If you are someone who can spend hours looking at camping gear and hiking boots, you would love the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. Since its move from Utah to Colorado, non-profits like TOSC have the opportunity to meet with outdoor retailers, explain our mission, explore partnerships and take useful classes in topics like trails and sustainability.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the National Trails System. Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968, it first focused on finishing the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail. We now have 30 National Scenic Trails and Historic Trails in 49 states. We actually have more miles of trail in this country than miles of federal highway . . . an estimated 55,000 miles!
One of the speakers rhetorically asked “where would we be without trails?” That’s an interesting question on so many levels. Trails take us places we want to see – lakes, peaks, rivers, caves, fields of wildflowers. They deliver us to coffee shops and libraries. They take some of us to work and others of us to favorite places to recreate. A favorite local retailer (and supporter of TOSC) uses the phrase “Life outdoors is a life well lived.” Time on trails forces us to slow down or speed up. Trails take us outside ourselves and connect us with each other and nature.
Happy Birthday National Trails Act—a great gift to ourselves!