Meeting set to discuss proposed Yough 'hike and bike trail'

Jul. 29—FRIENDSVILLE — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has denied an application for development in protected areas of the Youghiogheny River, and a meeting is set to discuss $4.7 million that led to the rejection.

Senate Bill 291, signed in May by Gov. Larry Hogan, included a $700,000 grant to the Garrett County Board of Commissioners "for the acquisition, planning, design, construction, repair, renovation, reconstruction, site improvement, and capital equipping of capital improvements at Sang Run State Park at Youghiogheny River Trail Section 2 from Swallow Falls to Sang Run, including maintenance and repair projects."

The bill also allocated $4 million, which was modified from an earlier $1 million listing, into the DNR budget for the Youghiogheny River Trail Section 3 from Sang Run to the Kendall trail in Garrett County.

But the money was set aside without a plan for the trails, so Garrett County resident Steve Storck sent DNR a proposal to show why development in the wild Youghiogheny should never happen, and asked the department to contemplate an alternate route from Oakland to Herrington Manor State Park.

"Our staff received an application from a citizen for use and development within the Yough corridor in a different area, which was denied based on the applicant being unauthorized to modify or develop the land in question," DNR Media Relations Manager Gregg Bortz said via email Wednesday.

"The department has neither solicited nor accepted any trail proposals in association with this funding," he said. "DNR is not reviewing or considering any plans or proposals that may have been offered in the past ... any trail plan that moves forward for public input and consideration, if there is to be such a plan, would be developed by DNR."

'Too misaligned'

Storck owns land in the Youghiogheny Wild River Corridor and has worked in the outdoor recreation industry across the country for more than 30 years.

Earlier this month, he submitted to DNR a proposal for a trail along the wild designated portion of the Youghiogheny from Sang Run to Kendall that has been described by Garrett Trails with support from Del. Wendell Beitzel and Sen. George Edwards.

For eight years, Storck has researched the idea, and said the trail would significantly change and fragment the protected Youghiogheny Wild River Scenic Corridor.

He also referenced a 2014 letter from Joseph Gill, DNR's secretary at the time, to Beitzel and Edwards that rejected proposed development of a segment of the Eastern Continental Divide Loop Trail through the Youghiogheny Scenic Corridor.

"I am pleased that DNR has rejected my proposal for this massive $4.7 million rail trail and the three bridges in the Youghiogheny Wild River Scenic Corridor," Storck said via email Thursday. "While it was rejected on the basis of a misinterpreted technicality in the COMAR regulations, it reinforces that this trail is too controversial and too misaligned with the Maryland Scenic and Wild Rivers Act protecting the Youghiogheny Wild River to be considered."

Storck said he was disappointed, however, that the department "and the public are cheated out of the opportunity for a full policy and environmental review by a DNR Interdisciplinary Team of experts as required by COMAR regulations and outlined in the Youghiogheny River Management Plan."

Public meeting

Beitzel and Edwards scheduled a public meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 8 for the proposed Youghiogheny River "hike and bike trail."

Beitzel via press release Thursday said the meeting will be held at Garrett College in room 111 of the Garrett Information Enterprise Center.

"A presentation about the proposed trail and funding procurement will be provided," according to the release.

Storck posed many questions he hopes are addressed at the meeting, including why the public wasn't given opportunity to comment on the trail proposal before the $4.7 million was allocated.

"How and when did Garrett Trails become aware of this funding opportunity?" he said.

"Nowhere in the public details of the funding request does it mention that the trail is in the Youghiogheny Wild River Scenic Corridor protected under the Maryland Scenic and Wild Rivers Act and related COMAR regulations," Storck said.

He also wants to know if the funds can be reallocated to other trail projects in Garrett County.

"For example, the Oakland to Herrington Manor or Friendsville to Selbysport trails," Storck said.