As trail runners, one of the things that binds us together is our love of the outdoors and supporting the trails and parks that we love. One of the requests that we’ve heard is from people asking how to get more involved with the trails and parks that we care about, either in planning and governing, or with trail maintenance and expansion.
With this in mind, UMTR launched a Trail Advocacy Committee this spring. This committee met a few weeks ago and we want to update you on some items that we hope kickstart our trail advocacy efforts at UMTR!
First, we’re creating a new email address, trailadvocacy@umtr.net that you can use to send us news about items that would be of interest to UMTR members. These can be opportunities for trail work, group/corporate volunteer events, and news about issues that affect trails and the future health of trails. We will then help spread the news about these issues among UMTR members.
Second, we want to build a database of trails and trail contacts. Soon you’ll be receiving a survey asking you for any contact information you have about your local park. We want to help you with supporting trails in your community!
Finally, we’re reaching out to other local organizations such as MORC, and Wilderness in the City to see how we can partner with them on issues that affect trails, and how we can work with them to take action to protect the resources we know and love.
If you have any feedback or ideas for this committee to explore, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
See you on the trails!