IMPACT REPORT

Moving Forward: A Message From the President

Each year, our work to develop RTC's Impact Report is a time for reflection—to assess our progress and to identify where challenges remain so that we’re better able to lead in the pursuit of a nation connected by trails. Reflecting on fiscal year 2020 has been even more poignant.

This past year, the nation reckoned with so much—a global pandemic, significant economic hardship and important calls for racial justice. At a time when the only thing that felt certain was the uncertainty and challenges so many were facing, trails became a lifeline.

Trails provided access to the outdoors, close to home, for millions of Americans. TrailLink, RTC’s trail-finder website and app, has been an invaluable resource, connecting more than 10 million people last year to trail maps as they sought ways to get outside. We’ve heard from thousands of people who have shared with us their stories and experiences on the trail—moments of joy, respite, healing and strength they found in the outdoors, close to home. These trail moments and the impact of our work in this time has brought urgency and focus to our path forward.

Our path is one where we prioritize the strategies that deliver at a national scale; that increase the diversity and representation of our movement, reducing disparities in opportunity and access to trails and the outdoors; and that are responsive—to the greatest needs of our movement and the country in a time of continued uncertainty and need.

Against the backdrop of 2020, the team at RTC worked to define our next strategic plan, fueled by the urgency and the opportunity that this past year brought into sharp focus. As we advance this strategic plan, we are guided by the responsibility we have—and the potential—to build a nation connected by trails. We are driven by a mission to reimagine public spaces to create safe ways for everyone to walk, bike and be active outdoors.

Our strategic priorities include commitments to:

• Creating national models for connected trail networks through our flagship TrailNation™ initiative
• Advancing innovative trail and active transportation policies on the federal, state and local levels to deliver the public funding and policy change necessary to unlock the power of trails to transform America
• Sustaining the nation’s cultural and behavioral shift in recognizing the essential value of trails
• Prioritizing equity and inclusion in all facets of our work and reducing disparities in access to the benefits of trails
• Ensuring RTC is a healthy, sustainable and growing organization

We’ve always known that when connected trails networks are at the center of communities—and people have access to trails in every neighborhood—they are happier and healthier. While we knew we had far more work to do to realize this future, 2020 revealed both what’s possible and how much more needs to be done. We are driven by an urgency to reimagine public spaces so that everyone has safe spaces, close to home, where they can be active outside.

We look forward to your continued partnership as we work toward a future where trails connect everyone, everywhere.

Truly,

Ryan Chao
President
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy