Randall urged to be prepared for the Veterans State Trail

By Tina Snell, Staff Writer

Bob Reinitz, committee chair for the Camp Ripley/Veterans State Trail and Mark Kavanaugh, committee member, told the Randall City Council Wednesday the city should be preparing for the inevitability of the trail that will border the town.

"The impact on the economy of our area will be huge," said Reinitz. "The Paul Bun-yan Trail sees about 25,000 users per month and the Lake Wobegon Trail in Stearns County sees about 11,000 riders per month. Currently, $3.2 billion is spent annually in Minnesota by trail users."

Reinitz said the Camp Ripley/Veterans State Trail has been given state trail status, so the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is actively involved in its implementation. The National Park Service has also recognized the trail's importance and has become involved.

Kavanaugh said that every community in proximity to the new trail should be prepared for trail users by offering access to their towns from the trail.

"Even Staples has begun planning routes from the trail to its community," said Kavanaugh.

The location of the trail will be in Morrison, Cass and Crow Wing counties and will connect the Soo Line Trail in southern Morrison County with the Paul Bunyan Trail in Crow Wing County. It's been proposed that portions of the trail will travel along the southern border of Cass County. It will be constructed along both sides of Camp Ripley, converging both northeast of Camp Ripley and near Little Falls.

Reinitz said the Veterans State Trail is the missing link between two other well-used trails.

"The Camp Ripley/Veterans State Trail Committee believes this trail system, to be the largest in the world, will create many new business and jobs and go a long way toward saving our downtowns," said Reinitz.

He said the long-term goal of the trail committees in Central Minnesota is to connect more trails and complete a 500-mile loop. Trail users won't need to retrace their route to return to where they left their vehicle.

That loop will connect the Soo Line, Lake Wobegon, Paul Bunyan, Heartland and Mi-Gi-Zi trails into one. It will also be part of the Mississippi River Trail, a designated route from the Mississippi River Headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico.

"There won't be anything like it anywhere else in the world," Reinitz said.

Funding for the project comes from statewide donations and the Legacy Fund which is generated by the 3/8 of 1 percent additional sales tax. The project will eventually cost about $22 million.

"Camp Ripley has been the largest contributor, and is willing to have a portion of the trail on its western borders," said Reinitz. "The master plan for the route will come from the DNR and will be done at the same time as a corridor study. Both should take about six months to complete and then construction begins, hopefully during the summer of 2012."

Council Members agreed that portions of its 2012 budget needed to be set aside to accommodate access to Randall when the trail opens.

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