The Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) is committed to providing and sharing resources that help people protect and promote National Scenic and Historic Trails (NSHT). One way we do this is through webinars. Over the past year, PNTS has worked to increase the frequency, diversity, and accessibility of webinars to better support the trails community. Additionally, webinars are now recorded and archived on the PNTS website for the public.
Recent webinars that you can access online now include:
- Addressing Disparities in Outdoor Access & Inclusion. In this webinar, presenters discuss the necessity of access and inclusion, propose solutions, and share current initiatives at their organizations that work toward equity and diversity in outdoor spaces. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of the disparities in outdoor recreation and how you can address them in your own work.
- Successful Youth Engagement and Partnership on the Iditarod National Historic Trail. iTREC! is a yearlong professional development program, with eleven years of success, that provides teachers with place-based, service-learning skills to help today’s youth become lifelong stewards of Alaska’s public lands, natural resources, and cultural heritage. Learn about the structure and goals of the program, how the Iditarod Historic Trail Alliance fostered partnerships that were essential to the success of the education program, teacher success stories and how educational materials and incentives for teachers were developed, and COVID adaptations and challenges encountered.
- A Comprehensive Approach to Inform User Management on Trails and Public Lands. Learn about exciting ‘recreation ecology’ research by the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and partners to gain a better understanding of recreation trends to inform management and planning needs for trails and public lands.
- Accessibility, Connectivity, and the Expansion of Recreational Opportunities with the National Digital Trails Project. Learn about the resources provided by the National Digital Trails (NDT) project, including a web based trail planning tool that helps identify potential routes to connect existing trails and systems, a public domain dataset of Federal and State trails, and a portal for trail managers to upload data into the Nationwide Trails Dataset.
- Increasing Youth Engagement and Diversity on National Trails. Learn how you can engage youth and increase diversity in trail participation by hearing about successful strategies used by the Arizona Trail Association and North Country Trail Association.
- Land Acquisition 101. Learn the basics of land acquisition including how to start the process, what the process entails, and how Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) money can be used in collaboration with agency partners.
- Land Acquisition 102: Identifying Priorities, Securing Funding, and Working with Partners. Learn about the LWCF process and resources, grants, and other opportunities to help advance land acquisition projects.
- Conservation Legacy’s VISTA Programs: Programming for Diverse Conservation and Community Service Projects. Learn how you can host an AmeriCorps VISTA member to help your organization build capacity through activities such as fundraising, grant writing, research, and volunteer recruitment.
Additional recordings will be added as webinars are hosted. Webinar topics are intended to meet the current needs of PNTS partners. To better meet those needs, PNTS formed the Programs Committee to help develop year-round opportunities for training and peer exchange. The Committee will play a major role in providing resources for the trails community.
Contact PNTS Programs Coordinator Cara Yendrzeski at cara@pnts.org for more information about PNTS programs and how you can get involved.
View PNTS’s webinar calendar and access recordings of past webinars at pnts.org/new/webinars
