OHIO RIVER TRAIL COUNCIL

People said, 'Build this [Eliza Furnace] Trail and no one will come' …Now commuters use it every day and families come on weekends to blade and bike and walk.  

—Tom Murphy, Mayor of Pittsburgh, PA

Whoever invented the bicycle deserves the thanks of humanity.  

—Lord Charles Beresford

If I can bicycle, I bicycle. 

—David Attenborough

Three important things in life -- freedom, ambition, health. And that is why I ride a bike. 

—Harish DN, India 

As a kid I had a dream–I wanted to own my own bicycle. When I got the bike I must have been the happiest boy in Liverpool, maybe the world. I lived for that bike. 

—John Lennon

The more I think about our US domestic transportation problem from this vantage point [China] the more I see an increased role for the bicycle in American life. I am convinced after riding bikes an enormous amount here in China, that it is a sensible, economical, clean form of transportation and makes enormous good sense. 

—George Bush, US Liaison Office, Beijing, China, 1975

Without question, bicycling is an efficient, economical and environmentally sound form of transportation and recreation. Bicycling is a great activity for families, recreational riders and commuters. Hillary, Chelsea and I have bicycles…. 

—William Jefferson Clinton, 42nd President of the United State (Bicycling Magazine, 1992)

Greenways can draw people together in their communities to provide open spaces for all close to their own homes. They have the potential to be this country's most important land-based effort for conservation and recreation in the next several decades. They can draw private and local entities into lead roles in provision of recreation opportunities. They can capitalize on the entrepreneurial spirit of Americans and give pride of accomplishment and responsibility to millions of people in every community. They can protect vital water, fish, wildlife, and recreation resources as integral parts of the growth of cities and communities. And, if greenways truly capture the imagination and boldness of the American spirit, they could eventually form the corridors that connect open spaces, parks, forests, and deserts— and Americans— from sea to shining sea. 

—President Reagan’s Commission on American Outdoors, Americans and the Outdoors, 1986

The completed Great Allegheny Passage will bring in $100 million in tourism dollars. 

—Linda McKenna Boxx, President Allegheny Trail, 2013

Blue Trails are an organizing tool that galvanizes citizen support for clean water and healthy riverside lands. They inspire people to protect important habitat and provide corridors for people and wildlife.  While specific protections vary from community to community, Blue Trails are often associated with conservation easements, land acquisition, stream buffer requirements, stream flow protections, and higher water quality standards.

—American Rivers