Governor's Wisconsin State Trails Council
Ad Hoc Committee

(Ad Hoc Committee to Recommend Improvements to the Structure of the State Trails Council)

At the April 15, 2008 meeting, the Governor’s State Trails Council (STC) agreed to establish a temporary (ad hoc) committee that would be responsible for examining and proposing changes to the structure and organization of the State Trails Council in order to ensure that the STC is efficient, effective and inclusive of all citizens and trail user groups.

The committee will be composed of members of the current Council and public (non-STC) members who have experience with various trail user groups and knowledge of appropriate organizational models. The number of committee members shall be determined by the public response (interest) in committee membership. The mission of the committee will be to make their recommendations for improvements to the structure, organization, and make-up of the STC at the April 2009 meeting. The committee will then disband. Among the specific goals for the committee to accomplish and report back to the STC as recommendations will be:

• To review the vision and mission statements for the STC and make recommendations for changes if necessary;
• To propose a method by which all major trail uses, as listed below, can be fairly represented on the STC;
• To recommend changes that recognize the ethnic and cultural diversity of Wisconsin;
• To provide the STC with examples of ways in which other states provide advocacy and policy assistance for state trails through a public body similar to the STC;
• To recommend other structural changes in the STC such as the frequency of meetings and number of members:
• To recommend the process by which any changes would be made.

The timeline for the committee will be as follows:

• May 24, 2008—Last day to submit applications for committee members.
• June 6-13, 2008—Applications evaluated by STC chair and co-chair. Committee members notified of their selection for the committee after June 13.
  
• July 11, 2008—Attend presentation by Minnesota DNR on their committee structure at the STC meeting at Wyalusing State Park (near Prairie du Chien). Meet following the STC meeting.
• October 17, 2008—Progress report at the STC meeting.
• January, 2009 (date TBD)—Progress report at the STC meeting.
• April 2009 (date TBD)—Committee presents recommendations to full Council and disbands.

Members of the ad hoc committee will be eligible for reimbursement of the expenses they incur - hotel, mileage, meals - as a result of participation in the committee, under the same guidelines as current STC member expenses.

For more information ask, Wisconsin State Trails, (608) 266-2183.