion for trails.

The history of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) begins with David Burwell. When he and Peter Harnik founded RTC in 1986, there were just a few dozen rail-trails in the country. But during the 15 years he led the nonprofit he helped create, rail-trails became a much-loved part of the American landscape, and an integral part of our recreation and transportation vernacular.

As a young man, Burwell was fortunate to have an excellent role model in trails advocacy. His mother, Barbara Burwell, championed the creation of the Shining Sea Bikeway in Massachusetts and worked for many years to see it to completion. Today, the 10.8-mile rail-trail runs from the ferry docks in Woods Hole to North Falmouth, Mass.

In many ways, Barbara Burwell's remarkable commitment in transforming a disused rail line on the Cape Cod peninsula into a much-loved community asset was a precise blueprint for what RTC would one day become.

With friend Joan Kanwisher, Barbara Burwell rallied community support, worked with local officials, planners and landowners, and found funding sources. Their success is all the more remarkable for the fact that they were doing all this in 1965; decades before any kind of rail-trail movement in America, Barbara and Joan did not have the resources and support many of us can rely on today.

Barbara's legacy is not limited to the Shining Sea Bikeway. For just as she was working to build that rail-trail, she was inspiring a young man who would grow up to be instrumental in building thousands of miles of rail-trail across America. The extraordinary success of the Shining Sea Bikeway, and the transformative effect it had on his community, convinced David to form RTC with Peter Harnik in 1986. When his mother asked what his vision was for RTC, he replied that he wanted to "start at the Shining Sea Bikeway and go all the way to San Francisco."

Twenty-five years later, David Burwell's organization has helped build enough rail-trail miles to do that distance many times over.

In addition to his mother's example, David had discovered other practical recommendations for trails built along former rail lines. In "The Shining Sea Bikeway - A Triumph of Citizen Action," a history of the trail written by W. Redmond Wright, David said, "It was the Woods Hole Red Sox that sold me on rail-trails. During the three years I played on the team (1957-1960) the bike ride to the ball field was even more daunting than facing Johnnie Hough of the Hornets... Despite my parents' stern warning to "stay off the railroad tracks!" I often bounced my fat-tired Schwinn along the track that ran in a straight line from the end of our driveway to the ferry docks - no hills!"

A lawyer by training, David's thorough knowledge of railbanking legislation and understanding of the role of the courts in advancing the development of rail-trails was a key to the continued success of RTC. In 1990, he was the founding co-chair of the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), a national transportation policy reform coalition. After his time at RTC, David became STPP's president. He also served as the director of the National Wildlife Federation's Transportation and Infrastructure Program, and the first chair of the National Research Council's Transportation and Sustainability Committee, among many other roles.

David is currently the director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his work focuses on the intersection between energy, transportation and climate issues.

In dedicating his Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champion grant to the Falmouth Bikeways Committee, which directs maintenance of the Shining Sea Bikeway, David said he was paying tribute to his mother, and to all rail-trail champions who face great obstacles in creating new trails in communities across America.

Photo of David Burwell with U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Photo of Barbara and David Burwell on the Shining Sea Bikeway in 1998 by Robbie McClaran/courtesy of Woods Hole Historical Collection

David Brickley a Trails Leader at Many Levels

Jake Lynch — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 17:10:00 GMT

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's (RTC) 25th Anniversary celebration in October, we honored a group of men and women--the inaugural Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions--who have made a remarkable contribution to the rail-trail movement during the past quarter century. We will be posting a blog story on each of the honorees during the coming weeks. Today we pay tribute to the leadership and dedication of David Brickley, who as an elected official and private citizen has made blazing new trails a focus of his life.

David Brickley is president of the September 11th National Memorial Trail Alliance, which is promoting the development of a 1,130-mile trail and greenway connecting the three memorial sites of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States: the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., the Pentagon Memorial and New York City’s National September 11 Memorial.

