The FKOHT began with an Executive Order issued by Lawton Chiles establishing  the Keys Bridge Task Force, charged with the responsibility of analyzing all aspects of the Old Keys Bridges and recommending a course of action.  In 1998, Clean Florida Keys rallied enough local support to prepare a Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Conceptual plan published in January 1999, and a Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Action plan published in November 1999.  With a combination of local citizen support, the Rails To Trails, National Park Service, , Florida Department of Transportation and many other agencies, the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail Master Plan was approved in August 2000.  Monroe County passed a resolution to allow the FDEP/OGT to design, build and maintain the trail. Memorandum of Agreements with all of the Key municipalities established maintenance and oversight of new trail segments.  These founding steps form the foundation of project development.  Support extended out to the community, advocacy groups, educational institutions, other agencies and the interest of numerous individuals, established key partnerships at the local, state and federal level that have been critical for the project success.

The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail has been a labor of love for the many individuals that have worked toward implementing the vision presented to Governor Chiles by the Keys Bridge Task Force.  In 2001, the Florida Park Service hired a full time staff person to begin implementing the trail project.  The concept presented in the original Master Plan was strictly conceptual and developing a feasible strategic plan and realistic design alternatives was one of the first orders of business. Extensive preliminary scoping was involved to develop a framework for each trail design and feasible placement of the trail.   Preliminary efforts were needed to establish typical design sections for the trail and bridge segments.  The Florida Park Planning office outlined this monumental endeavor by preparing initial cost estimates for bridges and trail projects in the Upper, Middle and Lower Keys communities.   

FDEP needed to become certified to receive FDOT enhancement funds (a Local Agency Program certification) that allows state or local governments to use FDOT federal funds in accordance with FDOT design standards.  As the FDEP is an environmental regulatory agency, it was deemed that South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) would sign off on the environmental permits as part of the Federal Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements mandated for using FDOT funding.  Initial planning efforts  included sign-off from the SFWMD on design prototypes.  This was accomplished in part by an early presentation on environmental impacts to stakeholders and a general environmental permit that was later approved and followed by an environmental permitting plan.   The plan was designed to address overlaps in segments that were being duplicated by consultants and a redundancy in errors.  Details of the entire process can be found in the Implementation / Management Plan developed to document early efforts.   http://www.sustainable-visions.com/FKOHTPlan.html

Federal enhancement dollars from FDOT were plugged into various trail segments and the yearly process of applying for new funding began.  In a short five year period all of the 18 historic bridges that could be gapped were funded and are in various phases of design and construction.  Funding for all remaining trail segments was completed in 2006. A total of 45 million dollars was allocated toward trails, bridges, trailheads and amenities.   By 2007, over 30 projects totalling over 13 million dollars had been designed and built.   Another 30 million dollars is committed to development.   See the Trails segment for a design and construction table.  The layout and extent of this effort was so successful that todays projects are managed by a non-technical contract administrator as they go to bid and construction.