Oregon-California Trails Association E- News Special Supplement

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1 Oregon-California Trails Association E- News Special Supplement July 2, 2010 Contact Us Oregon-California Trails Association 524 S. Osage St. Independence, Missouri (816) Help OCTA Craft a "Top 10 Endangered Emigrant Trail Sites" List We're in the process of developing a Top 10 Endangered Emigrant Trail Sites List to help us gain media attention for our cause. We have a working list of sites that are, at this moment, in no particular order. But you might be aware of a threat that is not on our working list. If so, please send the following to octa@octa-trails.org: -name and location of site -threat to site -contact(s) to help advocate for protection of site OCTA board member and PR committee chair John Krizek has been compiling a list of sites and threats in order to start making our cause better known in the national media. Please help us refine this list by adding to it or letting us know if the threat has passed. #1. South Pass, Wyoming. #2. Antelope Ridge wind farm in NE Oregon

2 #3. Montague Wind Power Project, Oregon #4. Ruby Pipeline, Wyoming to Oregon #5. Gateway West Transmission Line, Glenrock, Wyoming to Murphy, Idaho #6. Boardman, Oregon to Hemingway, Idaho transmission line. #7. Chimney Rock, Nebraska (at least until the land purchase is complete) #8. Fernley Swales, Nevada #9. Marshall Ferry, Marysville, Kansas and the magnificent swale at the nowclosed Native America Heritage Museum near Highland, Kansas #10. Scotts Bluff National Monument in Nebraska, in particular the Fort Mitchell and Robidoux Pass sites (see in particular page 8 on this link). Other potential sites: A recently discovered mass pioneer grave site in Elmore County, Idaho; Lander Road/Pinedale gas well developments in Wyoming; Hiawatha gas field, Wyoming; White mountain wind farm, Wyoming. Again, help us accumulate better information. We'd like to model a trail website similar to the one utilized by the Civil War Preservation Trust. Their Top 10 list generated a lot of attention in the media earlier this year, and we feel that a list focusing on threatened trail sites could have similar positive impacts for us. So take a moment to write down your ideas and forward them to octa@octa-trails.org. Below is a message OCTA HQ just received regarding an upcoming America's Great Outdoors Initiative listening session in Davis, California. This listening session is designed to gather feedback from the American public regarding their feelings on communitydriven conservation and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors. Because the National Trails System is an intergral part of our federal agency's management and administrative duties, the Partnership for the National Trails System has developed a series of talking points for trail advocates to address at these listening sessions, which are being scheduled all around the country. We expect leaders from the Pacific Crest Trail Association to be in attendance at the Davis session, and we are hopeful that we will have leaders from historic trail organizations present as well. Keep in mind, these

3 sessions are designed for Americans from all walks of life, so you can attend simply as a private, concerned citizen. We apologize for the short notice, but as you can see from the press release's date line, this just arrived in our inboxes yesterday. (We'll send along releases for other parts of the country as we receive them.) So if you are in the Davis area and have the time next Wednesday, pleasae make your views regarding the California National Historic Trail known. And if you go, please report your impressions to octa@octa-trails.org. We would like to distribute it among our preservation committee. Attached below this press release are the aforementioned talking points that you can print and take with you. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY WASHINGTON, D.C FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Christine Glunz July 2, 2010 (202) Obama Administration Officials Join Rep. Mike Thompson for America's Great Outdoors Listening Session on July 7th at UC Davis WASHINGTON - White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and Congressman Mike Thompson will join senior Administration officials for a listening session at University of California, Davis on President Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative. The listening session will offer an opportunity to hear from people in the region about solutions for building a 21st century conservation and recreation agenda and reconnecting Americans with the outdoors.

4 President Obama inaugurated the America's Great Outdoors Initiative at a White House Conference in April. The conference brought together leaders from communities across the country that are working to protect their outdoor spaces and focused on developing and supporting innovative ideas for improving conservation and recreation at the local level. The President directed the Chair and other leaders of the initiative to listen and learn from Americans throughout the country about community-driven conservation and reconnecting Americans to the outdoors. WHO: Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Center on Environmental Quality Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-01) Will Shafroth, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Interior Ed Burton, State Conservationist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Jovita Pajarillo, Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 WHAT: America's Great Outdoors Initiative Listening Session WHEN: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 Media availability at 10:30 a.m. and listening session at 11:00 a.m. WHERE: University of California, Davis Vanderhoef Studio Theatre in the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts One Shields Avenue Davis, CA # # #

