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 | September Newsletter
Did you know it was National Public Lands Day on September 27? If you missed it, you can see what RPL’s been up to — from D.C. to Flagstaff to Colorado, we’ve been busy — and learn how to get involved in our upcoming opportunities. Our continued growth wouldn’t be possible without your support. |
| | Latest Happenings: RPL in D.C. for National Advocacy Work |
|  | In early September, our ED Kat Baker spent the week in Washington D.C. with Outdoor Alliance, the Grasstops Collective — leaders from outdoor recreation groups — and members of Congress, and so many others who continue to work and fight day in and out for greater access and protection of our public lands and waters. |
| | It was a busy, meaningful, and productive week. Kat had meetings with California Members of Congress & their staff, including Rep. Lieu, Rep. Schiff, Rep. Chu, Rep. Carbajal, Senator Padilla, and Senator Butler; as well as training sessions with agency leadership, previous elected officials & staff, and lots of time connecting with others in this space. Kat advocated for finalizing The EXPLORE Act, defended the Public Lands Rule, requested additional funding to support recreation within USFS and BLM lands, and pushed for more protections to our public lands and waters. |
|  | From Outdoor Alliance’s recap of the week:
“78 advocates held more than 80 meetings with lawmakers on the Hill, championing some of our biggest policy priorities for the end of the year. These priorities include the EXPLORE Act, a first-of-its kind package of recreation policy that will improve outdoor experiences on public lands; the BLM’s Public Lands Rule, which will balance conservation with development and extraction on 245 million acres of BLM land; funding for public lands and waters to ensure that land management agencies can keep up with increasing visitation and maintain trails and other recreation resources; and protection for more important public lands and waters.
We were joined by champions from American Whitewater, American Alpine Club, Access Fund, American Canoe Association, IMBA, The Mountaineers, Surfrider, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Runners for Public Lands, Bikepacking Roots, SORBA, CAMTB and Sage Trail Alliance, as well as by partners at REI, Patagonia, and professional climber Tommy Caldwell. Advocates met with lawmakers from across the country, including California, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, West Virginia, Montana, Nevada, Tennessee, Arkansas, Wyoming, Maryland, North Carolina, Utah, and many more.”
Read the rest from Outdoor Alliance here, and stay tuned as we share more about the advocacy work that RPL we did and the work we’re continuing to do. |
|  | "Advocating for public lands in D.C. was an eye-opener,” said Kathleen Baker, Executive Director of Runners for Public Lands. “It’s clear that our voices matter and can drive meaningful change for human-powered recreation. It was inspiring to see how our collective efforts can push for policies that support both our trails and urban recreation areas, as well as our broader conservation goals." |
| | RPL Welcomes New Board Members |
| We are thrilled to welcome four new incredibly talented and passionate leaders to RPL’s board: Rosamaría Gonzaléz (Vice President at Strava), Dustin Martin (Executive Director of Wings of America), Wookie Kim (Legal Director at ACLU Hawaii), and Zoë Rom (Writer, Journalist, UltraSignup). |
| | | Stay tuned as we shine deeper lights on them in our next newsletter. |
| | Trail Work Series: Recaps & Updates |
| We are so stoked that runners are taking action to care for the places they run. Due to the success of these work party events, the Trail Work Series has continued to expand to new locations and grow in impact. See the impact of each series below, as well as upcoming opportunities. |
| Indiana Dunes National Park w/ Trailblazer Running |
|  | This past month, our Indiana Dunes Trail Work Series wrapped up. What was the impact over these four events? 31 volunteers across 4 events, contributing 79 hours of service, saving the Visitor Center $6,000; Our volunteers removed 154.4 lbs of garlic mustard; hauled 12 cubic yards of dirt/clay/sand mixture to a trail (half of which was hauled nearly ¼ mile of distance #workout); and cleared out and treated a 100-square foot area of Burning Bush (an invasive), along with dozens of other burning bush and bittersweet plants right along the trail.
