The Mountains-to-Sea Trail is our North Carolina state trail.
Whether you live in Dare County close to Cape Hatteras National Seashore or Haywood County close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and everyplace in between, you should know about the 1,100 mile trail across the state.
We hike it, we build it, we maintain it, we support it but now we have a special opportunity to let our North Carolina legislators know that they should support it too.
Here’s a call-out from Kate Dixon, Executive Director of Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail:
Kate is asking all MST hikers and supporters to:
contact your legislators in support of funding for trails included in NC Senate Bill 486 – An Act to Enhance Economic Development through the Expansion of the State Trails Network. We were excited to see such strong support emerge for the MST and other trails this session.
Please take a few minutes today to e-mail or call your senator and house member. Time is of the essence because the Senate plans to release its version of the budget this coming week.
Tell your legislator:
* Why you love trails and the MST in particular
* If the MST or other trails you love are in his or her legislative district
* That you are excited to see Senate Bill 486 introduced this session to provide additional funding for trails
* Urge them to support funding for trails
Just in case you don’t have the contact details of your NC legislators, see the Who Represents Me? page on the website for the NC General Assembly. You can search for your legislator by using the maps at the top of the page or scroll to the bottom to get a list of legislators by county. I found it easiest to put in my full zip code.
Forward this blog post to your friends so they can also express their support
The most important thing you can do at this time is let your legislators know that funding for trails is important to you. Kate Dixon and other trail advocates will continue working on the details of the bill.
One more thing – Once you have the name and email address of your North Carolina legislators, save them in your email address book. You’ll need them again.
See you on the trail.