Steve Litts, Executive Director of the Dickinson County Trails, was the guest speaker at the Iowa Great Lakes Rotary meeing on November 18, 2009.
 
Steve spoke about the history, financials and future priorities of the trails. The Trails Association started in 1988 and has secured about $3 in grant funding for every local $1 contributed to the trails. In 2009, the trails benefitted from a State Rec Grant of $525,000; a Fed Rec Grant of $524,810; and a Fed Stimulus Grant of $186,126. In addition, two other grants are still pending - one from the Fed Rec Trails and one from the State Transportation Enhancement program. As a rule of thumb, it generally costs approx. $350,000 for a mile of trails. Steve also spoke about the railroad project which is currently in the early planning stages. This will result in 37 miles of additional trails when completed. Steve also gave an update on current trail projects, including the Bay Harbor Trail (just completed) and the Garlock Slough Trail (to start next summer). Topics also addressed were snowmobilers on the trails (allowed on all trails except those prohibited by local, state and fed regulartions, for example through DNR land), memorial bench program and trail usage.