WTA's Executive Director to Leave

Dear Supporters and Friends of Washington Trails Association:

It is with great regret that I am writing to announce the resignation of Elizabeth Lunney from her position as Executive Director. Elizabeth intends to transition out of her role in the first quarter of 2010. The board has initiated a search process to find our next leader.

During this time of transition, I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the milestones that Washington Trails Association has reached under her leadership:

• Membership has doubled from 4,000 to 8,000.
• Volunteer trail maintenance hours have doubled from 40,000 to 80,000 annually, contributing an in-kind value of over $1 million to our trails and public land.
• We established a youth program that has introduced 500 young volunteers a year to hiking and trail maintenance.
• Our website and magazine have become a leading source for hiking news.
• We have attracted new funding from a variety of public and private sources to support our expanding programs.

When Elizabeth started in 1998 she was one of three paid staff and most programs were run by volunteers. Today volunteers and members are supported by a highly-effective staff team, and new partnerships are extending WTA’s reach in the community.

Thanks to Elizabeth’s service and leadership, WTA has become a trusted and vital partner to land managers, a more effective voice for the hiking community, and an essential resource for all of us who want to explore Washington’s beautiful wild places.

Elizabeth will be much missed. However our mission, “to preserve, enhance, and promote hiking opportunities in Washington state through collaboration, education, advocacy and volunteer trail maintenance” continues to guide us. Our goals include building our volunteer base, increasing membership and hiker engagement in trail protection, connecting our young people to the outdoors and creating a web site for the 21st century. We look forward to a new chapter in WTA’s growth.

Washington Trails Association is currently developing a position description for the Executive Director and we expect to post it before the end of October. Anyone interested and qualified for the position should send a resume and cover letter to Adam Forest, Executive Search Consultant, at adam@theforestgroup.com

For the Board of Directors,

Craig McKibben

President