Accomplishments

2009 Milestones

• WTA volunteers contributed 94,175 hours to trail maintenance across the state - shattering the previous record. More than 2000 volunteers gave back to the trails they love (130 trails, to be exact!). Many more trail accomplishments are listed here.

  

  The WTA staff provided trail maintenance on the Holden Lake Trail in October 2009.

• Washington Trails magazine now reaches nearly 9,000 households throughout Washington and beyond. In 2009, Washington Trails switched to a bi-monthly publication schedule as it introduced twelve additional pages of full color that better showcase the beauty and grandeur of Washington’s backcountry. We also welcomed our first new editor in more than six years.
• WTA's advocacy powerhouse helped secure the most significant increases in federal recreation funding in more than two decades. From National Parks to National Forests, budget legislation passed in the last year will enable the land managers to repair bridges, clear trails and plan for new and expanded recreation opportunities statewide.
• WTA's membership reached 8,000 for the first time in its history.
• WTA's 6th annual Hike-a-Thon grew by 37% more participants and raised more than $35,000 for trails.
• Our online Hiking Guide better serves novice and experienced hikers alike through our exclusive featured content (more than 600 hikes!) from the Mountaineers Books' Day Hiking series. Hikers who want more of this great content can purchase these guidebooks, and each sale sends dollars back to WTA programs.

  

  A hiker poses at Comet Falls, one of the more than 600 Hiking Guide entries provided by Mountaineers Books. Photo by Dave Schiefelbein.

• WTA piloted a new youth outreach program called Steps into Wilderness, providing leadership training and mentorship for community leaders looking to establish opportunities to get youth outdoors.
• Washington’s Entiat region was featured in a full-color spread in Washington Trails' May/June issue. It included a custom map created by CoreGis and encouraged protection for the Entiat. This project was funded by the Stusser Fund for Hiker News and Communications.
• Sure, you can find hikers on the trail, but did you know you can also find them on Facebook? With more than 6,800 fans on Facebook and 1,300 followers on Twitter, WTA ended the year ahead of the curve in connecting with hikers using social media.
• We developed an online system for hikers to report suspected off-road vehicle violations in the backcountry. We compile this information and provide it to land managers.
• To make trails safer for everyone, WTA launched a campaign to alert hikers to Washington’s many hunting seasons. Campaign communications highlighted specific measures hikers can take to help ensure their safety when out on trail.
• When the state legislature threatened to close Washington States Parks in the face of a massive budget deficit, we helped secured new revenue sources for Washington State Parks, keeping more than 40 parks from closing in 2009.

More Information

• Washington Trails Association's 2008 Annual Report (pdf)
• History of WTA