Mission Statement

The Lincoln Prairie Trails Conservancy is a grass roots charitable organization incorporated under the laws of the State of Illinois. Our mission is to solicit, accumulate, and disperse assets specifically for the repair, maintenance, promotion, enhancement, and expansion of the Lincoln Prairie Trail, in cooperation with the cities of Pana, Illinois, Taylorville, Illinois, and any other governmental body that may own, host, or be responsible for the care of the Trail in the future.

Mission Goals

• Solicit Accumulate Disperse Assets – Public appeals in the form of Pledge Drives, Event Fees, Individual & Corporate Donations, and Grants, as well as Government Supplied and donated materials for volunteer use on the trail.
• Repair – The Lincoln Prairie Trail is a NATURE TRAIL. As such, we understand that Nature is constantly striving to take it back. Throughout its history, maintenance of the trail has been on an ad hoc basis; some by governments but to a large degree by trail users. Lack of adequate maintenance has resulted in the Trail’s surface beginning to deteriorate to the point that serious action is needed to avoid the necessity of a total repave. Fortunately, we are not, as yet, to that stage. With Volunteer labor and donated materials (as often as possible), clean and fill cracks and remove and repair areas where tree roots have pushed the pavement up.
• Maintain – Constantly monitor the Trail’s condition and address individual anomalies in the surface as they emerge. Apply asphalt sealer after each, individual surface repair. Encourage the trail owners (the cities), to develop a funding mechanism for periodically applying asphalt sealer.
• Promote – Encourage Trail use at every opportunity. Stress to users and non-users alike as to the Powerful Community Asset Value of the Trail. Develop partnerships with print and broadcast media. Make full use of electronic media in the form of a website and social media.
• Enhance – Work to improve, increase, and fund the Trail amenities, to include but not limited to: Parking, Rest Rooms, Drinking Fountains, Benches, and Bike Racks. Replace all signage.
• Expand – Commit to developing whatever resources, human, monetary, or otherwise needed to COMPLETE The Lincoln Prairie Trail from Springfield to Pana. Remain open to development of additional trail(s) wherever abandoned rail rights of way become available.