CANTON -- The St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators has announced that it will hold a public hearing on April 5 at 5:45 p.m. for the consideration of a new local law designed to re-establish the St. Lawrence County Multi-Trail System. The hearing, to be held at the St. Lawrence County Buildings located at 48 Court St., will also focus on creating a permitting process for all-terrain vehicle enthusiasts who use the trail system.

St. Lawrence County boasts a number of trails for public use which are available for a whole host of different recreational pursuits, said a press release from the Board.

Since 2017, almost 80 miles of trails have been added to the St. Lawrence County multi-use trail system which allows for all-terrain vehicle travel in addition to the other avenues of recreational trail activities. The Trail system, one of the largest governmentally-sponsored multi-use trail systems in the State of New York, now extends across a distance of more than 126 miles and is open to all-terrain travel each year from late Spring until Sept. 15.

Legislative Trail Committee Members Tony Arquiett (Helena – D), Rick Perkins (Parishville – I), Larry Denesha (DeKalb – R), and William Sheridan (Hammond – R) recently recommended to the full Board of Legislators that they consider the adoption of local law to establish a permitting process designed to generate fees solely dedicated to the continued enhancement and maintenance of the trail system.

Those fees and regulations would assist in making sure future generations would be able to enjoy not only the current accessible mileage of trails but additional trail segments as they are added, the legislators said.

“We have been working on this project for quite some time. At the onset, we expressed a desire to find a way to make this trail system individually sustainable for future generations,” said Legislator William Sheridan, (Hammond – R) co-chair of the St. Lawrence County Trails Committee.

"By establishing a trail permitting process, that will generate fess solely for use on the trail and not to be diverted to other County endeavors, we are one step closer to ensuring the future of our trail system for all ATV riders," said Legislator Tony Arquiett, D-Helena, and co-chair of the St. Lawrence County Trails Committee.

“I am proud of the work we have completed so far and I am dedicated to making sure that this work survives long after all of the current Board members are gone,” Legislator Rick Perkins, (Parishville – D) said. “In order to do this, we need to establish a trail fund, supported by those users of the trail system that are just as vested in its survival as we are.”

“A lot of hard work has gone on for years to get to this stage but we now need to take the Trail system to the next level. With support from our trail users, we can enhance the trail system we have and we can push for the expansion of the Trail system to include larger vehicles such as side-by-sides and UTVS,” said Arquiett.

“It has always been anticipated that following the creation of Multi-use Recreational Trail System, a policy and permitting process would be established in order to fund in perpetuity the maintenance and management of the Trail System. It is truthfully a testament to the hard work of the County, the Towns, the DEC and too many others to name that we have reached a point where the trail can be firmly established and supported by its own users,” said Legislator Larry Denesha, (DeKalb – R).

"Our St Lawrence County Trails Board, ATV Clubs, trail user groups, local businesses and recreational dealers thank St Lawrence County Legislators for their support and vision of this important economic initiative. It has been a team effort from the start," said Debbie Christy, St Lawrence County Trails Coordinator. "We took the time to do it right.”