This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 31, 2011 - Public meetings have been scheduled on a draft master plan for a Mounds Heritage Trail, which would connect Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville to historic mound sites in north and south St. Louis.
According to Trailnet Confluence Project Director Laura Cohen this trail is part of a larger vision for the St. Louis region. "That is the point of working together to do this. For too many years the river's been a boundary for different organizations to work together."
The new path would link Missouri and Illinois bike trails via the Eads and the new river bridge. There has even been talk of an elevated park, based on the New York High Line Project. The McKinley Bridge, which has a bikeway, is a possible location for that. The on-road bike lanes and separate trails would include audio information on such sites as Chucalo Mound, The Majestic Theatre, Eads Bridge, the Gateway Arch, Soulard Market, Laclede Power Building and the National Road.
The public forums will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Aug. 2 at St. Louis City Hall and 4-7 p.m. Aug. 4 at the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center.
"I hope there will be a good response, because people can add a lot of additional sites and help with economics of the plan," said Cohen.
The nonprofits that have come together from both sides of the river for this project include the Confluence Partnership, Grace Hill Settlement House, Greenway Network, Trailnet, SW Illinois Resource Conservation and Development and Trust for Public Land.
According to Ed Weilbacher of Special Projects at SW Illinois RC&D, the participating organizations meet often to talk about the heritage of the region and public open space. They also discuss issues that will affect the Illinois-Missouri-Mississippi River regions' ability to use those resources.
"As coordinator for the RC&D, I always look at things from a regional perspective and partner up with St. Louis organizations," says Weilbacher.
While there might not be a lot of public knowledge of the Heritage Trail, Weilbacher says two public bike rides have been held that generated a lot of interest. "It's not even a fully developed bike trail," he says. "I think these forums will help people understand what's on the corridor and what's on the route."
During the meetings, Weilbacher hopes Bi-State residents will discuss the core of the route, the significance of it, and the culture of finding a way to fill the landscape.
"It didn't take a lot of arm-twisting to get officials and the public involved in this project, because people realize that it's a part of our culture. With a little explanation of the trail people were really supportive of this effort," Weilbacher says.
Weilbacher notes that one of the politicians who has taken a lead role is Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, who has worked to preserve Sugarloaf Mound.
Kathy Waltz, Carnahan's outreach coordinator explains that the congressman's always been passionate about the use of the Sugarloaf area in South St. Louis; with efforts going back a decade to save the mound.
According to Waltz, Congressman Carnahan had always kept in touch with the owners, Walter and Eileen Strosnider. When the family was ready to sell the mound Carnahan worked with the Osage Nationto create the Sugarloaf Task Force to raise awareness and funds to help preserve the mound.
Subsequently, the Osage Nation Historic Preservation Office located the funds to purchase the land.
Of the trail, Carnahan says, "We have a great opportunity to link our regional Native American history to other historic sites and green spaces with this hiking/biking trail. I am proud to be a part of this project for what it will mean to the preservation of Sugar Loaf Mound and to the Osage Nation."
Carnahan hopes that raising awareness will showcase Sugarloaf's connection to Cahokia Mounds, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"Cahokia Mounds is one of the largest archeological sites in North America," Cohen says, noting that using it will help tie in "more local historic trails and sites."
But moving from idea to actual trails isn't automatic. Weilbacher says that the country's tough economic times affect the group's 2020 Action Plan.
"We hope to see markings up within the next year," he said, adding that off-raod trails may be up in a three to five year range.
A 200 square-mile network of conservation and other attractions has been developed in recent years to bring the bi-state region together. "We really wanted to use a multi-prong approach, with telling the untold story of more than 13,000 acres of open public space," said Cohen.
"Most people don't know the resources that are available within 30 minutes, there's a lot of growth potential because people can explore and help out the local economy," said Cohen.
The question for the public meetings will be whether the support is there for the Mounds Trail to be the next link in that network.
Ray Carter, a student at Purder University, is a Beacon intern.