ForeverGreen Trails has been busy! We have a long list of short term goals and activities for the year and have started working on many of them. Our biggest event each year is the Pierce County Trails Conference. This year’s date is September 29, so mark your calendar now. Registration will start at 4 pm with the program beginning at 4:30. The theme is Trails: Transportation, Health, & Equity. We are still confirming details but hope to hold the conference at the University of Washington Tacoma with a walk on the Prairie Line Trail before things get started. Watch for more information over the next couple of months.
We are an original member of the Active Transportation Community of Interest (AT COI) of the Puyallup Watershed Initiative. The AT COI is working to increase access to safe, healthy, and affordable active transportation options in the geographic area of the Puyallup River Watershed. One of ForeverGreen Trails’ projects is to provide training and information to prepare community members to speak up for trails, walking, biking, and transit at appropriate public meetings. The first workshop was held May 10 in Puyallup. We provide information on how to contact elected officials and boards at the local and county levels. ForeverGreen Trails will be providing resources on our website and additional workshops later in the year.
One of our AT COI funded projects last year was to create a package of information and templates for starting a trail stewardship or “Friends of the Trail” program. This package is now available. We will be spreading the word to parks directors and can provide assistance in starting programs. ForeverGreen Trails participates in community events to increase awareness and support of trails. So far in 2016, we have been at the South Sound Sustainability Expo and the Pierce County Bike Swap. We talked with lots of people interested in trails at each of those events. As always, we continue to support funding for trails and coordination of trail building efforts among various jurisdictions through letters of support, public testimony, and participation in planning efforts. All of this work contributes to ForeverGreen Trails’ vision of “A countywide system of trails connecting all of Pierce County’s communities linking sidewalks, bike lanes, and local pathways into an integrated network for safe, convenient, non-motorized travel.
