Boeing Awards Major Grant for Trail Work

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Great news for hikers in the Puget Sound region! Washington Trails Association has been awarded a $50,000 grant from The Boeing Company Charitable Trust to support our volunteer trail maintenance efforts in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties through October 2011.

Last Thursday, Shyla Miller, Boeing's community investor for the environment, presented the grant to more than a dozen WTA volunteers gathered on the Grand Ridge Trail in Issaquah. "Shyla came out not merely to deliver the grant, but stayed for a full day of trail work! She jumped right in on a muddy day and worked right alongside some of our veteran volunteers. They had a lot of fun, the WTA way, and got some great work done on the trail. We are so grateful to Boeing, and to Shyla, for this support of our trail maintenance program" said Brian Windrope, Executive Director of WTA who joined Shyla for the day of work.

Amidst the hemlocks near Duthie Hill Park, a beautiful boardwalk - fabricated from wind-fallen timbers and milled planking - began to take shape. One group carried logs, another drilled holes and set rebar. Some dug ditches or shaped a new piece of trail, and others hauled buckets of rocks. Once finished, the boardwalk will provide a safe route for hikers and mountain bikers through a wetland area. It will complete another link in the 7-mile trail that WTA volunteers have been have been helping King County Parks build over the last several years.

Grand Ridge is one of 60 different trails across the region that will benefit from Boeing support. In fact, over the next year, the grant will help WTA volunteers complete 40,000 hours of trail maintenance from Glacier Peak to Mount Rainier. They'll keep popular trails open for hikers, reduce erosion caused by neglect and overuse and help keep our Puget Sound watersheds healthy.

Want to help? Click here to sign up for an upcoming trail work party.