5 Speak out for the completion of the National Trails System......through increased National Trails System Operations funding for NPS, BLM, and USFS and with full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Historic Preservation Fund! In April, President Barack Obama and the Department of the Interior launched the America's Great Outdoors Initiative as an ongoing Administrative Branch effort to promote Americans' connection to the out-of-doors and to bolster current conservation practices nationwide. We in the Partnership for the National Trails System commend the Obama Administration for spearheading this critical national conversation now. The Initiative (led by the Environmental Quality Council Chair, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, and the Administrator of the EPA) will "conduct listening and learning sessions around the country where land and waters are being conserved and community parks are being established in innovative ways." The goal of these listening sessions is to let the public weigh in on what our national conservation strategy should look like, in three broad categories: Public lands conservation Private lands conservation Reconnecting Americans with the outdoors Our task in the Partnership is to show what works and what is already being done in the National Trails System, as well as what assistance we need to complete the Trails, so that the Federal government can build on our successes and accommodate our needs. Four questions frame the input wanted from each listening session of the Great Outdoors Initiative: What works now where you are, and can that model work elsewhere? What are the obstacles and challenges facing conservation efforts? How can the Federal government be a better partner? What new tools are needed to foster teamwork and investment in the outdoors? Our answer: Complete the National Trails System by...

6 Fully funding the administration and management of National Scenic and Historic Trails by the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and US Forest Service, Fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) at the authorized $900 million per year to increase outdoor recreation opportunities for all Americans, and Fully funding the Historic Preservation Fund to improve national capacity to preserve the sites and resources that culturally define the modern United States. National Trails System: Reconnecting Americans with the Great Outdoors A National Scenic or Historic Trail implements a goal of America's Great Outdoors by bringing the outdoors to people. It beckons folks to use it, whether for a longdistance journey or just an afternoon stroll. It provides both close-to-home and longdistance healthy recreation opportunities. 100 communities of 50,000 or more people lie along National Scenic and Historic Trails. The National Trails System, in short, has the potential to be part of the daily lives of many Americans. The National Historic Trails provide hundreds of opportunities to experience key events of our nation's history in the places they occurred, and to learn about the people who lived them. National Historic Trails and National Scenic Trails interpret the natural, cultural, and historic resources along them in a variety of ways, including providing locations for school and other guided field trips. There are more than 1100 National Recreation Trails, and there is at least one in each of the 50 states. They range from less than a mile to 485 miles and cross federal, state, municipal, and private lands. Outdoor recreation supports over 6.5 million jobs and contributes $750 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to the Outdoor Industry Foundation. National Trails System: Public and Private Lands, Ecological Connections President Johnson envisioned in 1968 that the National Trails System would crisscross the land, north-to-south, east-to-west, connecting the entire nation. The 30 National Scenic and Historic Trails, if completed, would span more than 50,000 miles

7 through 49 states. The National Trails System, if completed, would implement a goal of America's Great Outdoors by establishing connective corridors to ensure adequate distribution of habitat for vulnerable wildlife species. Long-distance greenways such as the National Trails expand the access of endangered species, such as the Karner Blue Butterfly, to critical habitat without which they cannot exist. They act as veins through which biodiversity circulates. Through the Trails courses the lifeblood of the planet. Together, the thirty National Historic and Scenic Trails are corridors that link together at least 24 National Parks and Monuments, 70 National Wildlife Refuges, 92 Wilderness Areas, and 39 other diverse conservation areas, preserves, memorials, and historic landmarks of the National Park System, National Landscape Conservation System, and National Wildlife Refuge System into a network of "green infrastructure" that spans across America. As of 2004, at least 1700 miles of five of the National Scenic Trails and 114 miles of five National Historic Trails were already located in or along the boundary of wilderness areas. Another 660 miles of yet-to-be-completed trail are projected to cross wilderness areas. The Scenic and Historic Trails also connect more than 300 State Parks. Citizen Engagement in Stewardship of our National Heritage: An Experiment in Public/Private Partnership The National Trails System exists through complex public/private partnerships of shared responsibility involving Federal, state, and local agencies and non-profit Trail organizations. The National Trails System is the only major system of our public heritage that is managed in this innovative and inclusive way. A hallmark of the National Trails System is people-based stewardship of significant national natural and cultural resources. Volunteers - not paid professionals - often take the lead in nearly all aspects of managing trail resources: inventorying and database construction, planning, development, interpretation, preservation, and maintenance. In 2009 alone, 27 non-profit Trail organizations contributed a total of $11,746,238 to the National Trails System. From 1995 through 2009, National Scenic and Historic Trail organizations have invested cumulatively $98,971,055 in our National Trails System. In 2009, the volunteers for those National Trails organizations contributed 907,435 hours, valued in excess of $18.6 million. Since 1995, volunteers have donated over 9 million hours, valued at over $154 million. This outstanding work shows the ongoing

