26 Jul Tread Lightly! Announces “Tread Lightly! Day West Virginia” Collaboration to Restore High-Impact Outdoor Spaces

NORTH SALT LAKE, UT. (Jul 26, 2023)— Tread Lightly!, a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting responsible motorized recreation through trail conservation and educational programs, announced the first annual “Tread Lightly! Day WV” collaboration set for Sept. 30, 2023, to help public lands across the state of West Virginia. Partners of this collaboration include Tread Lightly!, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP), West Virginia State Parks, BFGoodrich® Tires, Rodney Loftis & Son Contracting, WV State Senator Mark Maynard, and the Country Roads Coalition.

“The WV Department of Environmental Protection and WV State Parks have been very supportive of our efforts to work on this project, and with help from Rodney Loftis & Son Construction, we know we’ll be able to get the dumping debris where it needs to be for proper disposal,” said Jerry Bain, Country Roads Coalition Project Lead. “With funding from BFGoodrich Tires as part of their Outstanding Trails Program and support from Tread Lightly!, the Country Roads Coalition will rally volunteers statewide to create a positive impact in places that need it critically.”

Tread Lightly! Day WV will focus around 10 selected state parks and four high impact sites picked by the Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP) initiative of the WV DEP.

Citizens of West Virginia are invited to commit to one aspect of Tread Lightly!’s T.R.E.A.D. Principles and take the “Do Your Part” pledge to make a big difference in small places on Sept. 30. Organizers are asking outdoor, recreation enthusiasts to pack out one bag of trash while out on an outdoor adventure. An adventure project can be anything from a fishing day streamside cleanup, a 4×4 ride cleanup along a country road, or a picnic and cleanup at a state park.

“The best part of this project is that it draws partners together from several different types of organizations,” said Scott Ammerman, Tread Lightly! Northeast Program Manager. “It includes two state agencies, a large, motorized recreation advocacy group, a statewide contractor, an international tire manufacturer and a national nonprofit. We are really going to give back to West Virginia public lands, with the help of hundreds of volunteers that already live there. Not bad at all for an idea hatched around a campfire!”

To learn more about Tread Lightly!’s mission and work, visit treadlightly.org.

About Tread Lightly!
Tread Lightly! is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to promote responsible recreation through stewardship programs and ethics education. Tread Lightly!’s educational message, along with its unique training and restoration initiatives are strategically designed to instill an ethic of responsibility in outdoor enthusiasts and the industries that serve them. The program is long-term in scope with a goal to balance the needs of the people who enjoy outdoor recreation with our need to maintain a healthy environment. Tread Lightly!’s award-winning materials, programs and services are solutions to some of the nation’s most pressing recreation issues. Individuals and businesses can commit to Tread Lightly! and protect outdoor access by becoming a member at www.treadlightly.org.

For more information on Tread Lightly!, contact:
Jerrica Archibald
jerrica@treadlightly.org
801-627-0077