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Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail director outlines timeline, land-access approach
Summary
Alexa Shapiro, trail director for the Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail, described a volunteer-led effort that has secured grant funding and initial landowner interest and provided a multi-year timeline for building long-distance trail segments.
Alexa Shapiro, trail director for the Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail, told the Houston County Board of Commissioners the organization is a volunteer-led nonprofit working to build a 100+-mile long-distance backpacking trail across the Driftless Region.
Shapiro said, "I'm not here to ask for any funding or any items by the county commissioners, but rather I just wanted to make sure that you were all up to date about the progress we've been making over the last year." She told commissioners the project has secured fiscal sponsorship, grant funding and is organizing volunteers and landowner agreements to begin trail designation this year.
The project, Shapiro said, is fiscally sponsored by Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center and has received funding from the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. She said the award included $426,000 that funded a three-year contract for a project director and equipment purchases for trail designation and construction.
Shapiro described a phased timeline: work this year with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and private landowners to secure access agreements and build short sections; two to five years to have longer segments available for hiking; and an additional five to ten years before the organization expects to have continuous 25-mile or longer stretches.
On maintenance and emergency response, Shapiro said volunteers will form the core maintenance workforce and the group is consulting major trail systems such as the Superior Hiking Trail and the North Country Trail to design maintenance and access plans. "We received a question, I believe, from the sheriff previously about ... how will emergency services get out to them?" Shapiro said the group will coordinate with local law enforcement on access points and routing so emergency services can reach hikers where needed.
Shapiro gave attendees a rough measure of early landowner support: she said about 10 landowners have signed letters of intent and that volunteer interest is strong — "we already have about 50 volunteers who have signed up to support us." She also said the organization will host a public forum in Caledonia on March 10.
The presentation emphasized that the trail will use a mix of public and private lands and that landowner liability protections in Minnesota encourage voluntary public access agreements. Shapiro reiterated the group is not seeking county funding at this time but wanted county staff and elected officials, including the county engineer and sheriff, to be informed as the project advances.
The board did not take any formal action on the presentation; commissioners asked questions about maintenance, law-enforcement coordination and grant funding.
The Minnesota Driftless Hiking Trail plans further outreach and access negotiations this year, with phased construction and designation continuing over the coming decade.
