(a) There is hereby created the Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Authority consisting of representatives from all counties in the northern panhandle – Hancock, Brooke, Ohio, and Marshall – and Ohio River valley counties to include Wetzel, Tyler, Pleasants, Wood, Jackson, Mason, and Cabell, organized pursuant to the provisions of § 20-17-1 et seq. of this code. This authority is authorized to establish an Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Area within the jurisdictions of those counties and the authority shall be subject to the powers, duties, immunities, and restrictions provided in § 20-17-1 et seq. of this code. Visitors and participants in recreational activities within the trail network shall, in similar respects, be subject to the user requirements and prohibitions of § 20-17-7 of this code.

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(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, an adjacent county may join the Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Authority pursuant to the procedures set forth in §20-17-3(b) of this code.

(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, the Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Authority may merge with another multicounty trail network authority, pursuant to the procedures set forth in §20-17-3(c) of this code.

(d) Notwithstanding § 20-17A-4 of this code, Monongalia County of the Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation authority shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Authority for the purposes of establishing the trail network and coordinating the two trail networks.

(e) The Upper Ohio Valley Trail Network Recreation Authority may set goals of connecting to the Mountaineer Trail Network and any other trails in adjacent neighboring states that can be feasibly connected.