After two years and more than 15,000 hours of labor, the rerouting of Fiery Gizzard Trail in Tennessee has been completed. The project began in June 2015 after two landowners asked South Cumberland State Park to move the parts of the trail that were going through their land. The first landowner asked that the trail be removed from his property by December 2015. As the rangers and other volunteers worked on the first reroute, another landowner asked that the part of the trail on his land be removed as well, by December 2016.
No More Handshakes As the park received these requests, it consulted with Parks and Conservation Deputy Commissioner Brock Hill and other Tennessee State Park and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation management on how to approach the situation. "When the trail was created in 1973, to bring more visitors to the area, there were only handshake agreements between the park and the landowners," says Hill. Since those handshake agreements, things have changed. People have moved and landowners have changed, leaving those agreements null.
"If I could give any advice to other parks, it would be to check your maps and see where your trails land, and if you don't have any agreements, get them in writing as legal documents," says George Shinn, Park Manager at South Cumberland State Park. The two parts of the trail may be off private property, but that might not be the end of the trail reroute. There are six miles of trail still on private land, which is owned by four different landowners. "Any one of them could write a letter tomorrow saying they want the trail off their land, which could lead to the trail being closed. We are working with the Land Trust for Tennessee, Friends of South Cumberland, and other partners to get easements, purchase land, and do other things to ensure the Fiery Gizzard Trail stays open," says Shinn.