Mountain Goat Trail Receives Major Grant for Grundy Segment

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced a grant of $200,000 to the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance (MGTA). The funds from the TDEC Recreational Trails Program will be used to build approximately two miles of the trail in Grundy County.

“We are very pleased and gratified that TDEC has seen fit to recognize the worth of our mission in this way,” said Janice Thomas, MGTA board president. “This grant funding is a crucial piece of our efforts to provide the Cumberland Plateau with the economic and health benefits of a biking and walking trail while joining the communities along the former route of the Mountain Goat Railroad.”

The mission of the MGTA is to create a multi-purpose, multi-modal trail along the rail bed of the historic Mountain Goat Railroad. 

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, in announcing the $1.6 million in RTP grants on Aug. 16, said: “These grants assist local governments and organizations in improving community amenities such as trails, greenways and recreational facilities, making the outdoors more accessible to Tennesseans. The health and wellness of our residents is a top priority and these amenities provide another step to make our state healthier.”

The Recreational Trails Program is a federally-funded program established to distribute funding for diverse recreation trail projects. The funds are available to federal, state and local government agencies, as well as non-profit organizations that have obtained IRS 501 (c) (3) status and have a written trail management agreement with the agency that owns the property where the trail project is located. Grant recipients were selected through a scoring process with careful consideration given to the projects that met the selection criteria and expressed the greatest local recreation need.

The Mountain Goat Trail is a rail-to-trail community outdoor recreation project to convert the abandoned Mountain Goat railroad right-of-way into a multi-use recreational corridor connecting Grundy, Marion and Franklin counties. Donations to the MGTA are tax-deductible. For more information go to <www.mountaingoattrail.org> or email <info@mountaingoattrail.org>.