This award is given in recognition of successful efforts to influence public policy relating to trail planning, trail protection, trail development, or maintenance.
Members of Corvallis to the Sea Trail Partnership
The Corvallis to the Sea Trail Partnership began as a coalition of individuals and groups sharing a common vision for a 60+ mile trail for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians stretching from the Willamette Valley and over the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean.
The project is one of the long-distance trails mentioned in the 2003-2007 OR Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan. They continued to do the extensive field research, as we;; as outreach and advocacy to successfully build the relationships needed to move this vision forward beyond what any other attempt over 30 years has managed to accomplish.
In February 2007 the work that had been done, the relationships built, and support for the trail was clearly evidenced as the lead front page story in the local Sunday newspaper. After 4 and a half years of work they w! ere able to achieve the land-owner permissions needed in October 2007 for a primary route! They recently became a non-profit organization and continue their commitment in moving forward cooperatively with the US Forest Service with the intent to do the Environmental Impact Statement and seeking to work with them and others to make the dream a reality.
