SPRINGFIELD, MISSOURI A Trail of Honor Ozark Greenways dedicates a trail through a National Veterans Cemetery
By Terry Whaley, former executive Director of Ozark Greenways and AT board member
O
zark Greenways, located in Springfield, MO, recently dedi- cated a very special section of trail along their James River Greenway.
The Trail of Honor project is just 1,700 feet of the much larger 25-mile vision of the James River Greenway for Springfield, Missouri. What makes this trail unique is its location. After years of considering several routing options, obstacles, and costs, it became very clear that the best trail route would need to run along the south bank of the James River.
The challenge was that the trail would need to cross property operated as a National Veterans Cemetery and
managed by the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC). While the need to route the trail across the cemetery had been discussed for years in the Ozark Greenways monthly technical commit- tee, the initial belief was that permis- sion would never be granted for the development of a public trail in a veter- ans cemetery. In 2011 the first face-to-face meet- ing with the local Missouri Veterans Commission staff was held. Ozark Greenways presented the project and request for an easement for routing of the trail. The response was one of cool, but
respectful uncertainty. This had never been done before and concerns of allowing the public into fenced and gated cemetery grounds was met with great concern. That first meeting did
lead to a second meeting involving higher ranking staff from the MVC located in our state capital, Jefferson City.
Ozark Greenways had no funding, no design, and only a general route planned which allowed the idea to remain very flexible and input from both parties to be considered. No hard lines on a map left doors open and allowed for discussion to continue. On October 12, 2017, six years and nine days after the first meeting, the trail was dedicated with over 200 peo- ple in attendance, including many vet- erans, a military band, and a Boy Scout honor guard. Through their “Trails for Generations” funding initiative, Ozark Greenways raised $290,000 in donor- designated funds to build this segment. This trail project took legislative
Boy Scout honor guard on the new trail 22 WINTER 2017-18
AmericanTrails.org
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