LANSING -- The Hart-Montague bicycle trail will be renamed for the farmer who made it a reality.
In this file photo, Bill Field rests on the stone whistle marker at the Shelby train depot, next to which runs the bike path he worked on developing.
The Michigan Senate Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Committee unanimously approved a measure Thursday, Feb. 21, to rename the Hart-Montague Trail after the late William Field. The measure was sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart.
Field, know as “Bill” to many, died in late 2005. He was 78.
Field is a farmer who began operations in Oceana County in 1956. A carpenter and home builder, Field mainly farmed asparagus and cherries.
He also served in local government, but is best remembered for leading the effort to secure the railroad right-of-way that became the Hart-Montague Trail.
Field first saw a trail built on an old railroad grade on a trip in 1971 to Wisconsin. It inspired him to have the old C&O railroad lines through his home in Oceana County turned into a recreational trail when the trains stopped running.
Not all of his neighbors liked his idea.
Michigan senators, including Sen. Goeff Hansen (standing, left), R-Hart, look at a book of media clippings related to Senate Bill 154, which was being debated before the Senate Committee on Outdoor Recreation and Tourism. Hansen, the committee chairman, sponsored the measure that would rename the Hart-Montague Trail after the late William Field. The book dates back to 1982, when the Hart-Montague Trail was first conceptualized. The book is a compilation of all the events that transpired throughout the seven years that Field diligently and passionately fought to establish the rail-trail for the state. The legislation received unanimous support and was reported favorably from committee on Thursday, Feb. 21.
When local opposition threatened to sidetrack plans for the trail, Field put up $175,000 of his own money to buy a 23-mile strip of land between Hart and Montague to keep the project alive.
“He truly believed in free enterprise and that the individual can make a difference,” his son, Ross Field, told the Chronicle in early 2006.
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