Utah is utilizing Recreational Trails Program funding to keep trail users safe
The state of Utah has used innovative programming to keep their citizens safe from avalanche dangers. Although they cannot completely prevent avalanches from occurring, they are educating the public through the Utah Avalanche Center about ways to avoid triggering an avalanche, and how to stay safe should one occur.
by Taylor Goodrich, Communication and Media Specialist, American Trails
Since 1999 the Utah Avalanche Center (often in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service) has received Recreational Trails Program (RTP) funding several times, with tens of thousands of dollars going towards this initiative. Most recently, in both 2015 and 2017, the center used this funding for what they call, “Know Before You Go Avalanche Awareness and Education.” These funds were used to update and produce new videos to get avalanche information out to those who take part in snow based recreational activities, such as snowmobiling.
Some information can directly save lives. For example, most avalanches are caused by the victims of them, and there are steps to take to avoid triggering avalanches. Avoiding activities that cause loud noises, for instance, is vital to preventing an avalanche. To help with the success of these videos the center did several things – kept the videos short to keep attention spans, used well known trail users to share helpful tips about potential dangers, reached out through venues to trail users who traditionally had not had access to much avalanche awareness, and showed videos at family oriented venues. Additionally, the center gave away promotional material to help their message stick with trail users.
In 2017 the USDA Forest Service and state avalanche centers also received funds for a program called “Saving Lives with Avalanche Education,” with the express purpose of “Providing life-saving and time-critical avalanche information and forecasts, formal education and training in communities as well as at trailheads, gas stations, and in the field.” Programs such as this and the awareness and education initiative work together to both prevent avalanches before they happen, and to update trail users on real time information so they know areas to avoid and can keep track of conditions that have changed or become dangerous.
These projects, which will help keep snowmobilers and other trail users stay safe in Utah, are just some of thousands of projects funded every year through the Recreational Trails Program. If you have an RTP project you would like us to feature, please email trailhead@americantrails.org, and let us know.
Taylor Goodrich started with American Trails in January 2018 as Communication and Media Specialist. Taylor currently lives in Dallas, Texas, which is also where she grew up and where she attended the University of North Texas receiving her degree in History. While in college she started doing freelance work editing and writing, and also got into graphic design and discovered she loves the creativity and craft of digital arts. After college she traveled quite a bit, and lived in both the Pacific Northwest and in New Mexico, and while in both of those places took full advantage of what the outdoors had to offer. After moving back to Texas she started moving towards doing graphic design, social media, and communications work full time, and she has contracted with several companies from tech startups, to music festivals, to law firms, to grow their social media and digital communications presence. Taylor loves hiking and kayaking especially, and is glad to be working with an organization that fights for further accessibility and stewardship of our nation’s trails. She feels very lucky that in this position she will be able to use her professional skills and passion for something she is also very personally passionate about, and in helping to grow American Trails.
Contact: taylor@americantrails.org
