This award recognizes an individual that has made outstanding contributions and provided consistent support for trail planning, development, or maintenance. It is intended to recognize the efforts of a private or public sector individual working for enhanced trail recreation on either the local, state, or national level.
For the past 10 years Ann has been the Trails Coordinator for the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA), the oldest conservation organization in the state.
As the Trails Coordinator, she is responsible for the "care and feeding" of over 800 miles of Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails, which traverse both public and private lands, utilizing a small army of dedicated volunteers. Not only does she make sure that each trail crew is properly manned, trained, and outfitted, she also soothes landowners who find illegal uses taking place on their sections of the trails, works to find re-routes when necessary, and is always on the lookout for that new link to expand the public’s hiking opportunities.
Since 2006 Ann has gone above and beyond her normal hectic work to achieve some major milestones. Each Trails Day Ann is responsible for collecting information on the various activities taking place around Connecticut and putting them in a guide for general distribution. This year, over 130 trail events took place in Connecticut; we believe that this is the single largest organized Trails Day in the country. In addition, Ann is in charge of the periodic revisions to the CFPA’s Walk Books, maps and guides to the organization’s Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails. For the first time in the history of the Walk Books, all of the maps were produced using GIS/GPS data.
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597 views • posted 01/16/2018
