In a rare bipartisan accomplishment, the U.S. Senate this week voted 92-8 to pass the Natural Resources Management Act, one of the largest land preservation acts passed in the past couple of decades. In Vermont, the legislation includes funding to complete a 40-mile section of trail through Addison County that would link the North County Scenic Trail to the Long Trail and on to the Appalachian Trail.
The North Country National Scenic Trail was authorized by Congress in 1980 to provide an off-road trail for non-motorized recreation from Crown Point, N.Y., to Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota. The 40-mile extension in Vermont will provide a significant connection between the longest trail in the national scenic trail system to the best known trail — the AT. To date, approximately 2,700 miles of the trail have been developed and are used for hiking, backpacking, snowshoeing and cross country skiing.
Preliminary work on a route through Addison County has suggested the trail would go from the Crown Point Bridge toward Middlebury, connect with the Trail Around Middlebury and over to East Middlebury where it might head up Route 125 to hook up with the Oak Ridge Trail and on through the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area to the Long Trail. However, a designated route has not been firmed up at this point. We’ll report more on this development in an upcoming issue.