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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 17, 2015 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 4-a <br /> SUBJECT: Presentation — N.C. Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) Statewide Master Plan <br /> DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> and Recreation (DEAPR) <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> MST Master Plan — Excerpts and Maps David Stancil, 245-2510 <br /> Adopted County P&R Master Plan Rich Shaw, 245-2510 <br /> Recommendation <br /> 2015-2020 CIP Project Page <br /> PURPOSE: To receive a presentation from staff of the N.C. Division of State Parks on the <br /> recently-completed Statewide Master Plan for the Mountains to Sea Trail (MST). <br /> BACKGROUND: The North Carolina Mountains to Sea Trail (MST) is a continuous off-road trail <br /> that will link Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey's Ridge <br /> State Park on the Outer Banks. A flagship project of the North Carolina State Parks System, <br /> currently there are over 600 miles of the planned 1000+ mile route open for use. <br /> In 2014, the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation contracted with consultants to complete a <br /> statewide Master Plan for this trail. The goals of the master plan are to promote completion of <br /> the MST across the state by engaging stakeholders, confirming the guiding vision and <br /> established corridor for the MST, defining segments within the statewide MST corridor, <br /> gathering and consolidating information about each segment, creating an approach to prioritize <br /> further work along the MST, providing centralized web-based content about planning efforts that <br /> can be updated as progress along the MST continues, and developing an initial set of tools to <br /> assist trail planning partners. <br /> Segments of the planned MST traverses Orange County, entering in southwestern Orange <br /> County at the Haw River (and the Haw River Trail) and continuing northeast onto lands around <br /> the Cane Creek reservoir owned by the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (Segment 11). The <br /> trail would then continue north to the Orange County Upper Eno Preserve (Seven Mile Creek) <br /> lands, before entering Hillsborough along the Town's Riverwalk and heading eastward into Eno <br /> River State Park and Durham (Segment 12). <br /> Refinement of the current options for the trail, with an initial focus on the stretch between Seven <br /> Mile Creek Natural Area and Occoneechee Mountain, is part of a proposed internal master <br /> planning effort tentatively slated for next spring. Both the Orange County Parks and Recreation <br />