Conservation Board discusses possible trail expansion

By APRIL KELLEY
HUMBOLDT - The trail connecting Webster and Humboldt Counties was once again on the agenda for the Humboldt County Conservation Board at their meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

Humboldt County Conservation Director Todd Lee informed the Board that he had spoken to Matt Cosgrove, the Webster County Conservation Director about the future of the trail from Fort Dodge to Humboldt.

“I let him know that there is a shortage of funds countywide right at the moment. He took it really well. We went through all this work to get the $750,000 grant to get a good start,” Lee said.

Rather than end the discussion, Cosgrove suggested that they work on the trail project looking at it in sections first.

“He has a project in 2026 where he is connecting from the winery to Harlan Rodgers. He wants to see how that one goes and to continue to raise funds for the rest,” Lee said.

Cosgrove also suggested that it is time to get an engineering firm involved to get the route completed.

“We may have to apply for an extension. We had talked about 2028 construction which 2026 is right around the corner so we might have to apply for an extension,” Lee said.

The Board agreed to draw up a proposal for a joint agreement with Webster County to hire an engineering firm to begin putting a proposal together.

Read the full story in this week's issue of the Humboldt Independent!