The Panora Area Development Group has decided to pledge $1,000 to Conrad Kramer and the Whiterock Conservancy for their backcountry trail attraction project.

Whiterock is in the midst of applying for a Vision Iowa CAT grant, and if the organization succeeds in receiving the grant, it would pay for about 10% of the project’s total cost.  The Vision Iowa Board of Directors has told Kramer in recent months that Whiterock’s application needs more support from members of the local public in order to have the best chance of winning the CAT request.

Two weeks ago, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors decided against improving their pledge offering to Whiterock from $1,000 to $5,000.

PRIDE President Brandon Monoghan says the group saw the Supervisors’ decision as a means to support the project in their own way and to hopefully rally additional support from local organizations.

“With a lot of it (the project) taking place in Guthrie County, we feel from PRIDE’s standpoint that it’s a must to have those entities–to have the bicycles in town.  All around the county it seems like you’ve got bikers and walkers and everything–that just seems to bring business to town and that’s what we’re about.”

Monoghan feels the majority of people in the local Guthrie County community support Kramer’s attempt to secure the CAT grant and are not on board with the Supervisors’ decision.

Monoghan adds that the decision to get behind Whiterock is an easy one because the project will benefit Guthrie County in the long-term.