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Foothills Conservancy updates commissioners on Oak Hill Park, adaptive trails and storm repair funding
Summary
Foothills Conservancy told Burke County commissioners about Oak Hill Community Park's visitor numbers, planned adaptive Wilderness Gateway State Trail, mountain-bike race course at Catawba Meadows and potential National Park Service hurricane relief funding to help trail repairs.
Representatives of Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina briefed the Burke County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 6 about ongoing recreation and conservation projects, including Oak Hill Community Park and a planned Wilderness Gateway State Trail.
Shane Prisby, trails program director, and Andrew Coda, executive director of Foothills Conservancy, described Oak Hill Community Park as a 656‑acre, community‑led project about seven minutes from the meeting site. Coda said the park has been open about two years and the conservancy estimates roughly 30,000 annual visitors. "We are here to thank you for the support that the county has provided to our land trust," Coda said.
Prisby described trail projects and programming: Oak Hill offers more than 12 miles of trail, agricultural programs and community food production; Catawba Meadows is being developed as a mountain‑bike trail system and, according to Prisby, will be the first Interscholastic Cycling Association race course in western North Carolina. Prisby said organizers estimate roughly $90,000 in direct visitor spending over a three‑day race.
The conservancy also described the Wilderness Gateway State Trail, a proposed 170‑mile corridor that would accommodate adaptive cycles and connect Lake Lure to Catawba County. Prisby said the Henry Fork River Preserve project, which will connect old 18 to new 18, is fully funded and under contract and could be built within about 18 months.
On storm recovery funding, Prisby told the board Foothills is working with the National Park Service to distribute approximately $1 million in congressionally appropriated hurricane relief funding and that some of the funds could support repairs to county‑maintained trail systems.
Commissioners had technical and access questions, including whether equestrian uses would be accommodated. Prisby said parts of the trail corridor do not include equestrian facilities but that overlaps with South Mountains State Park would be managed by the park's land manager.
Ending: Foothills offered a fuller slideshow at the board's Oct. 20 regular meeting; commissioners left the informational presentation on the consent/agenda list for further discussion.
