The Appalachian Mountain Club is conducting an assessment of land conservation opportunities to assist in the protection of a high quality trail experience through a GIS-based analysis of viewsheds along the Circuit Trails.

Project Scope

The study involves many area trails, including some of those managed by Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties. The goals of this analysis are two-fold. The first goal is to identify potential conservation opportunities within the trail’s viewshed. Secondly, a conservation assessment that scores and ranks these priority lands will be developed. This data will be used to provide organizations and partners with a conservation and visual assessment report to assist with local conservation efforts. Project partners will be asked to provide data about Key Observation Points along their trails in Wikimapping.

A pilot project is currently underway and covers an 8-mile section of the Schuylkill River Trail in Montgomery and Berks County. The entire Visual Assessment Project will be completed by fall 2018.

Funding for this project was provided by The William Penn Foundation. 

Photo: Pilot Project in Wikimapping