His pursuit of such an ambitious and remarkable goal comes after many years as a leader in promoting trails and outdoor recreation.

Under Brickley’s leadership as the director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation from 1998 to 2002, Virginia was awarded the national gold medal award for the “Best Managed State Park System in America.”

Brickley previously was an elected member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1976 through 1998, and he was the legislative sponsor, co-founder and chairman of the Virginia Railway Express, Virginia’s commuter rail system. He has also served as an officer and trustee of the East Coast Greenway Alliance, and as the Virginia State Committee Chair.

Additionally, Brickley personally purchased a 16-mile out-of-service railroad corridor in King George County, Va., to protect it from being lost to development. As president of the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail Alliance, his goal is to work with other volunteers to make this rail-trail project a part of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail.

Brickley was born in Albany, N.Y., and graduated from Pennsylvania State University and the George Mason University School of Law. He previously served in the United States Air Force with a tour of duty in Vietnam, where he received the Bronze Star. He and his wife, Lori, reside in Woodbridge, Va., and have three children and four grandchildren.

Photo of David Brickley and his wife, Lori, by Scott Stark/Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

RTC Celebrates 25 Years of Trailblazing Champions

Jake Lynch — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:46:00 GMT

At Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC), so many of the great strides we have taken over the years in building a better trails landscape are due to committed volunteers, supporters and leaders in countless communities around the country. This support network is the foundation of our success. So what better way to celebrate our 25th anniversary this year than by recognizing 25 individuals who have made invaluable contributions to advancing rail-trails across the country!

On Saturday night, October 1, we held a special awards reception in Washington, D.C., in honor of our 25 Rail-Trail Champions. Thanks to the generous support of the Doppelt family, we were able to reflect, celebrate and congratulate, paying fitting tribute to community volunteers, elected officials, trailblazers and pioneers who have given so much to this movement.

It was fantastic to have so many of the honorees in attendance that night, including the original founders of RTC, David Burwell and Peter Harnik. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood was in attendance as both an honoree and the keynote speaker. His rousing testimony on the importance of trails and active transportation reminded us of the great supporters we have in federal, state and local governments across the country.

Here's the full list of the 2011 Doppelt Family Rails-Trail Champions:

Supervisor Greg Cox - San Diego, Calif.

Supervisor Steve Kinsey - San Rafael, Calif.

David Burwell and Barbara Burwell* - Bethesda, Md.

Peter Harnik - Arlington, Va.

Brian Smith - Clearwater, Fla.

Linda B. Crider - Palatka, Fla.

Ed McBrayer - Decatur, Ga.

Mark Ackelson - Pleasant Hill, Iowa

May Theilgaard Watts* - Highland Park, Ill.

The Honorable Ray LaHood - Peoria, Ill.

George Burrier - Morton, Ill.

David Dionne - Birmingham, Ala.

Fred Meijer - Grand Rapids, Mich.

Carolyn Kane - Vestaburg, Mich.

The Honorable James Oberstar - Chisholm, Minn.

Terry McGaughey* - Brainerd, Minn.

Edward* and Hilda P. Jones - Williamsburg, Mo.

Darwin Hindman - Columbia, Mo.

Joshua David and Robert Hammond - New York, N.Y.

Ed Honton* - Columbus, Ohio

The Honorable Tom Murphy - Washington, D.C.

Robert Thomas - Philadelphia, Pa.

Linda McKenna Boxx - Latrobe, Pa.

David Brickley - Woodbridge, Va.

Charles Montange - Seattle, Wash.

The Honorable Ron Sims - Seattle, Wash.

Sally C. Jacobs - Orono, Maine

(* indicates was honored posthumously)

In the coming weeks, we will be posting photos and video of the event, as well as the profiles of each honoree, so stay tuned. Thank you to all of our rail-trail champions, supporters and friends. Here's to another 25 years of blazing new trails. See you at our 50th!

Photos by Scott Stark/Rails-to-Trails Conservancy