Trail Management and Volunteers: Building the Shinetsu Trail

The Shinetsu Trail was built along the historic provincial line between the Shinano and Echigo provinces (present-day Nagano and Niigata prefectures) in eastern Japan. By building the trail along the historic provincial line, a more direct engagement with landmarks from that time period could be made.

Long distance trails: the Appalachian Trail as a guide to future research and management needs. Revised papers edited by William R. Burch, Jr. from Appalachian Trail Research Symposium Held at Ringwood Park, October 1977.

Yukiyo Kondō. “A total length of 80 kilometers, management of trails by the Shinetsu Trail receives award from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award (Niigata Prefecture).” Image used with permission from 朝日新聞社 (Asahi Shinbunsha). Photo used with permission from the Shinetsu Trail Club. (The English translation of this article was not provided by the publisher.)

After visiting Georgia in 2003, the Shinetsu Trail Club took steps toward building the trail using the AT as a model. To create a trail that would be protected by and benefit people, the Shinetsu Trail Club used the AT’s “cooperative management system,” which builds partnerships between local, nonprofit, state, and national levels of organization. Using this system, Katō and others at the Shinetsu Trail Club consulted with local businesses, municipalities, state forestry agencies, and other entities for their ideas and concerns about building a long trail through the region.

Like the AT, which was built on some existing trails—namely, the Long Trail in Vermont, built by the Green Mountain Club starting in 1910—the Shinetsu Trail was also built with a combination of existing and new paths. The combination of new and existing paths that make up the Shinetsu Trail raised the question of who and how the trail would be maintained in the long term.

The AT’s cooperative management system, designated conservation fund, and other aspects have influenced the Shinetsu Trail and other long trails in the world. Thus, in addition to the cooperative management system, the AT’s volunteer-run trail maintenance system would become the other primary influence on the building of the Shinetsu Trail. Volunteers from throughout the region, and some from more distance places like Tokyo, came to help build the physical trail. A trail built by volunteers, as opposed to a single administration like the national government, was a new approach that cultivated pride and community among people for the trail.

The construction of the Shinetsu Trail relied on volunteers, many of whom returned as trail maintainers to ensure the long-term preservation of the trail. This article, “A total length of 80 kilometers, management of trails by the Shinetsu Trail receives award from the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award (Niigata Prefecture)”, details the national award received by the Shinetsu Trail for its collaborative management system.