MSI has taken on leadership of the Animas River Corridor Revitalization Project (ARCRP) in partnership with the Town and several other organizations as a service to the Community of Silverton. The components of the ARCRP, especially a trail system, are improvements that many in the community have wanted for years - yet no progress had been made prior to 2006 other than vague identification of various trail alignments on maps. MSI became involved in 2006 when San Juan County invited MSI to lead a community visioning process, funded by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM). During this process MSI conducted over 20 public meetings and events to gather community input. The resulting ARCRP Community Vision was endorsed by both the Town of Silverton and San Juan County. MSI then took the initiative to write and submit several grant proposals to fund work identified by the community vision.

In 2008 and 2009 MSI has focused on the trail section from the Visitor Center to the Train depot as well as other sections such as the Lackawanna wetland crossing. Most of this effort has been directed at designing and negotiating the details of the trail alignment, obtaining engineering plans, and securing the many different types of permits and permissions required. Permissions and permits include an Army Corps of Engineers 404 permit (requirement of the Clean Water Act), Town agreement to cover liability for the trail and various other items covered in a memorandum of understanding, a right-of-way agreement with the Durango Silverton Narrow Gage Railroad (DSNGRR), and permission from the BLM. Those who have worked on these types of permits and permissions know first-hand that they require substantial time, effort, and expense. While DSNGRR graciously has been willing to negotiate a right-of-way for the trail alignment free of cost to the community, they have not had time available to work on these negotiations in a timely fashion. In fall 2008, after almost 1.5 years of negotiations initiated by MSI, the DSNGRR finally granted permission for MSI and volunteers to work on their property. On-the-ground work began at that time but was halted by an early snowfall. Upon gearing up for summer 2009 trail work, however, the DSNGRR declined permission for on-the-ground work until yet another permit was granted - this time from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which was not required by DSNGRR the summer before. The permit from the PUC requires a more detailed agreement between the Town, DSNGRR, and MSI.  While MSI has been working to facilitate this process, some of this work MSI cannot do. It has to be completed by the Town and DSNGRR and that takes time. It is this PUC permit that halted work on the Visitor Center to Depot section for 2009. The Lackawanna Section has been delayed due to additional oversight required by the Town of Silverton and by turn-over in BLM staff to new staff that was not aware that permission had been granted. MSI has obtained an engineering plan, materials, and is in the process of contracting an earth mover for this section. Wet conditions neccesitate that we wait until 2010 to complete the project, however.

The Cement Creek Bridge feasibility project is a Town project for which MSI wrote and submitted the proposal on the Town's behalf. Due to MSI's efforts, the Town was awarded $20,000 to do engineering and environmental studies to determine the placement of the bridge and its physical and artistic requirements. Much of this award was used to hire a local (Silverton) engineer. MSI's portion of the project was very small. A report is forthcoming once the engineer and environmental consultant finish their work. The grant was not to build the actual bridge. That will require more funding.

Additional accomplishments contributed by MSI to the ARCRP include coordinating the 2006 Animas River Clean Up in concert with the Animas River Stakeholders group and hosting a 2008 trail building workshop and volunteer weekend that resulted in increased local knowledge and improvements to the trail section from Kendall Mountain Community Center to Lackawanna Bridge. MSI has held annual public events to share ARCRP progress and gather input. We’ve also developed a ARCRP website and occasional newsletters.

It is important to note that the grants received for this project fund a part-time employee to work on the ARCRP. This employee, Jermey Yanko, is a local Silverton resident. MSI's executive director, Koren Nydick, also has spent considerable time on the project (negotiating with the DSNGRR, writing grant proposals, and writing a wetland mitigation plan among other things). MSI has received no funding to compensate for her time spent on this project.

In summary, MSI's work on the ARCRP is a service to the community to fill in a gap that the community/Town was not able to fill prior. There have been significant behind-the-scenes accomplishments made despite the challenges that come with working with a variety of partners/landowners. We do anticipate being "on-the-ground" come spring/summer 2010.