Community Trail Design is a professional planning and consulting firm operated by Craig Brickser, MSP focusing largely on natural surface trail design and planning for communities of all scales. Craig is a former Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew team member and trail builder by trade. To date, Craig has worked for two major trail advocacy non-profits, both state and local government, and several professional trail contractors.
A lifelong cyclist, Craig has been building and designing trails at a professional level for nearly a decade. His career developed while working locally with trail advocacy groups to build and improve the trails in his own community. Already skilled in the physical aspect of trail construction, Craig pursued higher education that he could use to further benefit his community by adding a scientific element to his passion for playing in the dirt. His bachelor's degree in Geography allowed him to understand his environment spatially with tools such as GIS and cartography. While he found these skills useful, he recognized a need for more political and social foundation in his trail advocacy efforts.
After some research, the field of Urban Planning spoke to him as the missing link between his passion for trail advocacy and its role in community development. Urban Planning, by discipline, is a professional field that is founded on the ethics and principles of responsible community development and land use with an emphasis on the health, safety and well being of people. Parks, recreation, and greenspace have long been staples of good urban design principles, with greenways and trails being a common element of local planning objectives. Craig has the unique distinction of holding a masters degree in Urban Planning and also being a skilled trail builder, making him a valuable liaison between local governments and the user groups that enjoy trails for recreation.
