For nearly a decade the Ventana Wilderness Alliance has led the grassroots effort to protect the wilderness qualities of the Ventana Region, along the Big Sur Coast. VWA volunteers also contribute thousands of hours each year maintaining the public trails in the Ventana back country. I support their conservation work and endorse the Ventana Trails Forever campaign.
— Robert Redford, Actor, Director, Conservationist
Trails connect us to the great outdoors. They are nature’s invitation to venture forth, to take time to notice and to feel the earth beneath our feet. The trails of the Ventana Region were first traveled by Native Americans. They were essential to generations of homesteaders and are cherished by modern-day hikers. Today they provide 320 miles of spectacular wilderness experiences and a natural outdoor classroom that inspires current-day and future land stewards. Forest Service trail budgets have shrunk drastically in recent decades, leaving the Forest Service unable to keep all of its local trails open to the public. Only a concentrated effort by the public land management agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the general public will save these trails from extinction.
The goal for Ventana Trails Forever Campaign is to raise $500,000 by 2012 to provide permanent funding for the maintenance and restoration of the public trail network of the Ventana Region.
The 320 miles of public trails in the Ventana Region would cost more than $25 million if built today. By comparison, the $500,000 goal for the Ventana Trails Forever Campaign requires only 2% of the total asset value of the trail system it will preserve. This leveraging of private dollars and volunteer labor on public lands is an excellent example of a productive public/private partnership.
