I love my job. No, really, I love it.

As the senior director of the National Trails Initiative at Trust for Public Land, I help plan, build, and protect trails—from community trails to congressionally designated trails and everything in between. Cool, right? 

See, trails have a unique power to connect, perhaps more than other green spaces. Trust for Public Land partners with communities to help install mountain biking trails, convert defunct railways to multiuse paths, buy and create town-owned community forests, and reclaim old industrial sites for new green space.

With National Hiking Day coming up tomorrow, I'm about to nerd out about some of my favorite trails and green spaces, and what they mean for our work to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. So I hope you'll humor me, keep reading, and then make your first gift to help create more trails and protect public lands across the country.

Florida Gulf Coast Trail

Photo: Melody Timothee 

Passing through eight counties, the 366-mile Florida Gulf Coast Trail, when completed, will stretch roughly from Tampa to Naples. Decades ago, the entire region was dominated by agriculture, but farms have given way to suburbs. While sections of the trail already exist, many gaps remain. With your support, we’re overseeing a regional effort with public and private partners to complete the trail and connect communities at every point along the corridor.

Spence Mountain, Oregon

Photo: Melody Timothee 

Klamath Falls, a city of 22,000, was once a thriving timber town until changing forest policies and a severe earthquake took a toll on the town’s economic and built environments. Trust for Public Land has since helped Klamath Falls divine a new future. Just 10 miles outside of town rises Spence Mountain, where a private landowner had allowed the community to create 50 miles of trails on 7,500 acres. 

Protecting the Spence Mountain property breathed new life into the economy of Klamath Falls, while ensuring that local residents and far-flung visitors retain a healthy outlet. You can help more towns like Klamath Falls build their recreation economy with a gift today.

Hazelwood Greenway, Pennsylvania

Photo: iStock 

After losing more than half its population from 1950 to 1990, Pittsburgh now wants to make sure people choose to stay, with new parks and green spaces among the key ingredients making it one of America’s most livable cities. 

Trust for Public Land provided the city and community partners with a grant to launch a pilot program for ecological restoration on a 183-acre site known as Hazelwood Greenway, enabling partners to remove abandoned appliances and invasive species such as knotweed, as well as plant trees and improve access. Together, we can help even more cities have a renewed focus on trails and green spaces.

All of these places—and many more!—are protected thanks to Trust for Public Land supporters like you. Please continue to support our mission to bring the profound benefits of green spaces to millions of people across the country.

Thanks for reading through—and for being a dedicated member of this team.

With gratitude, 

J.T. Horn

Director, Trails Initiative

Trust for Public Land