Stay The Trail Receives Beacon Award From American Recreation Coalition

Simon | September 17, 2012

(September 2012 DENVER, Colo.) – The American Recreation Coalition recently recognized the Stay The Trail program with the 2012 Beacon Award. The Beacon Award recognizes federal agencies and partners for their use of technology to improve recreation management.

Stay The Trail was recognized with this nationally prestigious award for working with state organizations, federal land managers, environmental groups and OHV enthusiasts to promote ethical and responsible trail use in Colorado. Stay The Trail was acknowledged for combining two essential ingredients for 21st Century recreation programs: partnerships and technology. ‘Stay the Trail’ unites BLM and other federal land managers, state trails and OHV programs, OHV enthusiasts and environmentalists. For almost a decade, the program has used signs, brochures and training programs to reach OHV riders with messages about responsible use of public lands. New efforts underway use technology to avoid environmental and social conflicts caused by use of wrong areas, or by inappropriate operation. The core for this initiative is a convenient gateway – staythetrail.org – that directs OHV riders to appropriate riding locations, integrating information previously available only through multiple state and federal websites. The effort highlighted the need for clear, consistent route identification by all agencies offering OHV opportunities.

Since 2002, the Stay The Trail OHV Education program has been focused on encouraging responsible recreation on public lands within the State of Colorado. The Stay The Trail program is a model for the entire nation as well as other countries. Many of the website and outreach materials have been used by other states and national organizations, including Montana, Arizona, New Mexico and organizations like Tread Lightly.

Beacon Awards were first presented by the American Recreation Coalition in 2005. Nominations are made by federal agencies and are judged against the award criteria – which are: 1) Innovative use of technology for visitor services or recreation management; 2) Use of partnerships with for-profit and nonprofit organizations; 3) Efforts to share news of creative solutions within the agency; and 4) Community support for the work of this initiative.

The mission of Stay The Trail Colorado is to encourage the responsible use of the roads and trails that are open to motorized recreation in Colorado. Stay The Trail Colorado is a program of the Responsible Recreation Foundation (RRF).

staythetrail.org