Ross Asked to Become Bigger Member of Regional Outdoor Recreation Coalition

The county commissioners were invited to make Ross County a bigger participant in a regional recreational coalition.

Jessie Powers, executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia (ORCA), spoke in the October 28th commissioners meeting, asking Ross County to become the second major county participant in a nonprofit that leverages funding and planning for such pursuits as mountain biking.

Powers said that the anticipated major draw of World Heritage tourism (the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks) can be a foundation to draw more recreational tourism, to make a weekend visit into more of a week-long visit.

From ORCA’s website:

“The Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia (ORCA), a Council of Governments, was created to utilize outdoor recreation assets in Appalachian Ohio to deliver ORCA Member Communities those benefits and diversify rural economies.

“We work to secure investments for sustainable development and management of outdoor recreation facilities and customize solutions to meet needs and expand access to economic opportunities.”

Powers said the six paying members of ORCA are all in Athens County, where ORCA has developed and manages the “Baileys Trail System.” It is an 88-mile system of professionally engineered mountain bike trails on land in Wayne National Forest, the largest trail system of its kind east of the Mississippi River. She said its trailheads have also benefited local communities with recreational access and economic opportunities, especially small-town Chauncey.

Powers said the paying partners in ORCA give fees or in-kind services, while 17 other counties are members at no cost. Ross County is one of the latter, but she said with a partner membership fee, Ross would become a focus outside of Athens County, and the additional funds would allow ORCA to expand and have paid staff here.

Her presentation shows that the new Development Director that Ross County would fund would spend 75% of his or her time in Ross County.

Powers asked the commissioners to consider a first-year membership fee of $180K with the option to back out after year one, or continue with a fee of $90K for each year two and three.

She said there is a potential to expand World Heritage and outdoor recreation in tandem and enhance Ross County and the region as a destination – but currently, it’s hard to encourage much visitation since there is not much region-scaled planning.

Ty McBee, president of the nonprofit “Chillicothe Trails,” added to the presentation. He had encouraged Ross County to join ORCA last year.

Chillicothe Trails also led a work session last week to start building a “multi-use trail loop” on the grounds of Ohio University Chillicothe, as reported on their Facebook page.

Ross County already has several trail systems, most of them walking trails in state parks and Ross County Park District parks, plus the Paint Creek Recreational Trail / Larry Cox Memorial Trail. A zoomable Google Maps page shows them.

Hear Jessie Powers in her own words in a long, in-depth conversation on the issue in our video interview in the article on the Scioto Post.

Kevin Coleman covers local government and culture for the Scioto Post and iHeart Media Southern Ohio. For stories or questions, contact Kevin Coleman or the iHeart Southern Ohio Newsroom.