Thetford — The Thetford Trails Team completed the purchase of a 93-acre parcel at the heart of the Union Village Dam trail network last month, the group said in an Oct. 2 listserv announcement.
“It was really gratifying to see how much community support there was for this,” Thetford Trails Team President Conrad Reining told the Valley News on Monday. “We really view it as a community-owned resource, and we’re just sort of stewards of it.”
More than 70 donors contributed to help the group — which became its own registered nonprofit organization in July — purchase the property for $50,000, just above its town-assessed value, according to Reining. The campaign started in spring 2026, and the group closed on the property in mid-September, Reining said.
Ellis and Beverly Rudy of Houston, Texas, purchased the parcel at the heart of the Union Village Dam site from the U.S. government in 1984 and then sold it to their family company Imperial RR LTD in 2007, according to tax records and previous reporting by the Valley News.
The trails team’s purchase of the parcel will allow more “consistent” and “holistic” stewardship of the area, Thetford Trails Team Secretary Krista Karlson told the Valley News in April. Previously, the group had to seek permission to work on trail sections on the privately owned property.
“We were really delighted how receptive the Rudy family was,” Reining said. “They seemed glad that it was going to go to a purpose like this … dedicated to recreation and conservation.”
Trails in the area are used by walkers, skiers, cyclists, mountain bikers, birders and others, Reining said. The group’s focus is to “embrace all of the many users” of the trail system. “The piece that we bought is the key one because a bunch of the trails come together and criss-cross there. … We want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable in that area.”
The Thetford Trails Team has stewarded trails at the Union Village Dam since 2016, Reining said, and has built community support and completed an ecological impact study during that time. “A lot of it is actually quite important ecologically,” he said, including steep slopes, cliffs, old forest and rare habitats with “good conservation value.”
He said the goals are to make recreational trails as sustainable as possible, not to further expand trails, and to ensure conservation of some portions of the site. The group is exploring a potential conservation easement, he said.
“The whole idea is that there are lots of different users and lots of different pieces of land, and we’re trying to be as respectful as possible of the different users and landowners,” Reining said. Abutting landowners at the Union Village Dam site include the Army Corps of Engineers — which owns the dam, completed in 1950 — the State of Vermont, Thetford Academy and other private landowners.
Thetford Academy has been “a great partner,” Reining said, including Thetford Outdoor Program Coordinator Scott Ellis, who has served on the Thetford Trails Team board. “There’s a real trails ethic there that we’ve built on.”
The group is still raising funds toward its overall goal of $100,000, which is meant to fund both the purchase and future stewardship, including trail repairs, infrastructure improvements and signage, he said.
The Thetford Trails Team will host two events in November to celebrate the parcel purchase. A walk-and-talk on Nov. 7 from 1-3 p.m. will give participants a chance to explore parts of the property, ask questions and celebrate together. On Nov. 8, the group will host a trailwork morning from 8-11 a.m. to build and install some boardwalks across a muddy section of trail.
More information is available at thetfordtrailsteam.org.