 Moore was followed by Mike Whitt, a local Mingo County, West Virginia native who worked in coal-related economic development projects, who, in his brief tenure as Executive Director, is credited with opening the first of trail.Whitt, in turn, was succeeded by his brother, Mark Whitt, who left the position in 2002, after which the Board of Directors appointed Matthew Ballard as director.Ballard, who had a background in organization management, public policy, and politics, is credited with catapulting the trail system into a nationally recognized and award-winning trail system.