Landscape and Urban Planning 125 (2014) 130–139 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Landscape and Urban Planning j o ur na l ho me pag e: www.elsevier.com/locate/landurbplan Research Paper Trails on tribal lands in the United States Nicholas Deyo a , Meredith Bohdan b , Robin Burke c , Ann Kelley d , Brittney van der Werff e , Emily D. Blackmer f , Robert E. Grese g , Nicholas J. Reo f,∗ a Sky Island Alliance, Tucson, AZ, United States b Michigan Department of Environment Quality, Lansing, MI, United States c Legacy Land Conservancy, Ann Arbor, MI, United States d Summerville High School, Summerville, MA, United States e Valles Caldera National Preserve, Jemez Springs, NM, United States f Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States g University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, Ann Arbor, MI, United States h i g h l i g h t s • Trail systems aid economic development, public health, and safe transportation in Indian Country. • Trail systems help protect American Indian cultural identity and natural heritage. • Trail systems restore physical and spatial connectivity in Indian Country. • Land tenure patterns and obstacles to funding impede trail development. a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 4 June 2013 Received in revised form 6 January 2014 Accepted 19 February 2014 Available online 12 March 2014 Keywords: Trail Greenway American Indian Quality of life Community development Indian Country a b s t r a c t This paper investigates the status of trails on American Indian lands in the United States and their contri- bution to quality of life in Indian Country. Although American Indians have been using trails for centuries and trails have been the subject of considerable scholarly inquiry, very little research explores commu- nity trails on American Indian land. However, such research could serve an important purpose: American Indian communities, and reservations in particular, face a suite of social challenges related to land tenure, economic disparity, health epidemics, and transportation safety. Meanwhile, the social benefits of com- munity trails have been well documented. This paper seeks to fill this knowledge gap by describing the current existence and uses of trails on American Indian land; the benefits they bring to tribal and non- tribal users; the potential benefits of expanding trails; and potential obstacles to trail development. To develop this understanding, we conducted informational interviews with 21 tribal representatives and resource managers from across the United States. Our results shed light on the important role that trails can play in strengthening American Indian communities. We find that trails (1) help strengthen and preserve cultural identity and natural heritage; (2) directly address some of the most pervasive social challenges that American Indian communities face; and (3) spur the creation of constructive partnerships with individuals, organizations, and various levels of government. These results provide strong incentive for continued and improved funding and development of trails not only in American Indian communities but also on indigenous lands across the globe. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author at: Native American Studies and Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College, 6182 Steele Hall, Room 104, Hanover, NH 03755, United States. Tel.: +1 603 646 1687. E-mail addresses: deyo@umich.edu (N. Deyo), meredith.Bohdan@gmail.com (M. Bohdan), robin.L.Burke@gmail.com (R. Burke), annelisekelley@gmail.com (A. Kelley), brittney.Vanderwerff@gmail.com (B. van der Werff), emily.D.Blackmer.13@Dartmouth.edu (E.D. Blackmer), bgrese@Umich.edu (R.E. Grese), Nicholas.j.reo@dartmouth.edu (N.J. Reo). 1. Introduction American Indians have used foot trails for millennia. Over time, these paths have been used for travel, trade, war-making, and venturing to sacred places. The continent was crisscrossed by an extensive network of trails made by American Indians at the time of first contact with Europeans (Blakeslee, 2006). However, as the influence of Western technology and worldviews began to trans- form traditional American Indian lifestyles, and as processes of dispossession separated Indians from their historical land bases, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.02.020 0169-2046/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.