The Story
of the
Hatfield-McCoy Trails

Hatfield-McCoy Project History

The factors that have made the Hatfield-McCoy unique have also made it a very difficult project to bring into reality.   From the conception of the idea in 1989, it has taken more than ten years of constant effort to achieve the opening of the first 220 miles of trail in late 2000.   This is a brief synopsis of that effort -- the story of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area.

The story has its start with a map hanging on the wall in the government relations offices of the Motorcycle Industry Council in Arlington, Virginia.   The map showed, in soft pastel shades, the land throughout the nation that is under control of various agencies of the federal government.  The map readily evidenced that there is a great abundance of public land in the West, but relatively little in the East.  This poses a serious problem for those who want to expand opportunities for off-highway vehicle recreation east of the Rocky Mountains.   There's very little public land available to use.

Back in 1989, that was the dilemma that confronted John English, then director of state government affairs for MIC, and Leff Moore, executive director of the West Virginia Recreational Vehicle Association and a legislative consultant for MIC.   When Moore asked why there are so many opportunities for OHV recreation in the West and so few in the East, English pointed to the map and explained how there are so few large tracts of public land in the East.   Moore thought for a moment and then noted that there may not be much public land, but there certainly are large tracts of land owned by corporations in his home state, West Virginia.   Although neither of them realized it at the time, the idea of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area had just been conceived.   Both began to reflect upon the possibilities of doing public recreation on large tracts of corporate-owned land.

Moore later produced from his files a somewhat dated study that had been published by the Huntington Herald-Dispatch entitled, "Who Owns West Virginia."  This series of newspaper articles published in 1974 concluded that in 27 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, about 24 large corporations own more than half of the non-public land.

Following this genesis of the idea, it grew in form over the following two years as Moore and English, busy with other matters, mulled it over in their minds and in many subsequent conversations.  They came to realize that southern West Virginia had the perfect terrain for trails and it had large tracts of land that over long periods of time were not being used by the corporate owners in any way inconsistent with public trails recreation.  Southern West Virginia was also in great need of economic diversification, so a new tourism development there would be welcomed. The federal Bureau of Land Management had lots of experience in managing trails recreation, including trails for motorized recreation.  BLM also had virtually no name recognition in the East and much need for an eastern-based project to give them a constituency there.  West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd was well positioned in the Congress to provide funding for the project, and the enthusiastic support of Congressman Rahall was anticipated.  Also, there was a great name and theme available from the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud that was part of the region’s history.  All of these factors were stirred into the concept.

By June of 1991, the idea had taken the shape of a federally funded demonstration project of multiple-use recreational trails on private property in southern West Virginia managed by the federal BLM with a Hatfield-McCoy theme.  This is the idea that Moore and English first shared with Mike Whitt, a former West Virginia legislator, and the executive director of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority, right in the heart of Hatfield-McCoy country.  Whitt immediately liked the idea, and a partnership was formed that would see the concept, although much reshaped in the process, through to reality.

So, although the idea was first conceived in 1989, the effort to implement it really got underway in June of 1991.  The implementation of the project involved all the following:

• Identifying and bringing on board the necessary partners, BLM and many others;
  

• Selling the vision to community leaders in the project area and to state and federal government leaders;
  

• Completing many studies to support the feasibility of the concept and accomplishing the planning and laying out of the trail system and its manner of operation;
  

• Hosting a series of recreational events to show the feasibility of the concept and that people would really come to use the trails;
  

• Securing the passage of necessary legislation to control liability and legislation to create the entity that would operate the project;
  

• Convincing the landowners the project was in their best interests and developing the legal agreements under which the land would be used and the landowners protected;
  

• Obtaining necessary funding to complete the development and planning and to make the operation secure until it can become self-sustaining;
  

• Setting up the operating entity, hiring project staff, and completing policy documents;
  

• Constructing, improving, and signing trails and trailheads to prepare for trail visitors.

Throughout this long effort, the concept has taken a new shape and has added many layers of related elements.  Federal management of the project by the BLM proved to be not feasible, so BLM’s role was redefined as a provider of quality control oversight.  A new entity, a quasi-governmental corporation, now manages the project.  The anticipated federal funding of the entire project also proved not feasible, and much of the necessary funding has been provided by the state of West Virginia.  But much of the original vision has also survived.  The part of the Hatfield-McCoy that is now open is just a beginning of the realization of the vision.  Much more remains to be done and will be done over the next few years until the Hatfield-McCoy is finally completed.

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