Trail Talk

TRAIL SMARTS

Making Strides in Trail Stewardship

By Rachel Wendling

We often look to gear and gadgets when

we think of outdoor innovation. Satellite messengers have opened up a new channel of backcountry communication, technical fabrics have helped us shave pounds off of our pack weights, pocket-sized stoves give us boiling water in just a few minutes. But it’s not just the gear that’s changing — the way we care for trails has also been evolving over time. Let’s look at trash, for example. Decades ago, it was common practice to bury or burn trash in the backcountry — but hikers soon realized this wasn’t a sustainable option in the long run. The hiking community shifted our behavior and began packing out everything we hiked in. Nowadays, many hikers go the extra mile and carry out additional trash they find on trails too. Hiking with dogs off-leash and under voice control was once the default on many public lands. Now, leashes are advised by many land managers as a tool to reduce conflict with wildlife, protect nearby vegetation and be courteous to other trail users.

As hikers, it’s important to be adaptable. More than just being ready for changing weather or an unexpected obstacles, it also means adjusting our thoughts about what’s a best practice on trail.

These innovations are not just in the past, either. As hiking rises in popularity, we’re constantly looking for innovative solutions to support a growing number of hikers on trail. Management of human waste continues to be a tricky situation on public lands. Whether hikers are digging a cathole or using an established privy, poop adds up fast — much faster than it breaks down. Land managers have been trying new ways to minimize the problem, like installing urine-diverting toilets that speed up waste decomposition in high-use areas or providing WAG bags for hikers to carry out waste when traveling above the snow line. WTA has also been looking at changes we can make to lessen our collective impact. One way we do that is by working to build connector trails and directional loops in high-traffic areas. Encouraging the use of loops and traverses — rather than out-and-back trips — can reduce each hiker’s physical impact on the trail. Rather than hiking the same section of trail twice, your feet only go over each section of trail once. And as a bonus, it can help get you a bit of solitude on a busy trail by decreasing the number of times you pass other hikers or need to stand aside to let others pass. The way we care for trails is continually improving as we learn how to be better stewards of the land and our fellow hikers. Today’s hiking norms may look different in a few years, and we — and our trails — will be better for it.

Highlights

A quick look at what WTA is accomplishing on trails around the state

Hikers speak up

WTA volunteers were at five trailheads across the state on July 30 to celebrate Washington Trails Day. Washington Trails Day is our state’s official holiday to recognize the vital role hikers play in protecting our public lands, and it is a day of action to support trails. This year, hundreds of people from all walks of life joined us in sharing a message to the governor’s office to protect the future of Washington trails. wta.org/WTD2022.

More money for outdoor recreation

Jamie Loucky, Washington Trails Association interim CEO, joined Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

Jewel Bronaugh at an event at Franklin Falls in June. At the event, the deputy secretary unveiled $503 million in new funding for outdoor recreation infrastructure as part of the Great American Outdoors Act. WTA worked to help secure GAOA funding and has partnered with land managers to help put the money to work restoring trails in Washington.

Persistence and Partnership

In a project years in the making, WTA recently worked on Crowell Ridge, in the Selkirk Ridge. Since about 2015, WTA and partners, in particular the Back Country Horsemen of Washington and the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, have put in a puncheon, rerouted trails and cut many logs to provide access to Crowell Ridge. Now, Crowell Ridge, which is on the PNT congressionally designated route, has been logged out first time in years and will be easier for hikers to navigate. WTA on the Radio

You can hear WTA staff talk to KUOW about what goes into maintaining and improving trails. Learn about some of the recent work our Lost Trails Found crews tackled in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and why that work is so critical; https://bit.ly/3OLj8yj

NOTEWORTHY

King County Play Equity

supported this hike to Poo Poo Point, which was a collaboration between The Nature Project and Congolese Integration Network.

Let’s Play!

Coming together to get youth outside

By Krista Dooley

Research shows outdoor experiences in childhood can have positive impacts on kids’ health and wellness

later in life. WTA believes it is vitally important for everyone to have the opportunity to access the outdoors, and we are committed to reducing barriers to time outside. We also know this work cannot be done alone. This is one reason WTA joined the King County Play Equity Coalition in 2020. King County Play Equity Coalition is a network of organizations dedicated to making changes that make it easier for young people in all communities to move their bodies outside — and to get all of the benefits that come with

Thrive Outside Community: play. Because physical

The Outdoor Foundation’s Thrive activity comes in many

Outside Initiative awards multi-year, capacity-building grants to diverse communities. It’s directed at building different forms, it needs to be a collective and strengthening networks that responsibility. The provide children and families with coalition is building experiences in the outdoors. connections and trust among a wide variety of groups who all aim to help young people play and be active. Those connections allow for more work that benefits everyone. Earlier this year, Seattle—King County was selected as a new Thrive Outside Community by The Outdoor Foundation. This means that community-led organizations like King County Play Equity Coalition will get funding for 3 years to help kids — especially those in diverse communities who often have less access to safe outdoor spaces — to enjoy positive time outside. We connected with Bookie Gates, leadership team chair, and Adrienne Moore, staff member, at King County Play Equity Coalition to learn more about the coalition’s work and how this funding will support its goals.

Q: Why is this work important?

A: The simple fact is that kids in King County aren’t getting enough movement. And youth of color, girls, immigrant youth and youth with disabilities move even less. It’s a massive equity issue that has significant effects for public health and education but isn’t always included in the larger health, wellness and education conversation.

We think movement has a huge role to play in addressing some of the most pressing issues young people are facing in King County. We also see that the young people who could benefit the most from being active, being on a team, and building positive relationships with peers and caring adults are the most likely to be left out when creating solutions.

Q: Why is the coalition’s approach innovative?

A: Typically, youth sports, play and outdoor programs operate completely separately, despite working in the same area, facing the same systemic issues and often serving the same kids. The Coalition is innovative in that we include all groups working on physical activity and equity. We aren’t focused on a single sport. We’re focused on being the connective tissue between grassroots programs, public agencies, companies and professional sports teams in King County to address systemic issues that can’t be solved by any single organization.

Q: What have been some examples of impact since the coalition launched in 2020?

A: One program focused on (creating) partnerships that addressed play equity gaps and centered the work of member organizations serving BIPOC and other disenfranchised youth. Up to $10,000 was available per collaboration. Three different partnerships came out of this effort, which encouraged creative solutions to COVID-related physical activity losses. For example, The Nature Project and Rainier Athletes partnered on a project to connect 30 BIPOC youth with outdoor programming through curriculum creation, transportation access and mentorship.

Q: What does it mean to receive this multi-year grant?

A: Outdoor education programs in King County are amazing. Often they’re leaders, even nationally, when it comes to innovation and thinking about getting more kids outside. This grant will enable us to bring those folks together and harness that collective wisdom to focus on what we can do together, here, to make King County an even more equitable place for young people to access nature and recreate outside safely. We also think there’s a cool opportunity to engage more traditional sports and urban-based organizations in this effort at some point and really create a pathway from the backyard to the backcountry. We know that if kids go play outside at nearby parks, they are more likely to be comfortable going farther afield into non-urban-based nature. We’re hoping to focus on this pathway, working on parks access and then opportunities for greater outdoor experiences from there.

Learn more about King County Play Equity Coalition at kcplayequity.org.

THANK YOU TO OUR CORPORATE PARTNERS

RAINIER | $25,000+

OLYMPIC | $10,000–$24,999

CASCADE | $5,000–$9,999

CASCADE | $2,500–$4,999

HIKE-A-THON

Warmth Wherever You Are