Saturday is Washington Trails Day: Here’s how you can advocate for the state’s trails

Saturday is Washington Trails Day, which prompted Gov. Bob Ferguson to sign a proclamation on Wednesday, reminding residents to celebrate hiking in the Evergreen State.

“So that was an easy one to sign because, if I’m not working or hanging out with my kids, what I’m doing in my free time is trying to find any trail that I can,” Ferguson said.

Washington Trails Day acknowledges the importance of trails and hiking to Washington’s culture, economy and nature. This year marks the state’s 12th Trails Day.

Meanwhile, the Washington Trails Association encourages residents to get out and explore a new trail. They also are urging hikers to sign a WTA petition to protect public lands. The petition invites hikers to join Trail Action Network, a group advocating for the preservation and maintenance of Washington’s trails.

WTA volunteers and ambassadors will be stationed at five trailheads across the state to answer questions and distribute petitions, including Lake 22, Snow Lake, Baker Lake, Lena Lake and High Rock.

“The petition is essentially a request that federal public lands remain public and not be put up for sale,” said WTA spokesperson, Anna Roth.

U.S. Senate Republicans have introduced legislation to put 250 million acres of public land up for sale across the country, but Roth said WTA is opposing this move.

“There’s some rhetoric right now, some discussion of the idea of selling off public lands for various purposes, extract mining, etcetera, etcetera, and WTA does not believe that should be sold for those purposes,” Roth said.

The proposal to sell off millions of acres of public lands, including 5.4 million acres in Washington, follows staffing cuts at the Forest Service and Park Service earlier this year. These agencies are among the core groups the WTA works with to maintain and preserve the state’s trails.

“One of the other concerns that hikers need to sort of speak up for for public lands is continued funding of the agencies that manage them,” Roth said.

WTA is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving public lands, but it must collaborate with federal and state-wide agencies that manage those lands, including the Forest Service and Park Service.

“Those agencies, as they are underfunded, have less and less money to manage the trails and the parks that they have under their jurisdiction,” Roth explained, “And so as that funding evaporates, the condition of those trails and parks deteriorates, even with volunteer help.”

While Washington’s trails face increased pressure from federal legislation to sell public lands and staffing cuts at crucial agencies, Roth said public lands hold significance that must be cherished and protected.

“Public Lands have value in and of themselves. People recreate on them, but you know, they don’t just hike. There’s people who hunt, there’re people who fish. You can raft, you can kayak. There’s a myriad of different types of recreation you can do on public lands. But people also really value public lands, just for the peace and quiet that they bring.”

WTA also encourages hikers to complete a brief trip report to help the WTA evaluate conditions along the trail. The report only requires four photos and a couple of sentences on your experience.

This story was originally published June 19, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Saturday is Washington Trails Day: Here’s how you can advocate for the state’s trails."