Carl Knoch, a national expert on the rails-to-trails movement, will be the keynote speaker at a program for the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail at 7 p. m. Monday in the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora.

Knoch, the Northeast manager of trail development for the national Rails-to- Trails Conservancy, was a key player in developing Pennsylvania’s 21-mile Heritage Trail, which is similar to the proposed 27-mile trail that would connect Orchard Park to West Valley along the former Buffalo-Pittsburgh rail line.

Reservations are required, by

e-mailingabergantz@ecattrail.org

. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy was founded in 1986 with a mission to help create a nationwide network of trails based on reused railroad beds. It has assisted in building more than 13,000 miles of trails.