Yeah, we’re bummed too. The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance had over a dozen exciting Stewardship Campouts scheduled this season and have made the sad but necessary decision to postpone them until 2021. While some recreation sites may reopen and volunteer activities be permitted again, our model of remote group camps in rural areas means that maintaining a safe environment for our volunteers would be extremely difficult and dozens of people traveling from around the state to these rural areas would expose Gateway Communities to unnecessary risk. These events are some of our favorite and most important activities each year and we will miss you all dearly.
Instead, we are pivoting to dedicate the remainder of 2020 to fundraising, helping support our Gateway Communities, and planning new trail projects. Did you know the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance has almost 50 miles of new trail connectors queued up for construction in the next 5 years? These projects require an immense amount of inertia (and money) to develop and shepherd through the environmental review process, planning, and construction timelines. We’ve still got our work cut out for us.
The most important thing you can do to support the OTTA is stay healthy, and when safe to do so go recreate on the Oregon Timber Trail and support Gateway Community businesses. Packing a folding saw on your ride wouldn’t hurt either. ;)
All of us at the Oregon Timber Trail Alliance look forward to working side by side with each and every one of you again soon. Here’s some of our favorite Stewardship Campout memories from the past three years:
