HIKING NEWS ITEM

UNC Plans to Improve Property for Biking & Hiking

TUESDAY, 19 DECEMBER 2006

The University of North Carolina (UNC) will be hiring new employees to maintain the biking and hiking trails and natural areas in its 1000-acre, university-owned tract of land between Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Estes Drive Extension.

Four employees will be hired next year. They will be mapping out hiking and mountain biking trails for the land. They will also be installing signs and maps about how the public can use the area. Moreover, picnic facilities and roadside parking lots will be added. An old mill will also be preserved. The plan aims to encourage recreational use of the trails and the natural areas.

UNC officials have not actively managed those recreation spots in recent years. "It's been like the wild west out there," said Sharon Myers, a geologist and environmental specialist at UNC who runs on the trails. "It's not been managed in any way." UNC would be giving out $427,000 to begin the "oversight program" for the land property.

Read more about this news story at www.heraldsun.com.