The Friends of Berrien County Trails is excited to work with the county and all the cities, villages and townships and trail stakeholders to develop a Trails Master Plan. We have also put together an extensive list of stakeholders that we will be reaching out to for input. We will also be asking each city, village and township to participate in the planning process. Learn how you can get involved in the planning process.
The Friends have engaged Abonmarche Consultants to lead the process of developing the Trails Master Plan.
CORE LEADERSHIP PARTNERS
To help guide the development of the planning process, the Friends of Berrien County Trails has enlisted representatives of the following organizations:
STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
The project steering committee will provide guidance and oversight throughout the planning process and ultimately help decide the direction of the final plan. The committee consists of a mix of municipal, county, state, business, education and trail stakeholder group representatives. The following individuals have agreed to participate on the project steering committee:
| Andrews University | Andrew von Maur |
| Be Healthy Berrien | Dawn Marie Smith |
| Berrien County Board of Commissioners | Julie Wuerfel |
| Berrien County Parks & Recreation Department | Jill Adams |
| Berrien County Planning Commission | Katie Montoya |
| Berrien County Road Department | Kevin Stack |
| Bike Michiana Coalition | JV Peacock |
| Chikaming Open Lands | Ryan Postema |
| Chikaming Township | David Bunte |
| City of Benton Harbor | Lee Reed |
| Friends of Berrien County Trails | Mike Garey |
| Friends of Berrien County Trails | Gary Wood |
| Harbor Country Hikers | Pat Fisher |
| IN MI River Valley Trail | Deb Conley |
| Lake Michigan College | Doug Schaffer |
| Michigan Department of Natural Resources | Jill Sell |
| Michigan Department of Transportation | Brian Sanada |
| Pachyderm Pedalers | Greg Collins |
| Southwest Michigan Planning Commission | Marcy Hamilton |
| Corewell Heatlh South | TBD |
| Strategic Leadership Council/Best Practices Committee | Michelle Heit |
| TWINCATS/NATS | Kim Gallagher |
| Whirlpool | Beat Stocker |
FUNDING PARTNERS
A special thank you to the following municipalities and organizations that have generously provided funds to support the development of the Trails Master Plan.
- Berrien County
- City of Bridgman
- City of Buchanan
- City of Coloma
- City of New Buffalo
- City of St. Joseph
- Bertrand Township
- Chikaming Township
- Coloma Charter Township
- Hagar Township
- Lake Charter Township
- Lincoln Township
- New Buffalo Township
- Niles Charter Township
- Oronoko Charter Township
- Royalton Township
- St. Joseph Charter Township
- Three Oaks Township
- Watervliet Charter Township
- Village of Berrien Springs
- Village of Grand Beach
- Village of Stevensville
- Village of Three Oaks
- Bernadette Janda McKittrick Endowment Fund at the Berrien Community Foundation
- Corewell Heath South, Southwest Michigan Foundation
- The Pokagon Fund
- Whirlpool Foundation