The mood was chatty and festive last week as more than 120 people visited the third annual Regional Trails Fair. Metro hosted the fair to showcase trail-related programs and projects, with 50 organizations participating.
Presentations ranged from improving urban bikeways to rural rails-to-trails proposals spanning more than 20 miles. Booths were hosted by various parks and recreation departments, Metro, regional transportation associations and The Intertwine, a regional coalition for parks, trails and nature.
Greg Chase, a graduate student at Portland State University, came to the fair to learn more about integrating natural areas planning into government projects.
"I'm always interested in knowing more about the greenspaces that are out there for recreation," Chase said.
While the event was open to the general public, the majority of visitors seemed have an agency affiliation.
Fair visitors were primarily policy makers, consultants and non-profit leaders, said Heather Kent, who represented the Southwest Corridor Plan at the fair.
"It was good networking in general," she said.
Event coordinator Leslie Wells agreed that the fair served primarily as a networking opportunity for participants.
"An important purpose was to convene trail advocates for the formation of new partnerships," Wells said.
Ideally, Wells said, the fair would also provide trails information to the general public, but it's difficult to get people to the Metro Regional Center in central Portland. However, participant feedback sparked discussion about branching out and hosting the fair elsewhere in the future.
"The event has kind of outgrown the venue, which is exciting," Wells said.