The work is easier when we do it together

WTA is fortunate to have many partners who help us get work done: members, volunteers, advocates, community partners and land agencies. A big part of our work is also made possible by corporate partners. These businesses step up to help trails by donating their time, products and proceeds to support WTA’s work. Here’s a look at three of the over 20 companies that generously support our work for trails for everyone, forever.

Green Trails Maps and other partners help WTA do our best work. Photo by Erika Haugen-Goodman

Outdoor Research

Outdoor Research (OR) is a national outdoor clothing brand, with a big local footprint. Founded in Seattle, OR creates research-driven gear for outdoor adventures. And they don’t stop at selling gear — they also help people get outside by supporting nonprofits like WTA.

OR has been one of WTA’s leading partners for years, providing significant support for WTA’s work. In recent years, they have also been a key partner of WTA’s two gear lending libraries, which can be used by graduates of WTA’s Outdoor Leadership Training (OLT) program. OLT teaches community leaders how to safely get outside with groups. The gear libraries help reduce barriers by allowing these groups to borrow gear for free — and to do that, WTA needed the help of partners like OR. 

OR has provided tens of thousands of dollars of gear to our libraries, including gaiters and waterproof gloves. That gear helps hundreds of hikers get outside safely. 

Wyld

Founded in 2016 in the Pacific Northwest, Wyld is the best-selling cannabis edibles brand in the U.S., and partners with nonprofits whose missions are focused on supporting people and the planet. When WTA and Wyld first connected, we realized that the WTA mission aligned with two of Wyld’s pillars of commitment: environmental sustainability and health & wellness.

Wyld was passionate about WTA’s work to help more people get outside through our Trails for Everyone campaign, and they particularly connected with WTA’s work to create a wheelchair-friendly filter on the Hiking Guide. This feature provides clearer trail information for folks with mobility considerations. WTA volunteers and staff research each hike marked as “wheelchair friendly,” and we have a backlog of trails that could be wheelchair friendly that need to be researched. Our partners at Wyld saw this challenge as an opportunity to provide support, enabling WTA’s continued research of wheelchair-friendly trails.

“Wyld seeks to create opportunities to make living a physically and mentally healthy life more accessible” said Chris LoConti, Wyld’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Environmental Impact. “WTA’s wheelchair-friendly filter addition to their amazing Hiking Guide does just that.”

Green Trails Maps

Green Trails Maps is a trailblazing partner for WTA — they were the first-ever sponsor of WTA back in 1993! Alan Coburn, owner of Green Trails Maps, shared the story of how Green Trails Maps came to sponsor WTA as a fledgling nonprofit, just launching our trail maintenance program:

“Greg Ball called me in 1993, right after he became WTA’s executive director and Gail, my wife, and I had just purchased Green Trails to ask if we would be interested in becoming a corporate sponsor of WTA. Gail and I were avid trail users, and we both have obsessive needs to contribute to our communities. What better way to support the hiking community than to support WTA? And we’ve been a reliable corporate sponsor for 30 years since.” 

Green Trails is celebrating their 50th anniversary of providing reliable information on durable hardcopy and digital maps for an estimated 50,000 Washington trail users annually. In addition to their pivotal support of WTA, Green Trails gives back to Washington hikers with annual corporate sponsorships to Mountains to Sound Greenway, The Mountaineers and the Washington State Trails Coalition.

WTA welcomes the opportunity to work with such generous partners. If your company would like to provide much-needed support for trails while also engaging Washington’s outdoor community, please reach out to Brynna Counts-Morgan (bcountsmorgan@wta.org) to learn more about partnership opportunities.