Officials plan to expand Potomac Heritage trail in county

Don Briggs, the National Park Service superintendant of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, is the first to sign the agreement at a formal signing ceremony of a stakeholder's agreement that delineates roles and responsibilities for the completion of the eight mile section of the trail in Prince William County at the signing ceremony at Leesylvania State Park in Woodbridge on Saturday. Behind him is Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank J. Principi.

By: Amanda Stewart | Inside NoVA
Published: September 26, 2010

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - Pieces of the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail already exist in Prince William County.

Now officials are working to expand the trail and to put those pieces together.

When completed, an 8-mile stretch of Potomac Heritage trail would run through Woodbridge, from Belmont Bay to Leesylvania State Park.

The entire Potomac Heritage Trail will go from Pittsburgh to the Northern Neck of Virginia when it is completed.

Saturday, officials from Prince WIlliam County, state and national parks, and onprofit trail groups gathered at Leesylvania State Park to sign an agreement Saturday supporting the trail.

“After two years of planning, all of the stakeholders are at the table today,” said Supervisor Frank Principi, Woodbridge District.

Principi said that he has long been committed to expanding and completing the trail, but it has been a difficult process.

The proposed path travels through private property, land owned by homeowners’ associations, two national wildlife refuges, land owned by the Virginia Department of Transportation, and other state and federally-owned land, he said.

“With so many stakeholders, it’s going to take a while to see this vision through to reality,” Principi said.

A segment of the Potomac Heritage Trail is already in place in Leesylvania.

Principi said the agreement signed Saturday acknowledges the partnerships in place between local, state and federal groups needed to expand and complete the trail and also “acknowledges the work still to be done.”

During the signing ceremony, Congressman Gerald E. “Gerry"”Connolly, D-11th, and State Sen. Linda T. “Toddy” Puller, D-36th, spoke about the importance of completing the trail and connecting the existing pieces.

“We need to get people to see what we have here in our parks so they can appreciate it and join in the fight for it,” Puller said.

For more information about the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, visit www.nps.gov/pohe.

Principi said a copy of the agreement signed Saturday will soon be available online at newwoodbridge.org.

Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-530-3908.