BY JOHN CONLEY

Associate Editor

Wyoming County figures prominently in the Hatfield-McCoy Trail System's upgrade and expansion plans for 2010.

Three of the nine projects being eyed this year have local connections, according to Jeff Lusk, executive director of the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreational Authority.

"A big part of our development is geared toward Wyoming County," said Lusk.

A trail connector at Twin Falls Resort State Park is expected to be ready by summer.

"We're waiting on license agreements from Pocahontas Land," he commented.

Also on tap is mapping of the Oceana area. Building a trail there is probably two years away, Lusk indicated, but the Wyoming County Commission has already agreed to fund preliminary design work.

A connection of the Pinnacle Creek and Indian Ridge trails requires a licensing agreement with Bluestone Coal before it can be completed.

"Once we get Bluestone on board, we can get that connection done," Lusk said.

"All of the funding is in place(for those three projects)," he added.

Local trails are seeing increased ridership.

"Indian Ridge was up over 20 percent, and Pinnacle was up 10 percent," stated Lusk.

The system as a whole continued to see gains in 2009—permit sales rose four percent, and retail sales jumped by 41 percent.

Over 30,000 riders explored the trails, and for the first time years, resident ridership increased.

"Resident riders were up 17 percent," noted Lusk. "I think it's because this is the first time we've done in-state advertising. We used TV, newspapers and radio."

The 2009 numbers would probably have been even better if Mother Nature hadn't intervened.

A flood in May and December's huge snow storm impacted the totals.

"The conditions have been so bad (in December) that people can't get out," said Lusk. "We have about 250 miles offline. Our December sales were hurt quite a bit because of the winter and people not being able to get here."

The 2010 marketing budget of $800,000 will be the biggest ever.

Lusk doesn't expect to have any problems with funding from the West Virginia Legislature.

"We're slowly becoming more self-sufficient," he remarked, "and I think we're going to be okay in our funding efforts.

“We've had tremendous support from our elected officials,” he observed.