What Would Our Landscape Look Like If There Were No Trail Conference?

July 15, 2019
Don Weise
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

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What Would Our Landscape Look Like If There Were No Trail Conference?
View of the Shawangunk Ridge from the Long Path. Photo by Steve Aaron.

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Trail Conference volunteers have been at work for nearly a century building and maintaining trails and passionately protecting the lands they pass through.

Without the Trail Conference, the region’s vast trail network would not exist as we know it today. Dozens of battles to save green corridors like the Highlands Trail in New Jersey and to create parks in New York might never have taken place.

Storm King may well have become a hydroelectric power plant. A weaker effort to save Sterling Forest could have resulted in massive development. In fact, the Long Path, Shawangunk Ridge Trail, and several new parks like Huckleberry Ridge, Wurtsboro Ridge, and Roosa Gap might not have been created at all, if not for the Trail Conference.

Since 1920, the Trail Conference has protected this public interest. More than 2,100 miles of trails have survived because of volunteers and the generosity of people like you. Your donations make it possible for us to recruit, train, and support thousands of volunteers, who in turn give back 100,000 hours to our trails and parks every year. However, with parklands increasing and budgets declining, we expect the Trail Conference will be asked to do even more. 

One of the most powerful actions you can take now to protect the trails and lands we love is to make a gift to the Trail Conference. By funding our efforts, your donation will be multiplied by the power of more than 2,000 volunteers.

We are ready to do the heavy lifting, but to get the job done, we need your help. Make a gift today at the $150 or $250 level and receive the gifts seen below as a show of our appreciation for your support. Thank you for helping keep trails alive, now and for years to come.