8 commitment of volunteers to the National Trails cause. In 2009, nonprofits provided $30.5 million in volunteer labor and dollars to help sustain National Scenic and Historic Trails. For 2010, Congress appropriated $29 million to NPS, BLM, and USFS to administrate and manage these trails. A Work in Progress: Challenges and Opportunities for the National Trails System The National Trails System is 42 years in the making, yet only one of the current 30 National Scenic and Historic Trails is complete (the Appalachian Trail). Altogether, 9,700 miles of the National Scenic Trails are currently open for use. But their total authorized length is 16,400 miles. That some 6,500 miles of gaps in our National Scenic Trails to be filled - mostly on private land that will need to be purchased from willing sellers. For 16 of the 19 National Historic Trails (missing Ala Kahakai, Camino Real de los Tejas, Washington-Rochambeau), about 1,000 key natural and cultural resource sites still need to be preserved, according to the National Trails System FY09 Annual Report. 232 of these sites were protected in 2009, but 154 more were threatened by development that year. 12,000 miles of auto tour route need to be marked. Without adequate agency operations, LWCF, and Historic Preservation funding, the necessary efforts of Federal agency and non-profit partners to complete the Trails - land acquisition, trail construction, and trail interpretation - will not be possible. Full funding of the LWCF and Historic Preservation Funds will help National Historic Trail partnersprotect critical cultural, historical, and natural resources along their Trails. Full funding of the LWCF will enable National Scenic Trail partners to purchase land from willing sellers to close the many gaps in these Trails and protect their ecosystems and scenic quality. 50 Major Metropolitan Areas the National Trails System passes through: Selma and Montgomery, AL; Nome and Seward, AK; Tucson, AZ; Little Rock, AR; Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, CA; Durango, CO; Boise ID; Council Bluffs, IA; Topeka, KS; Baltimore and Annapolis, MD; Jackson, MS; St. Louis, St. Joseph, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Independence, MO; Missoula, Great Falls, and Helena, MT; Omaha, NE; Las Vegas and Carson City, NV; Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM; Morganton, NC; Bismarck, ND; Dayton, OH; Oregon City and Portland, OR; Pittsburgh, PA; Memphis, TN; San Antonio and Austin, TX; Nashville and Chattanooga, TN; Salt Lake City, UT;

9 Madison, WI; Casper, WY; and Washington, D.C. And 24 near: Anchorage, AK; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; Denver, CO; Pensacola, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, and Jacksonville, FL; Grand Rapids, MI; Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; Lincoln, NE; Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC, Cincinnati, OH; Salem, OR; Harrisburg, PA; Norfolk, VA; Olympia and Seattle, WA; and Milwaukee, WI. From Pathways Across America, Volume 17 No. 3 (Fall 2004) Wilderness Act (1964) National Wilderness Preservation System areas covering about million acres in 44 states - approximately 4.67% of the land in the United States. NPS manages 43.6 million acres of wilderness in national parks; USFS manages 406 federal wilderness areas (34.8 million acres); BLM manages 6.5 million acres of wilderness. Over half of that wilderness is in national parks; over a third is in the 11 westernmost contiguous states. Appalachian Trail are located in or along the boundary of 21 or 22 wilderness areas. The USFS manages 20 of these wilderness areas, and the NPS manages the Shenandoah Wilderness in Virginia. None of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is officially designated as wilderness. Five hundred and forty miles of established Continental Divide National Scenic Trail pass through 20 wilderness areas (listed in Pathways). The Florida National Scenic Trail passes through 12.4 miles of F.T. in Bradwell Bay Wilderness; 8.4 miles of Trail in Juniper Prairie Wilderness; and 3.5 miles of trail in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness. A hundred and two miles of the primary Iditarod National Historic Trail route crosses wilderness in the Innoko National Wildlife Refuge. Twelve miles of the Nez Perce National Historic Trail pass through the North Absaroka Wilderness in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. On the North Country National Scenic Trail, 25.4 miles pass through Rainbow Lakes and Porcupine Lake in Chequamegon National Forest in Wisconsin; McCormick in the Ottawa National Forest and Mackinac in the Hiawatha National Forest, both in

10 Michigan miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail pass through 33 wilderness areas. Undetermined stretches of the Ala Kahakai, California, and Old Spanish National Historic Trails pass through wilderness areas in Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, California, and Nevada respectively. Sections of the California, Continental Divide, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, Lewis and Clark, Mormon Pioneer, Nez Perce, Old Spanish, Oregon, Pacific Crest, and Pony Express Trails pass through 34 wilderness study areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Oregon-California Trails Association, 524 S. Osage St., Independence, MO SafeUnsubscribe Forward Update Profile About our service provider Sent by in collaboration with

Lower Income Journey to Work Market Share From American Community Survey

Lower Income Journey to Work Market Share From American Community Survey 2006-2010 Table 1: Overall National Data Table 2: Car, Truck or Van Table 3: Transit Table 4: Metrics Table 1 Work Trip Market Share: