A mountain bike rider threads a trail at the edge of a former quarry.
Ryan Thibault
BY THE NUMBERS: ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF MILLSTONE TRAILS
Length in miles of the Millstone Trails mountain bik- ing and skiing trail network: 70
Miles that could be lost if the land were developed rather than protected in a town forest: 20
Number of out-of-area visitors to the trail network last year: 7,150
Number of visitors expected in 2015: 10,500
Current estimated annual expenditures for local goods and services by out-of-area visitors: $481,000
Estimated expenditures in 2015: $640,000
Projected number of jobs supported by those expenditures in that year: 20
Estimated funding needed to create the Barre Town Forest: $1.3 million
Estimated amount that will be returned to the community between 2012 and 2015 from visitor purchases of goods and services: $2.3 million
Source: Steve Posner and Marta Ceroni, Potential Economic Impact of Outdoor Recreation in the Barre Town Forest, Vermont (Burlington: Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, University of Vermont, 2012).