Letter to the Editor: OHV trails supporters

Dear Editor:
The Meeker Chamber of Commerce would like to highlight many individuals who have been involved with the OHV trails grant recently submitted by the county. This project has amazing community support and I think this factor needs to be recognized. The grant, which is the financial backbone of this project, is crucial. This grant requested funds for signage and mapping, but it goes one step further and includes money for volunteer support, GPS capabilities, education and tourism resources. Without these marketing components, this project won’t be nearly as successful. There are many members of the newly formed Rio Blanco County OHV Committee, and we encourage others to join us in our development of OHV trails and improving our local economy.
Proving the powerful community support standing behind this project, the grant committee received letters of support from the Town of Meeker, the ERBM Recreation and Park District, the Meeker Chamber of Commerce, Rocky Mountain Bowstrings, the US Forest Service, BLM and the Lodging Tax Board. Without the letters of support these entities provided, we could not have submitted this grant. Many times when a new project or initiative is proposed, there are a select group of citizens showing their support. From this list of supporters you can see that a wide array of people feel like this project is important to our economy.
One of the most important visual aspects to the grant is the mapping of trails. Community members gathered to decide the trail system, including Jeff Eskelson, Kimberly Bullen, Scott Nelson, Dave Morlan, Mike Dinwiddie, Dave Murray, Shawn Bolton and Ron Taussig. This group did a terrific job of creating trails with varying difficulty levels, and ensuring all skill levels have trails to ride.
Obviously, a grant doesn’t write itself. The Meeker Chamber of Commerce took the lead on this project, and worked closely with Kimberly Bullen, RBC Administrator and Mike Weinbrecht with ERBM Recreation  and Park District. These individuals put in many hours to turn out an impressive grant application.
As projects transpire, I feel it is extremely important to give credit where credit is due. If anyone has questions about this project, please contact one of the people listed above. We appreciate the community support on this project.
Thank you,
Katelin Cook
Meeker Chamber of Commerce