The future of trails and greenways in America The future ... - Atfiles.org

The National Trails Training Partnershipwww.NTTP.netAmerican Trails to help statesmeet trails training needsAMERICAN TRAILS’ GOAL FOR TRAINING is toexpand efforts to provide better education programs andtechnical assistance by working with the states and localcommunities, nonprofit groups, and agencies who are planning,building, and managing trails.We are expanding key elements of the National TrailsTraining Partnership (NTTP) to better serve the needs of thenationwide trails community, both motorized and nonmotorized.We are working with the State Trails Programs to helpbring more training and expertise directly to them.These efforts are in support of the Recreational TrailsProgram goals to help local trail project sponsors build betterand more cost effective trails. We are emphasizing accessibletrails, assessing trails, trail crew leadership, developing astate training program, and working with developers.States may use RTP Educational Funds for safety and environmentalprotection, including training for trail planning,design, construction, maintenance, operation, and assessment.States may pay for the training, and could charge a feeto attendees to recoup some or all of the workshop costs.Benefits of Bringing Trainings to the States:• Bringing training to the states saves scarce travel funds,reduces travel time, and eliminates the need to obtain outof-statetravel permission.• Staff and volunteers receive training they could not getwithout significant time and travel expenditures.• Youth are better educated for future employment in outdoorrecreation and natural resources fields.• The availability of skilled volunteers and staff reduces thecost of local trail projects and provides more significantmatching services.• Better training of local trail project sponsors will result inbetter trails built at a lower cost to be more sustainable andaccessible over the long term.• Better-trained volunteers will do work with more value.• The states may provide training venues, and may charge atraining fee. The goal of in-state travel is to reduce traveltime and cost for the participants and for the states.These educational workshops are available for your agencyor nonprofit organization. Each workshop can be coordinatedwith a state trails conference or other training event, held asa single event, or held as a series in different locations. Thegoal is to bring more training to the staff and volunteers whoneed it, while minimizing travel and other expenses.• Understanding Accessibility and Building Better Trails• Universal Trail Assessment Process Workshop• TrailWare Workshop• Trail Crew Leadership Training• Creating a State Trails Training Program Workshop• Working with Developers ForumFor information on hosting the workshops, contact PamGluck, Executive Director of American Trails, at (530)547-2060 or nttp@americantrails.org.NTTP can help publicize yourtrails training opportunitiesFind the class or workshop you need on the most comprehensivecalendar on the Web for trail-related training andeducation. Hosted by www.AmericanTrails.org, the calendarcan also be accessed from www.NTTP.net. We’re alsoeager to promote your trails training opportunities of everykind on our online calendar. Please add us to your mailinglist and we’ll help publicize your events. We also invite youto include a link to www.NTTP.net on your website. Thecombined American Trails and NTTP websites receive over100,000 visitors per month.The National Trails Training Partnership brings you hundreds of resources,studies, and articles, as well as an online calendar of scheduled training on alltopics related to trails and greenways.Visit us at www.NTTP.net.www.AmericanTrails.org5