Get Involved
Deep River State Trail | Randolph County
How you can Support Trails in North Carolina
The Great Trails State Coalition is a grassroots effort to give our communities the trails they’ve been asking for. We’d love for you to join us. There are lots of ways to support trails in North Carolina.
1. Learn about the Impact of Trails and their Benefits to your Community
Read up on the benefits of trails.
2. Contact your State Senator or State Representative in Raleigh
Send an email, mail a letter, or make a phone call to let your state legislators know that you support funding for trails. Get inspiration from the script below:
The Honorable [Full Name]
North Carolina [House of Representatives/Senate]
Raleigh, NC
Dear [Representative/Senator] [Last Name],
My name is [your name] and I am from [Town/City], North Carolina.
As a North Carolina resident, I am writing you today to ask you to support funding for North Carolina trails and greenways during this session of the General Assembly.
Now more than ever North Carolinians are demonstrating interest in exploring trails in their communities. Trail use increased significantly during the pandemic and trails are the foundation of North Carolina’s $28 billion growing outdoor economy. Yet North Carolina lags far behind peer states in trail funding. I believe trails are a critical asset to North Carolina and have benefits far beyond health and recreation.
Investments in trails and greenways in our state would have positive impacts on [CHOOSE ANY/ALL: tourism, events, urban redevelopment, community improvement, property values, health care cost savings, jobs and investment, and general consumer spending]. In fact, NC studies have shown that every one dollar spent on trail construction supports $1.72 in annual local business and sales tax revenue and has monetary benefits related to health and transportation.
North Carolina already has a strong legacy of trail building, thanks to local support and the General Assembly’s investment in authorized State Trails with the Complete the Trails Fund. In this General Assembly session, you can advance this legacy by supporting the Great Trails State Coalition funding goals to create the Great Trails State Fund.
Trails have the opportunity to connect all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, help our economy continue to recover from the pandemic and improve health and recreation opportunities for our neighbors and visitors. I hope you will consider these important investments and other opportunities to demonstrate your support for trails and greenways in North Carolina.
I hope we can cross paths on one of North Carolina’s beautiful trails soon!
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Town/City], North Carolina
3. Become a Member
Are you involved with an organization that would like to become a member of the Great Trails State Coalition?
Organizations can join the Great Trails State Coalition for a minimum of $250/year to be featured on the website and serve on a sub-committee:
- Natural Surface Trails
- Shared-Use Pathways
- State Trails
- Year of the Trail
Membership benefits increase for contributions of $1,000 and $2,500+ and include invitations to monthly meetings and access to regular updates.
Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail is serving as the Coalition’s fiscal sponsor.
For more information about membership and Coalition operating procedures, please contact Palmer McIntyre at pmcintyre@piedmontland.org.
4. Get Email Updates and Calls to Action in your Inbox
Keep in touch. As our movement progresses, we’d love to inform you about what’s going on.
Thank you.
The Great Trails State
Art Loeb Trail | Haywood County