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| | Our fourth event alone saved the Visitor Center $6,000 based on an initial quote they got for the landscaping work our teams completed. These saved funds will help stretch the impact of the donations and grants awarded to the Indigenous Cultural Trail project. A huge huge thank you to our amazing RPL Ambassador Kirk Cherep and the community he has built through Trailblazer Running, as well as the Indiana Dunes National Park Service, the volunteers who showed up for the work parties, and the sponsors who made this possible including Patagonia Trail Running, GU, Fractal, and Athletic Brewing! We can’t wait to join you again for more events in 2025! |
|  | Flagstaff Cococino National Forest w/ Peak Trail Runners & Wilderness Volunteers |
|  | We were excited to kick off our newest trail work location in Flagstaff with Peak Trail Runners and Wilderness Volunteers. Our first event, sponsored by Hoka and GU, took place on September 18th, with volunteers meeting at the Schultz Creek Trailhead to contribute to revitalizing a foot-use-only trail that will be great for running. There’s one more event left in Flagstaff, which you can sign up for by clicking here. |
| | Colorado w/ Jefferson County Open Space & Trail Runner Volunteers |
| It’s hard to believe we have already completed 8 trail work events with our friends at Jefferson County Open Space and Trail Runner Volunteers. Luckily, there is one more chance to get involved in 2024! Join us on October 8 for light trail maintenance at Matthews/Winters Park. We’ll conclude the event with a great raffle including prizes from all our sponsors. |
|  | | | Crown Jewels Film Screening w/ REI |
|  | On September 16, RPL Board Member Bryant Baker was the featured speaker at the Crown Jewels film screening event. It was great to be with so many other fellow advocacy groups, including the Sierra Club, Santa Monica Trails Council, Los Padres Forest Association, Mini Nature Reserve, Ventura Land Trust, MERITO Foundation, and REI. See a trailer for the film here. |
| | Thank you to REI for raising awareness that the US Forest Service’s proposed National Old Growth Amendment (NOGA) lacks sufficient protections for mature and old-growth forests on federal lands from logging, leaving them vulnerable to commercial exploitation. Through these events and the film, REI was able to garner over 1 million public comments requesting stronger protections for old-growth forest. Learn more here. |
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| |  | On September 19, RPL headed back to Mammoth Trailfest and hosted our annual Trivia Night, which paired pop culture with environmental advocacy. It was a beautiful weekend of community, trail running, and conversation. Shoutout to RPL Ambassador extroadinaire Denise Graves for doing a social media takeover throughout the weekend. You can see our recap post here. |
| ERF: Congrats to Mauricio Zuniga! |
| | 2024 Everyone Runs Fund Recipient Mauricio Zuniga toed the line to his race last week: Pikes Peak Marathon in Colorado. Unfortunately, due to weather, the race was shortened to a 15-mile route, but Mauricio had this to say about the day:
“First and foremost, I wanted to thank RPL and their amazing team for this incredible opportunity to learn more about myself as a trail runner, the great outdoors, and the partners that provide so much to keep sustainable, safe, and inclusive trail spaces for members like me.” |
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| “I cannot fully express the joy that the people of Colorado provided days leading into the event. I showed up as myself and was treated with amazing hospitality by the organizers and participants. My assumptions about this event not being inclusive enough were based on biased and intimidating images that are often posted of winners and elite performers. Although the weather did not allow us to participate in a full marathon, it was still amazing to see how important the Rockies were to the native, non-elite athletes. When the event started, those people made me feel seen. Heard. Acknowledged. I have proof of being happy, confused, tired, confident, etc. Those memories are very special to me now.”
You’re an inspiration, Mauricio! |
| | | Podcast: The Running Kind, Ep. 22 |
| RPL’s ED Kat Baker was recently featured in The Running Kind’s podcast. |
| | The Running Kind podcast combines passion for trail running and sustainability into one show.
Here in episode 22, founder and athlete Aimee Kohler talks with Kat Baker about how she became a runner, a race director, and an environmental advocate. They also dive deep into RPL’s programs — the things we’ve done and the things we’re doing — so check that out to get the full scoop on what RPL is up to these days.
Listen here. |
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| Social: RPL on Nat’l Public Lands Day |
|  | On Saturday, September 27, it was National Public Lands Day. While there is a national day for just about everything — for ex., it was National Brown Butter Day last week, and today is National Day of Forgiveness — #NationalPublicLandsDay obviously hits close to home for RPL. See what it meant to us this past weekend, and if you’re looking for concrete steps to take, check out Outdoor Alliance’s post here. |
| | Fundraising at RPL: Wander Project |
|  | This year, we had partnered up with the Wander Project, bringing charity bibs for 6 trail races in 2024. We were stoked to see runners signing up for these races and raising funds for RPL in the process! A big shoutout to Priya Sinha, who is running Grand Circle Trailfest this coming weekend, and who raised over $3K for RPL; and a shoutout to Donovan Unsell, who is signed up for Cocodona Charity Bibs and is seeking to raise $5K for RPL! |
| | There will be even more Charity Bibs in 2025, so if you’re interested in signing up for a race and supporting RPL at the same time, keep an eye out for those opportunities in our future newsletters. |
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Looking to get involved with RPL in the coming weeks and months? See a list of our upcoming events below: 10/2, Golden, CO: the Trail Runner Volunteers Potluck is Wednesday, October 2, from 5-8pm in Lions Park Golden. Join our partners for food, fun, door prizes, and a raffle! 10/5 in Ventura, CA: the Topa Topa Second Summer is happening Saturday, October 5, from 12-5pm, where you can meet the RPL Ventura Ambassadors. Stay tuned for details on a pre-event Community Run. 10/8 in Golden, CO: Join our final Colorado Trail Work Series event at Matthews/Winter from 5-8pm. They will have an end-of-the-series raffle, giving away a Patagonia running kit and pack, Fractal hats, and more. 10/9 in Boulder, CO: Run with RPL Ambassador Edwin at the Boulder Runners Roost Run Club for a 10K beginning at 5pm. 10/15 in Ventura, CA: Our Community Runs with Patagonia Ventura is on Tuesday, October 15, meeting at 5:30pm Patagonia's Great Pacific Iron Works store. 10/27 in San Diego, CA: join RPL and the Coastal Run Club in San Diego on Sunday, Oct 27th at 7:45am at Patagonia Cardiff. 11/19-21 in Austin, TX: RPL heading back to The Running Event. Stop by our booth to learn more about our plans for 2025 and stay tuned for more ways to engage with our team at the event!
Make sure to follow us on social at @runners4publiclands for up-to-date information on our events. |
| | | Thank you for your continual support as our organization continues to grow. We look forward to the year ahead and many meaningful miles shared on the trails! To support RPL, you can make a donation below and/or follow us on social at @runners4publiclands. |
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