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Delivering the Health, Environmental and Economic Benefits of Trails to Rural Americans through a High Efficiency Trail Assessment Process

Award Information
Agency: Department of Agriculture
Branch: N/A
Contract: 2005-33610-16242
Agency Tracking Number: 2004-00393
Amount: $296,000.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: N/A
Solicitation Number: N/A
Timeline
Solicitation Year: N/A
Award Year: 2005
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): N/A
Award End Date (Contract End Date): N/A
Small Business Information
2240 Meridian Blvd., Suite C
Minden, NV 89423
United States
DUNS: N/A
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: No
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Peter Axelson
 (775) 783-8822
 peter@beneficialdesigns.com
Business Contact
 Peter Axelson
Phone: (775) 783-8822
Email: peter@beneficialdesigns.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

The Universal Trail Assessment Process (UTAP) and TrailWare, software for UTAP data, were developed to obtain objective trail information. Over 700 people within Federal, State, local and non-profit agencies have been UTAP trained throughout the US. Requiring 9 to 15 person hours per mile of trail is the primary factor that limits the use of UTAP. Over 85% of rural land managers consider objective trail information to be important. Despite broad support for the benefits of UTAP, the availability of objective trail assessment information remains very limited, particularly in rural areas. Rural land managers indicate that they need a system for collecting objective trail information that is: highly durable, lightweight and portable, compatible with agency databases, automated for use by one person, and suitable for the diverse range of rural trail conditions. The goal of this research is to investigate the benefits of objective trail information to both land managers and trail users. Phase II will incorporate the design criteria specified by rural land managers into a new high efficiency trail assessment process (HETAP-2) and establish the scientific validity and reliability of HETAP-2 trail data.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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