Almost 100 rail trail advocates, state officials and employees attended NHRTC’s tenth biennial NH Statewide Rail Trails Conference October 17 at the NHDES auditorium in Concord. The audience engaged with the speakers for meaningful discussions. US Representative Chris Pappas helped launch the conference with his 1.5 minute video that details his appreciation, dedication and support of NH’s rail trails throughout his years in political office – touching on the key theme of funding. NHRTC appreciates his on-going support as we work to securing meaningful funds for rail trail development here in New Hampshire.
- Alexis Rudko, BOT Deputy Chief highlighted Collaborations and NH Rail Trail Plan Implementation.
- Bill Watson, DOT Administrator, Bureau of Planning and Community Assistance addressed the limited funding available in NH and new cut-backs at the Federal level.
- Kevin Mills, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy VP on Policy gave us the latest on what the federal funding landscape looks like. Other topics included how rail trails fit into NH’s outdoor economy; progress and progress and challenges along the NH Seacoast Greenway.
- Janel Lawton, NH Outdoor Recreation Industry Development Director spoke of rail trails place in NH’s vibrant Outdoor Recreation Economy
- Scott Bogel, Rockingham Planning Commission Senior Planner presented NH Seacoast Greenway progress and challenges.
- Jeff Rogers, BWA-NH Secretary gave overview of Personal Electric Vehicle use and misuse.
- Mike Kowalczyk, NHRTC Board, outlined NHRTC trail funding legislative efforts since 2023 conference.
Scroll down to see all of the powerpoint PDFs.
The Washington Street Café provided breakfast, snacks, and lunch which were enjoyed by everyone in three break-out rooms. Poster displays from many rail trail groups prompted many side-line discussions that focused on project developments in recent years.
NHRTC holds these biennial conferences for the purpose of highlighting the development of NH Rail Trails and what NHRTC has been doing toward that goal. Based on feedback since the conference, that goal was accomplished. We very much appreciate our sponsors and donors who subsidize the conference so we can offer the event at an affordable price. And now we can start thinking about the next conference in 2027!
2026 Conference Opening Slides-101525a BOT 2025 - NHRTC Conference - Trails NHRTC Presentation 10172025 NH Rail Trails Conference v2 NH slides for Kevin Oct 2025 NHSG-NHRTC-10-17-25 NH Rail Trail State Funding-100925-A Jeff Rogers-NHRTC_pres-101425a NHRTC Conference Acknowledgements-101425b