Thanks to everyone who joined us last week for the Oregon Trails Coalition Annual meeting! It was wonderful to be reminded of all the trail successes around the state in 2021 and to hear so many inspiring visions for the next 50 years of trails in Oregon!
We kicked off the meeting with a welcome greeting from Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Co-Chair of the House Trails Caucus.
Part one of the meeting was all about celebrating successes. We celebrated both personal successes of Coalition members like getting kids outside, and accomplishing bucket list adventures, but also some big successes for all trail users in Oregon including: completion of the Fear and Loaming Trail, the dedication of the C2C trail, construction on the Mitchell Point Tunnel, one of the last remaining barriers to connecting existing sections of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, and all kinds of local project grants, trail reconstruction in fire affected areas, stewardship efforts, increase organizational capacity, and other milestones.
We also provided an update on Coalition activities and advocacy:
In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Oregon Trails Act, the second two parts of the meeting were focused on sharing visions for the next 50 years of trails in Oregon and discussing needs for collective action as a Coalition to achieve our shared vision.
We invite you to share your vision for the next 50 years of trails in Oregon and your priorities for collective action in our end of year survey.