[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S7305]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE CONNECTICUT FOREST AND PARK ASSOCIATION

 Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to honor the 
Connecticut Forest and Park Association of Rockfall, CT, on the 
occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the creation of its Blue Blazed 
Hiking Trail System. The Connecticut Forest and Park Association is 
Connecticut's oldest conservation organization and Connecticut's 
citizens owe this organization a great debt of gratitude for all it has 
done to protect Connecticut's precious natural resources.
  Undoubtedly, the Blue Blazed Hiking Trail System is the crowning 
achievement in a long list of accomplishments that the Connecticut 
Forest and Park Association has realized since its founding in 1895. IN 
1929, Edgar L. Heermance led a group of Connecticut Forest and Park 
Association members in establishing the Blue Blazed Hiking Trail 
System. Mr. Heermance and the dedicated group of volunteers that he led 
had a vision of a Statewide system of hiking trails that would serve to 
increase opportunities for all Connecticut residents to enjoy the 
outdoors and develop an appreciation for the immense beauty of the 
natural world. The first section of the Blue Blazed Hiking Trail system 
opened in 1931 and by 1937 the volunteers of the Connecticut Forest and 
Park Association had developed over four hundred miles of trails and 
published the Connecticut Walk Book; the first guidebook to the Blue 
Blazed Hiking Trail System.
  Seventy-five years after Edgar Heermance made his vision of a 
Statewide hiking trail system a reality, the blue Blazed Hiking Trail 
System has over ninety volunteer Trail Managers and hundreds of active 
volunteers donating over 7,000 of their time each year to this 
spectacular system of hiking trails. Currently, the Blue Blazed Hiking 
Trail System encompasses over seven hundred miles of trails in 69 
Connecticut towns. In a true testament to the spirit of cooperation 
that led to the founding of this hiking trail network, over seventy-
five percent of the land included in the Blue Blazed Hiking Trail 
System is privately owned and exists only through the cooperation of 
private landowners who are interested in promoting conservation and 
increasing outdoor recreational opportunities.
  This dynamic organization has continually both literally and 
figuratively blazed a trail for other conservation organizations to 
follow. I have confidence that the Connecticut Forest and Park 
Association and the Blue Blazed Hiking Trail System will enjoy 
continued success for many generations to come.
  Congratulations to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association on the 
creation of a remarkable legacy of leadership and excellence in the 
areas of conservation and outdoor recreation.

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