title: An analysis of state legislation on community trails.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Trails provide opportunities for recreation, transportation and activity. The purpose of this article is to describe state legislation related to community trails, to analyze legislation content, and to evaluate legislation on inclusion of evidence-informed elements.
  
  
  METHODS
  State trail legislation from 2001 to 2008 was identified using online legislative databases. An analysis of evidence-informed elements included in the legislation was conducted. These elements included: funding, liability, accessibility, connectivity, and maintenance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total 991 trail bills, 516 (52.0%) were appropriations bills, of which 167 (32.2%) were enacted. We analyzed 475 (48%) nonappropriation trail bills of which 139 (29.3%) were enacted. The percentage of enactment of appropriations bills decreased over time while enactment of nonappropriations trail bills increased. Over half of the nonappropriations trail bills included at least 1 evidence-informed element, most commonly funding. Few bills contained liability, connectivity, accessibility, or maintenance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is opportunity for providing evidence-informed information to policy-makers to potentially influence bill content. The number of bills with a funding element demonstrates that fiscal support for trails is an important policy lever that state legislatures may use to support trails. Lastly, trails should be considered in over-all state-level physical activity legislation to provide opportunities for communities to be active.
authors.affiliation: Prevention Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Eyler
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lankford
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chriqui
authors.forename: Kelly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Evenson
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kruger
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tompkins
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Voorhees
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zieff
authors.forename: Semra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aytur
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brownson
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual; D004779:Environment Design / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D011640:Public Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011998:Recreation; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D013219:State Government; D016138:Walking