Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation
Snowmobile Trails Grant Program

To Whom It May Concern:

The Willow Area Community Organization (WACO) fully supports the Willow Trails Committee’s application under the Snowmobile Trails Grant Program to help fund the Deception Area Highland Trails / Lloyd’s Trapline Surveying Project.

The Willow Trails Committee (WTC) has been active for many years in providing safe and enjoyable trails to our residents and visitors. The last few years our community has seen rapid growth and with this growth has come increase use of our recreational trails and/or proposed development/logging to keep up with the growth. Therefore, we see an urgency to get these important recreational trails in our area protected.

Willow is in the process of crafting a Comprehensive Plan for the community. The purpose of surveying the trail systems is to obtain in due course ease­ments which will help guide in designing this Plan. These trails, which have existed for many decades and have since been in constant use, have been doc­umented in the Willow Area Trail Plan. The trail system at present is used heavily by snowmachiners and mushers, and they are important for Iditarod and other race training as well as for recreational mushing. With continued growth in the area now is the time to survey these trails in order to assure future trail protection and to safeguard and enhance recreational activity in the Willow area. WACO values the efforts of the Willow Trails Committee which has over the years worked to sustain the use of area trails for residents as well as visitors.

Sincerely, Linda Oxley, Chair