Tri-State Trails celebrates a decade, plans to become a nonprofit organization

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - After a decade of work in Greater Cincinnati’s trail and bikeway network, Tri-State Trails is announcing plans to become a new nonprofit organization, separate from its current parent organization, Green Umbrella.

“[Tri-State Trails] got started off as a very small part of [Green Umbrella’s] work,” said Ryan Mooney-Bullock, Executive Director of Green Umbrella. “A group of passionate volunteers and organizations came together to develop a regional trails plan for Greater Cincinnati and since that plan has been developed, we have been able to work with local governments across our ten county region.”

The organizations have worked with more than 200 local governments in the 10-county region.

Wade Johnston, Director of Tri-State Trails, says, “in the past 10 years, [Tri-State Trails] have seen success in our trail network. We’ve had over 114 miles of trail built, 58 miles of bikeways built. In the next three years, we’re expecting another 35 miles to be built.”

Tri-State Trails is only a staff of four, but they provide technical assistance to local governments to expand the walking and biking trails, including the Crown project, an urban trail loop around Cincinnati.

Mooney-Bullock adds, “We know that trails are a way for everybody in our community to access recreation and transportation opportunities in a safe and healthy way. And the more trails we have, especially protected trails that are off the road or even protected bike lanes, the more people will feel comfortable.”

“We are taking that step to apply to the IRS to become a separate non-profit organization and we hope to have that completed in the next six months,” Johnston explained with the announcement to become a non-profit organization.

The other programs currently housed within Green Umbrella are the Greater Cincinnati Regional Food Policy Council, Cincinnati 2030 District, Common Orchard Project, and the recently launched Regional Climate Collaborative. Green Umbrella also facilitates Impact Teams and other collaborative efforts, including CPS Outside. The regional sustainability alliance has served as the fiscal agent or sponsor for other projects including Red Bike, Taking Root, Adventure Crew, and Produce Perks Midwest, all of which are now independent nonprofit organizations.

For more information about Tri-State Trails, including future events, getting involved, or to donate, you can visit their website here.

For more information about Green Umbrella, you can visit their website here.

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