Meeting with Patrick Dean with Mountain Goat Trail Association

Written By Ralph Trieschmann

1/8/24

In order to learn from the experiences of other recently created rail-trails in Tennessee, John McCracken, Ralph Trieschmann, Virginia Bruce and Lori Phillips-Jones had a zoom call with the Executive Director of the Mountain Goat Trail Association (MGTA) centered in Monteagle, TN. https://www.mountaingoattrail.org/

  • Mountain Goat Trail had different circumstance from what Scott County is considering since the rail bed they are converting to a trail was abandoned in the 1980’s meaning they had to buy land from CSX who owned a large stretch plus from local county ownership as well as a few land owners.

  • Patrick is a paid full-time employee of the MGTA as Executive Director. His primary job is grant writing and planning the buildout of the trail system a planned 40 mile stretch.

  • Funding sources include local fundraisers which contribute roughly $75k/ year. Additional money is coming from grants from agencies like Tennessee Dept of Transportation in support of Multimodal transportation; The Diabetes Foundation in support of healthy living; and various tourism and rural development grants from TN.

  • Patrick offered support as we need it. He invited anyone interested to have a tour of their trail.

Ralph Trieschmann
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