Trails in Parks bill signed by governor

The bill to encourage the development of trails in state parks, sponsored by one of the Missouri legislature's biggest bicycle supporters, Mike Sutherland of Warrenton, has been signed by the governor.

Sutherland, with the support of trail-building organizations and bicycling organizations like the Missouri Bicycle Federation, has been working to get this bill passed for two years.

The bill modifies current Missouri law in a common sense way. Current law says that each park may have a specific non-profit organization dedicated solely to helping operate that park.

Rep. Sutherland's amendment allows one organization to help across several (or all) Missouri parks and allows expands the scope of the allowed activities to include trail building.

In short, it allows organizations like GORC, EarthRiders, and IMBA to work with the Missouri Parks to build trails of all types.