Parks & Trails Council Of Minnesota

Research and public policy: parks & trails council prides itself on making sure that policies we advocate for are informed by the best available data, science and research. In 2024, p&tc advanced several strategic initiatives that support parks and trails planning, access, and policy. We completed and published final visitor survey reports for mountain biking destinations at giants ridge and the redhead trail system, sharing insights with partners and stakeholders at the inaugural arrowhead coalition of trails conference. See schedule o for additional program language.we also did some initial research exploring the feasibility of a major expansion of a north shore state park and evaluated potential replacement sites for upper sioux agency state park, a park that was decommissioned in 2024 all with the goal of providing future opportunities for high-quality public access.our research and policy efforts continued to gain national relevance in 2024. We collaborated with iowa state university and the des moines area metro planning organization to field-test trail roughness measurements using our custom-built research bike, helping validate data against the international roughness index with the goal of advancing national standards. We also provided technical guidance to other organizations interested in replicating our methods. Additionally, we studied alternative models for providing low-cost state park vehicle permits through the motor vehicle registration processdrawing on policy models from nine statesto help inform minnesota's approach to equitable park access.finally, as the go to source of information on all things parks and trails, p&tc develops, maintains and updates several fact sheets that are used by decision makers and are accessible in the "our research" page of the "impact" section of our website at www.parksandtrails.org. A summary of p&tc's legislative accomplishments can also be found in "public investment" page of the "impact" section of our website.

Outreach and community engagement: of course, community is at the heart of p&tc's work, and we are grateful to have a dedicated community of people who work with us to coordinate hands-on projects in the parks and trails. In 2024, p&tc worked with 48 volunteer-based friends groups across the state. P&tc believes that our public lands are enhanced when volunteers engage in hands-on habitat restoration projects that contribute to a collective land ethic. In 2024, we provided grants to three friends groups doing habitat restoration projects. See schedule o for additional program language.we also worked to boost opportunities for friends groups, land management agencies, and local communities to work together to accomplish even more. Finally, for the fourth year in a row, p&tc hosted four online forums to bring friends groups together for virtual learning and sharing on topics like volunteer appreciation, citizen science, organizational governance and social media. You can find more information on the work we do with friends groups by visiting the "our friends" section of our website at www.parksandtrails.org.