THE CHOUTEAU TRAIL
Page One
I spoke with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger who gave me some helpful, if initially disapointing information. The Ranger informed me that the Chouteau Trail was officially closed about six years ago because of persistent vandalism and the high cost of trail maintenance. She added that the following Corps of Engineers personnel are responsible for the Chouteau Trail and have the power to restore and reopen it:
Dan Bentley
Eastern Area Manager
Rt. 2, Box 21
Gore, OK 74435
918-489-5541
dan.bentley@usace.army.mil
Supervisor of Holstead and Casey
Louis Holstead
Fort Gibson Lake Manager
8568 State Highway 251A
Fort Gibson, OK 74434
918-682-4314
louis.holstead@usace.army.mil
Responsible for trail area from Lock 17 to the Port of Catoosa
Larry Casey
Tenkiller Lake Manager
Rt. 1, Box 259
Gore, OK 74435
918-487-5252
larry.casey@usace.army.mil
Responsible for trail area maintenance from Lock 17 to Fort Gibson
If you choose to contact these gentlemen directly, PLEASE keep a civil tone. We're not going to achieve our goal of reopening and restoring the trail by being rude to the very people with the power to grant our wish. We need PPP: polite, persistent pressure.
I will follow up with Bentley, Holstead and Casey to request a meeting to discuss concerns about the trail and options to reopen and restore it. If you might like to participate, please send me your contact information (graystricklandATgmailDOTcom) and I'll notify you when and where. There is strengthin in numbers.
Please share your thoughts about the Chouteau Trail by signing my guesbook, below.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Gray Strickland
Lawyer by Day
Hiker by Heart
If you've come this far, you must share Oklahoma's shame and embarassment that its longest trail has been allowed nearly to disappear. How do we fix this? We start by inundating the responsible agency(ies) with correspondence and calls, but as I write this, I'm not sure whether the responsible agency is the Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, the Oklahoma Parks Department or someone else. In short, I don't know who to complain to.