Why Bother? > > >
In collaboration with various agencies, trail organizations have been instrumental in establishing and maintaining some of the world’s most iconic trail destinations. Consider well-known places like nearly anywhere in British Columbia, New Zealand, or Colorado and Utah. However, the significance of organizing for the betterment of trails extends beyond iconic locations. Even if an iconic trail destination isn’t in the picture where you live, forming a trail organization holds immense value.
If your local area lacks a formal trail organization that represents you as a trail user, you and the trails are missing out.
When individuals with a shared cause come together and choose to represent that cause, they gain a collective voice that far surpasses any individual effort. The synergy generated by the group is in fact far greater than the sum of its parts.
A trail organization provides a specific community of trail users with a sense of belonging and a platform to voice their opinions. While some remarkable trails have been initiated by unsanctioned (“rogue,” “pirate,” etc.) trail builders, they seldom carry much authority, lacking formal representation beyond their personal goals. And worse, they may see their efforts evaporate into thin air when they’re suddenly removed from the area they’ve been building in for years.
Creating a trail organization, even on a small scale, around a common objective empowers you to define the identity of the collective “we.” This establishment of a collective identity is pivotal, as it brings about significant influence.
What kind of influence?
Well, influence that allows the group to:
- Clearly represent the collective and its beliefs.
- Mobilize individuals for trail construction and trail maintenance.
- Communicate effectively with authorities, land managers, decision makers, etc..
- Seek permission for projects.
- Engage in negotiations.
- Execute impactful initiatives.
- Secure substantial funding.
- Celebrate and promote the success of the group.
- Dream big and build even more.
- Ensure the trails sustainability for the long term.
This is how you champion the cause of trails.
Without a visible trail organization that resonates with people, volunteers won’t show up, and decision makers might not even engage with you. Raising substantial funds becomes an uphill task, seeking permission and negotiating land access are steep challenges, and the trail’s future remains in perpetual jeopardy.
Organizing people, ideas, projects and actions is not in everyone’s wheelhouse. The very idea of starting a trail organization in order to formally sanction or legalize trails makes many people shudder and shy away from the topic altogether.
Yet, this isn’t the case for everyone. Some enjoy the work of building something larger than themselves for the good of the trail community. Find those people. Invite them to participate.
Too often, the unknown scares us into doing nothing. This is the case for many trail users and builders, who’d rather just show up on their own terms, spend some time in the forest, and then head home without any accountability to anyone but themselves.
But in the end, when life takes over or those people are gone, so too is the trail.
The vegetation starts growing in.
Features fall into shady states of disrepair.
Fallen trees obstruct the trail and no one knows who will clear them (or when).
The land owner (maybe unhappily) discovers the trail and closes it.
The very fact it once existed fades from memory.
So, now what?
Starting a trail organization is more achievable than you might think, but the details of that will be covered in another article.
For now, start looking for like-minded people. Put out the call (at the trailhead, Facebook, Strava, with friends you ride/run/hike with, wherever), inviting those that care about trails to show up for a conversation. They do care, and they will show up. They are just looking for a place to belong (probably not unlike you), and waiting for someone to make that happen. Give them that place and start writing your area’s trail story.
As Greg Heil recently wrote in a Strava article on 10 of the Best Mountain Bike Destinations Around the World in 2023:
“We’re currently living through a trail building gold rush that’s delivering singletrack riches to the mountain bikers of the world.”
Greg Heil
He isn’t wrong. So, get on it!
You might not build the next Duluth, Copper Harbour or Moab, but what you and your group build will be yours. You’ll preserve most of what you have, which will probably lead to more trails, and you’ll start going from good to great for your trail community. And what’s not to love about that!
Stop hoping. Stop wishing. Start making. Start doing.
Let’s go! Time is ticking…
The best time to start was last year, the second-best time is today.