Be a Part of WTA’s “A Picture Worth 1000 Words” Campaign

September 2007

With summer now behind us, we have fabulous memories and photos to carry us through until the snow melts out next spring. 

Hiker at Spray Park, Mount Rainier. By Dave Schiefelbein.

If you were grateful for the trails under your boots last season, please take a moment to thank those who helped keep your hiking options open. Members of Congress have worked hard this past year to find funding to start repairing and restoring the road and trail damage from the November 2006 rainstorms. It is this commitment of our elected officials that’s ensured the money is there to begin repairs to roads and trails.

So, where did you hike this summer?

I’m sure you’ve visited some beautiful places and probably have pictures of yourself, basking in the wonder of the backcountry. Remember what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words?

WTA is asking hikers like you to send your Congressional Representative a picture of yourself enjoying the wild places they have helped protect and restore, with a short note to say “thank you.”

Have you been unable to visit some of your favorite trails?

Sadly, many of our trails, such as Big Four Ice Caves, Foss Lakes and Green Mountain, remain inaccessible or very damaged from the winter storms of 2006. Did you avoid these areas, or were you forced to turn back due to washouts or blowdown? Include these stories in your letter as well. Let your Representative know that while you appreciate all their work to protect and restore Washington’s trails and wildlands, he or she needs to continue to secure funding for our national parks and forests, because there is more that needs to be done. Particularly, our national forests still face an estimated $30 million worth of storm damage to roads and trails that has yet to be address.

For more information about the storm damage and recovery efforts click here.

Send your letters to the district office of your Representative. To find out who is your Representative is and what their district mailing address is click here.

Or email you picture and letter to Kindra@wta.org and WTA will print them out and send them your Representative for you.

Sample Letter

Dear Representative_______,

I wanted to take a minute to thank you for your work to fund storm recovery efforts on Washington roads and trails. There are so many beautiful places to explore in the state and funding the restoration of the roads and trails damaged by the November 2006 storms ensures that these places are not lost to the people of Washington. I have included a picture I took when I was out enjoying the Snow Lake trail in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. If you are not able to experience the places you are protecting firsthand, at least enjoy this photo and know that your constituents appreciate the work you are doing.

I hope this picture and note help inspire you to keep working for additional funding for storm damage recovery particularly for our national forests, which have received only a small percentage of the funding so far. This is troubling for many reasons, especially because of the amount of damage incurred to the roads and trails in national forests and the fact that the majority of Washingtonians hike on national forest land.

Again thank you for all your hard work to protect and promote trails and wildlands in Washington. I look forward to hearing about your most recent efforts to repair the storm damage in our national forest.

Sincerely,

Your name and address

Please let us know when you send in a picture and letter so we can keep a record of how many thank yous each Representative receives.