TV Club Seeks Trail Access

TV club seeks trail access By Mark E. Rondeau, Bennington Banner Article Launched: 03/28/2007 11:35:46 AM EDT

Wednesday, March 28 POWNAL, Vt. — The Pownal Select Board lent a sympathetic ear to a request for trail access from two officers of the Bennington Trail Conservancy — an all-terrain-vehicle club based in Bennington — at last Thursday's board meeting.

The board made permanent, subject to review, a list of trails for ATV use that it had already approved for such use on a year-to-year basis. For other roads and trails the club would like to use in town to create a trail network, most of which are not approved for ATV use, members of the board will seek input during the next month from residents who live near them.

"We know that there are some trails and roads that Pownal does allow some ATV activity on as it stands right now," said BTC member Kerry Ryan. "We're trying to come up with some trails that we can make loops, such that if you start at one end you can make a continuous ride around and not have to backtrack, if at all possible."

Coming into the meeting, the group had approval for use of one trail, in Woodford. "We're starting from scratch here," he said.

Creating a network of trails could make the activity less noticeable, he said.

"Having a trail where you just ride from point A to point B and turn around and go from point B to A on the same trail, tends to be more of a problem because it's just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth," Ryan said. "I own land on County Road and I know that's what happens."

"Having a loop will alleviate some of that repetition of people just going back and forth," he said.

According to a map Ryan and BTC President Michael Lynch showed the board and left at the town office, their ultimate goal is two major loops. The largest would be five to seven miles around and would run through Pownal, Woodford and Stamford. The men received approval recently from Woodford to use a lengthy trail that runs from east to west. BTC officials have yet to make their case in Stamford.

"We're hoping this will give you some idea of what we want to do," Ryan said of the map. "Now some of this is not Pownal; in fact a lot of it is not Pownal. A lot of it is Stamford." Judging by the map, a much smaller loop would be created in south Pownal. One trail the group is interested in runs near the Dome, a geologic structure between Thompson's Pond and Broad Brook. Part of this trail belongs to the town, but part lies in watershed property owned by the city of North Adams, Mass.

Much of the land and trail system the group wants to is in the Green Mountain National Forest.

"We're not asking to make trails; they're already there and the roads are already there. We would just like to have access to them," Ryan said. "Our hope is to be able to get these trails and then we would do signage on them and maintain them, and then work with whomever it is — National Forest, the towns, landowners to keep it a safe and viable trail."

Roads in Pownal that have been and will continue to be open to ATV use — pending any future review by the Select Board —include Schankar, part of Old Military Road and Noble, County and Cross roads.

The BTC formed about a year ago; about 20 of its nearly 100 members live in Pownal.