Monmouth College has received a grant of $131,216 from the federal
Recreational Trails Program (RTP), Gov. George H. Ryan announced Friday.
 "Securing the grant funds for the trail project was a real team
effort by faculty, administration, staff and federal and state legislative
friends of Monmouth College," said college president Richard F. Giese, who
gave special thanks to Ken Cramer, biology department chair; Pete Loomis,
physical plant director; Susan Dagit, director of advancement for corporate
and foundation gifts; and Dick Valentine, vice president for external
relations.
 "They were instrumental in developing and promoting this exciting
project that will benefit both our students and the community of Monmouth,"
added Giese. "We also are grateful for the strong bipartisan support we
received from our federal representative, Lane Evans (D), our state
representative, Don Moffitt (R) and our state senator, Carl Hawkinson (R)."
 The funds will be used to develop an 8-foot wide, 1.25-mile loop
trail at the college's LeSuer Nature Preserve on the northeast edge of town.
Funding for the grant comes from the RTP and is administered by the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) in cooperation with the Illinois
Department of Transportation. The college was one of 14 grant recipients
statewide.
 "We needed this grant to really do things the way we wanted to do
them," said Dagit.
 David Sellman, the senior grant administrator with the IDNR, said
that Monmouth's application received high marks.
 "The college did well in meeting our criteria," he said, referring
to the fact that the money would be used to create a new trail and that
support amenities such as public restrooms were available. "We were also
impressed with the maintenance capabilities of the college."
 The proposal says "the trail will (have) a surface of creek gravel.
Two bridges - a low-water bridge large enough to support trail maintenance
equipment and a 50-foot footbridge that will not impact water flow - will be
built across Markham Creek. The trail will provide access to hiking and
areas of ecological restoration." The trail will loop around the college's
nature preserve as well as Peacock Memorial Athletic Park.
 "From its conception, the LeSuer Nature Preserve was designed with a
goal of serving the public as an educational and recreational area, as well
as to preserve and restore habitat for native species," said Cramer. "While
restoration of native plants has been ongoing, this grant provides us with a
great opportunity to increase public access and use of the area. We want
people to be able to see and enjoy the streams, woods and tall-grass prairie
on this preserve and the trail and bridges built with this grant money will
enable folks to do just that."