Carson City's Ash to Kings Trail receives national achievement award

Muscle Powered, a Carson City non-profit that works to enhance walking and biking in the community, was recently notified that Carson City’s Ash to Kings Trail was selected as winner of the Coalition for Recreational Trail’s Annual Achievement Award in the Community Linkage category.
 
The Coalition for Recreational Trails will present the award to Muscle Powered on June 8 in Washington, D.C. at a congressional reception at the Raybourne Congress Office Building.
 
Muscle Powered Trails Manager Jeff Potter spent eight years working on the planning, development, financing and construction of the trail. Last year, Potter was named the Trail Worker of the Year by the American Trail Association. Potter is not able to accept the award in person due to a work conflict.
   
“This gentleman is a superhero. We owe him and his trail crews our thanks,” said Kelly Clark, Muscle Powered President. “This has been a collaborative effort, we thank the city, state and federal agencies that have help out along the way, especially State Parks, for the Recreational Trails Program funding that made this trail possible. We especially thank our volunteers who picked the trail, carried the rocks, and shored up the drainages to build a sustainable and beautiful trail. That’s over 10,000 hours of donated work. I hope that everyone can get up there and enjoy the spectacular views over our little town. It is something for which we can all be proud.”
 
Of particular relevance to this award was the outstanding collaboration among the partners for the seven-mile-long Trail Project, which includes two non-motorized use bridges at North Ash Canyon and Kings Canyon. The partners included the Nevada State Parks, the Carson Ranger District, Great Basin Institute, and the Carson City Parks and Recreation and Open Space Departments.

Private land owners were generous in providing easements and allowing for trail construction access, Lumos and Associates and the Nevada Land and Water, donated professional expertise necessary for the planning, environmental compliance work and construction. Washoe Zephyr and Horizon Construction also helped with the effort of signage and bridge construction. Our fantastic volunteers included Muscle Powered members, individual area residents and corporate partners and groups of private firms such as Red Rock Dental, Starbucks, and Harley Financial that built different segments of the trail.
 
The Coalition for Recreational Trails is a federation of national and regional trail-related organizations. Its members work together to build awareness and understanding of the Recreational Trails Program which returns a portion of federal gasoline taxes to the states for trail development and maintenance. Funding from the RTP program paid for most of the work done on the Ash to Kings Trail, and is administered by the Nevada State Parks.
 
Two board representatives, Anne Macquarie (founding Muscle Powered member and current Board Secretary) and Juan Guzman (MP Board member, grant writer and City Liaison) will be representing Muscle Powered at the Congressional reception on Capitol Hill June 8 where the award will be presented.
 
Muscle Powered is seeking the community’s help to offset travel costs for Juan and Anne. A donation button has been set up on the Muscle Powered website at musclepowered.org. Select the Menu tab/Donate button and be sure to put a notation "CRT Award Travel" in the "Special instructions to the seller" in the PayPal line. Or donors may send a check to "Muscle Powered, Travel Fund" and mail to PO Box 2402, Carson City, NV, 89702. Any funds raised beyond travel costs, estimated at $2,000-$3,000, will go to Muscle Powered’s trail building fund.