Admitting that “this is not new,” Congressman Mike Castle (R-Del.) last week again stood at Lewes’ Cape Henlopen State Park, touting legislation that would authorize the nation’s first coast-to-coast trail that begins — or ends — on Delaware’s coast.
Flanked by Delaware Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Hughes and other state and federal officials, Castle continued his support of the American Discovery Trail.
“This is not new,” Castle said, “but I do have hopes that, this year, the trail will get done. We are really at a significant point in Delaware as far as trails are concerned. This is something that really puts Delaware on the map.”
Officials touted Castle’s dedication to environmental issues in the state, recognized that the trail would give Delaware’s pristine coastline more notoriety, and said trails promote safety and environmentalism by getting bikers and walkers off roads and into nature.
“You do not take seriously what you do not know,” said Hughes, himself an environmental advocate, and a Rehoboth Beach resident and former mayor. “Trails place people in contact with nature. People that become familiar (with nature) become wonderful environmentalists, wonderful people.”
The American Discovery Trail stretches 6,800 miles, from Cape Henlopen State Park to Pt. Reyes National Seashore in northern California, passing through cities such as Cincinnati and San Francisco. It connects 10 national historic, 23 national recreational, five national scenic and numerous local and regional trails.
Susan Henley, an ADT official, called federal authorization, which could bring with it federal monetary support, a “win-win situation.” The legislation would add the trail to the national trails system, but similar bills have been introduced in Congress four times since 1996 and died in house committees.
“Legislation is important because of the boost it will give to the development of this trail,” Henley said last Thursday.
Delaware state officials also used the opportunity of a small crowd to promote local trail efforts, and to ask for federal support for them via Castle.
Officials are working to connect the Blackwater Junction trail in Rehoboth to make it continuous, so that bikers — in danger when riding on Route 1, where bicycle accidents are not rare during the busy summer season — can take the trail from downtown Rehoboth to Cape Henlopen State Park.