BUCKLAND — A budding organization is in the process of envisioning a network of trails that would expand recreational opportunities in western Franklin County.

Chris Skelly, a passionate hiker and the leader of the effort, has taken inspiration from similar work in neighboring communities. He convened the Buckland Trails Summit in February, featuring speakers from Shelburne and Ashfield who talked about the trails they created in their respective towns, as well as representatives from the National Park Service’s River, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program.

“Amazingly, we had 60 people who attended the summit, so for a very small town like Buckland, that was a lot of people,” Skelly noted. “It really showed that there was a lot of interest in adding some more trails to Buckland.”

The Buckland Trails Summit also displayed large-scale maps created by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments that were labeled with vegetation, public or private status, and existing trails. Community members could mark their ideas on the maps.

“People just took Sharpie markers and wrote all over these big maps what they would like to see, and where they would like to see trails, or where there’s an abandoned road right now that might be useful as a trail,” Skelly recounted. “It’s great to see these maps right now because it’s really just this brainstorm of ideas of what people envision.”

In forming Buckland Trails, an organization that is applying for nonprofit status while also securing sponsors, Skelly said he was inspired by Ashfield Trails, a nonprofit that has created 20 miles of trails on public and private land.

“It’s a really interesting model that they use. It’s not done through the town, it’s done through a nonprofit organization,” Skelly explained. “That’s the model that I would like to see for Buckland, is that nonprofit organization modeled on the Ashfield Trails. And so that gives us the chance to do some fundraising, it gives us the chance to apply for grants ... and I think it just sets us up as a good organization to talk to land owners directly, the same way a land trust would.”

Buckland Trails is working with the National Park Service to narrow its vision for new trails. Skelly explained, “you’re basically getting assistance from the community planners that work at the National Park Service and have already worked with many, many communities throughout the Northeast, in helping them plan, vision and create new trails in their communities.”

“They’ve been great to work with,” he added. “They have so much expertise and just a good positive attitude on community trail building.”

This vision is centered around a loop trail in Shelburne Falls. The organization is still unclear on the exact path, but pieces of what Skelly hopes will become the loop already exist in Buckland and Shelburne. The organization is figuring out how to connect these pre-existing trails by working with private property owners, Skelly explained.

“I think it would be great for residents of Buckland, [and it would be] another thing for tourists as they come to Shelburne Falls to take advantage of,” he added.

In addition, Buckland Trails is looking to create several spur trails off the primary loop. Trail connections are being considered to Ashfield, the Buckland Historical Society’s Wilder Homestead, Buckland Center, Mohawk Trail Regional School and the Buckland Recreation Area.

“That’s a really exciting thing we can think about — how we can really have a network of trails, not just a loop itself,” Skelly added.

Buckland Trails is also considering ways to make trails more accessible for an aging population, including having flatter terrain.

While it helps Buckland Trails narrow its vision, the National Park Service is also helping the budding organization by compiling information gleaned from surveys filled out by Buckland Trails Summit participants regarding what they’d like to see, and turning those survey results into usable data to inform the process going forward.