Lori Nay has served as an elected official for the people of Gunnison City for twenty years. She is currently serving in her third term as Mayor and prior to that, served two terms as a City Councilmember.  Lori Nay is also a Founder and Executive Director of the Casino Star Theatre Foundation.  Over the past twenty years, the foundation purchased, revived and restored the beautiful 112 year-old, beaux-arts style Casino Star Theatre on Gunnison’s Main Street.  This iconic gathering place is open six days/week for first-run movies and live performances and is an economic anchor to downtown Gunnison.  Lori Nay is thrilled to be part of the Outdoor Recreation Summit.  She believes that trails enhance the quality of life for residents and inspire community building and investment making it one of the most worthwhile endeavors that a rural leader can pursue for their community.  Nay established the first paved trail in Gunnison in 2006 when her community was working to find a safe route for the local children to cross busy Highway 89 back and forth from school.  With the help of community members and UDOT, she formed a plan to make a crossing under the river bridge and create a safe route to school with a 1.25-mile paved trail on the banks of the Sanpitch River.  This trail quickly became one of the City’s greatest assets and beloved spaces with the community creating a public art work of a dragon under the bridge along the trail that roars as cars cross above. With the success of the Sanpitch River Walk, city leaders and citizens wanted more trails and now eighteen years later, Gunnison has almost 5 miles of hard surface trails that loop around the City and another 11.5 miles of natural surface trails that meander through the landmark “G” Hill for mountain biking and hiking and there are plans for more trails underway.  Mayor Nay looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for and experiences with trail building to participants of the Summit and hopes that her story may encourage other rural leaders to build and expand their own pathways and more fully realize the overall benefits and economic impact that are possible with the development of trails.