The Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust and the Health Action Part­ner­ship unveiled the Our One
Mile green­way mas­ter plan and announced the new name for Jef­fer­son County’s
trail system.

The event, spon­sored by Regions Bank, was held at the Birm­ing­ham Museum of Art.
Elected offi­cials, com­mu­nity lead­ers, and the pub­lic heard from Wendy Jack­son
of the Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust, Dr. Mark Wil­son of the Jef­fer­son County
Depart­ment, and rep­re­sen­ta­tives from Good­wyn Mills & Cawood. John
Cock, senior asso­ciate at ALTA Plan­ning & Design, spoke about this plan
from a national perspective.

The Fresh­wa­ter Land Trust, a mem­ber of the Health Action Part­ner­ship, received
input and com­mu­nity involve­ment from more than 3,000 peo­ple over the past 18
months and cre­ated a net­work of green­ways, bike/pedestrian paths, and trails.
The pub­lic got a first-hand look at the com­pleted plan and the next steps
toward implementation.

The Red Rock Ridge and Val­ley Trail Sys­tem was the win­ning name for the “Name Our
Green­way Sys­tem” con­test. The name will encom­pass the net­work of trails from
the Our One Mile Green­way Mas­ter plan and be used to con­nect Jef­fer­son County.

“We are thrilled to unveil the green­way mas­ter plan and the new name, ‘Red Rock
Ridge and Val­ley Trail Sys­tem’,” Wendy Jack­son said. “This is the community’s plan
and we hope that we can all work together to accom­plish this plan that will improve the
envi­ron­men­tal, eco­nomic, and social well-being of our com­mu­nity while also pro­mot­ing
healthy lifestyles.”

The Our One Mile ini­tia­tive is part of the Health Action Partnership’s efforts to reduce
the obe­sity rate in Jef­fer­son County, which is more than 30 per­cent. Funded by
the Depart­ment of Health and Human Ser­vices, this plan gives Jef­fer­son County
and unpar­al­leled oppor­tu­nity to con­nect its com­mu­ni­ties and improve res­i­dents’
health through eas­ier access to safe routes for bicy­cling and walk­ing. Greater
avail­abil­ity to these green­ways not only makes our com­mu­ni­ties more enjoy­able
to live in, but also helps increase prop­erty val­ues, lower health care costs, attract
new busi­ness, reduce crime rates, pro­vide tourism oppor­tu­ni­ties and improve the
environment.

For more infor­ma­tion about the Red Rock Ridge & Val­ley Trail Sys­tem, please go to www.redrocktrail.org.