Volunteers needed to survey regional trail users

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer 10:35 PM Friday, July 10, 2009

Eight park agencies in the Miami Valley are gearing up for major undertaking: a first-ever regionwide count and survey of recreational trail users.

And they’re looking for help — a lot of help.

The project will be aimed at not only counting users, but also asking people to fill out a survey about how and why they use the region’s trail system. It will be taking place basically from dawn to dusk in three counties on Sunday, July 26, and Wednesday, July 29.

The survey and count is recommended in the region’s bikeways plan to set baselines on what sort of use the trails get and what should be done in the future, said Kjirsten Frank, a planner with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, which is coordinating the effort.

Frank said the one-page survey is an important part of the project.

“We can ask things like how much money is spent, or how people get to and from the trails,” Frank said. “There’s a lot more information we can take back as far as the economic benefit, the health and recreation, the transportation use, all of those things.”

So if you’re out on the trails later in the month, take a minute to stop and help the surveyors out.

But the agencies need more help than that.

They’re looking for volunteers to staff the counting stations that will be situated at strategic points along the bikeways.

Some officials, like the Miami Conservancy District’s Hans Landefeld, are getting worried.

“We need about 40 (people), and as of today we have about zero,” Landefeld said dryly. “Of course, there’s always me.”

Landefeld, who manages the river corridor and its 35 miles of recreational trails, is hoping to staff three survey stations.

The days are long: Most agencies are planning to man stations from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and they need two people for each station on each shift. The shifts vary from 90 minutes to three hours, depending on the agency.

Greene County Parks, which has 67 miles of trail, is hoping to set up eight survey stations and needs 130 volunteers each day, said spokeswoman Andrea Malavich.

“We’re probably at about 5 percent,” Malavich said. “So we need the help.”

Martha Shear-Lanese, office manager for the Centerville-Washington Park District, said she’s also still looking for volunteers for two stations along the district’s new Iron Horse Trail.

Lanese said the district is looking forward to getting results of the survey and count. They want to know where people are going and coming from, she said, and if they’re using the trail for transportation or recreation.

Park officials need this kind of data to evaluate use and justify further funding.

“It substantiates the money that we’ve spent and the continued investment in the trails south of town,” Lanese said.

Here’s where to sign up:

• Miami Conservancy District: 223-1271

• Five Rivers MetroParks: 1 (937) 564-5431

• Greene County Parks: 562-7446

• Miami County Park District: 335-6273

• Centerville-Washington Park District: 433-5155

• Tipp City: 506-3165

• Piqua: 778-2085

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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