At the Tuesday, August 18, 2015 county board meeting, an agreement was reached between the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) and Cook County for ARDC to provide services to create a Comprehensive Trails Plan for the county.
The county started the process in earnest in February 2015, after years of talking about a comprehensive trail plan, working with ARDC to find funding to facilitate the planning.
The goal is to identify needs, prioritize projects, improve connectivity and improve the management of the trails.
The plan will include the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa if the Band chooses to participate. As it gathers information ARDC will develop and maintain a project website to share information.
ARDC will also conduct a survey of key stakeholders to develop a local view of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats caused by this plan.
According to data collected to date, Cook County is home to 250 miles of cross country skiing, 450 miles of snowmobiling, 380 miles of hiking, approximately 2,000 miles of potential biking, and seemingly endless miles of rivers and lakes for canoeing and hiking.
The trail’s plan will dovetail with the current updating of the county’s comprehensive land use plan, and will create an opportunity to develop each plan with consideration and cooperation of one another.
Cook County will collaborate with Andy Hubley who is the director of the Regional Planning Division at the ARDC. Hubley helped Lake County complete its comprehensive trail use plan.
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