Senator James Gray, Chairman
Senate Finance Committee
Subject: Support for SB 274-FN (Amended 19Feb2025)
March 3, 2025
Dear Chairman Gray and Senate Finance Committee Members:
Please vote in favor of NH Senate Bill SB 274-FN to develop and maintain New Hampshire s state-wide rail trails network. Rail trails provide healthy and safe recreation options that generate substantial economic, health, and community benefits. Passing this Bill will help implement the August 2022 NHDOT Rail Trail Plan (RT Plan) recommendations.
Personal Experience with a Superlative Rail Trail System
In September 2014 my wife and I rode from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington DC on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) and C&O Canal Towpath (C&O) trail system. We took 9 wonderful days to travel the 150 miles of former rail line of the GAP and 185 miles of the C&O. The trail is gently graded, well surfaced, follows major rivers across the eastern continental divide, and passes through small towns revitalized from their days of decline after timber and coal were no longer mainstays of the economy.
We stayed in local lodging, ate breakfast and dinner in local restaurants, purchased food and trail snacks for the day, and fell in love with the landscape. We met couples from Alaska, Massachusetts, and northwest Pennsylvania that were doing the same ride, and realized that the longer and more convenient to services a trail system, the farther people will travel to use it. It was this experience, combined with the unanimous mandate of nearly 100 attendees at the October 2023 NH Rail Trails Coalition (NHRTC) conference, that inspired me to lend a hand improving New Hampshire’s 338 miles of state-owned abandoned railroad corridors and rail trails.
Economic Benefits of Rail Trails
From New Hampshire and across the nation, the substantial and numerous economic benefits of rail trails have been well documented. The RT Plan estimated $2.7 Mm/year in tax revenue from 9 of 27 trails. Extrapolating to all 27 trails indicates annual tax revenues would be $7.5 Mm/yr. to $9 Mm/yr. The 2021 GAP Economic Impact Report estimated that trail users brought more than $121 Mm/yr. to the region, or roughly $800k/mile of trail annually. The C&O tells a similar story. In summary, the longer and better connected a trail system, the farther people will travel to use it, increasing both spending for local businesses and services and “net new revenue” for the host state.
New Hampshire has a solid foundation, including some of my favorite trails – the Ammonusuc, Northern, Presidential, Rockingham, Derry, and Cheshire. Businesses such as the Danbury Country Store are planning for growth to serve an increasing number of bicyclists that stop for food and drink.
New Hampshire can generate substantial economic benefit by making all of our 338 miles of state- owned former rail corridors into safe, convenient and well-maintained recreation and transportation
resources. RT Plan implementation can pay for itself with current tax revenues, and, with State commitment, will generate revenues that far exceed trail system costs for years to come.
Meeting Future Challenges
New Hampshire currently earns more than $100 Mm/year in general fund tax revenues from snowmobile and OHRV use. While motorized registration and fuel fees support their trail systems, including the rail trail network, no general funds are allocated to Fish and Game, Parks, or the Bureau of Trails – the agencies primarily responsible for trail maintenance, management, and safety. Our original proposal of $7.2 million included funds for agency staffing, existing and expected emergency repairs, and match to leverage federal funds that typically cover 80% of project costs. This original amount, readily paid for by current rail-trail tax revenues, was reduced to $500k at the suggestion of legislative leadership.
Although motorized trail users currently generate nearly 20 times the tax revenue of nonmotorized use, there are thousands more walkers, runners, and bicycle riders enjoying our nascent rail trail system. Due to the high costs of motorized recreational vehicles this will always be the case. Additionally, as winter conditions continue to retreat northward, entire sections of the state will no longer support snowmobile use, and OHRV use of rail trails is limited by law. By connecting and improving our existing state-owned rail trail system, we build an effective hedge against climate change, as well as reap both immediate and long-term economic, health, and community benefits.
Tourism and outdoor recreation are the largest economic drivers north of the Notches, and second largest in the south. Outdoor recreation is nationally a fast- growing sector, with New Hampshire in the top quintile. Governor Ayotte has identified outdoor recreation as a key component of New Hampshire’s “economic advantage”. With competition for tourism dollars across the country and from our neighboring states, we need to substantially and sustainably fund our existing rail trail infrastructure and its supporting agencies. Rail trails consistently prove their substantial, long-term net-positive economic impact – it is time to feed, not starve, the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Please vote to pass SB 274-FN.
Sincerely, Boyd Smith Concord, NH