Opening Doors to Water Trails: 2008 Conference
September 16 - 18
Fort Worden State Park
Port Townsend, Washington
A gathering of water trail citizen advocates, administrators, planners, staff, supporters, and volunteers
Purpose: To convene water trail activists and advocates to share knowledge and network across the many organizations and agencies committed to water trails.
Why: The last major water trail convention was held in Maine September of 2001. Much has happened in seven years. There are more long distance trails like the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail. There are many, many new completed water trails that celebrate history, promote access, and connect communities and there are scores in various stages of development. Paddlesports continues to be one of the fastest growing recreational activities in the United States.
Who: Conference host Washington Water Trails Association (WWTA) brings over 15 years of salt and freshwater experience on the Cascadia Marine Trail and on hundreds of miles of the fabled Snake and Columbia Rivers.
Where: Fort Worden State Park Conference Center in Port Townsend, on the northern coast of Washington's Olympic Penninsula
Extras: The 25th Anniversary of the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium (WCSKS) begins Friday, September 19, 2008. WCSKS regularly draws 1,500 people to Fort Worden with its 2-mile long beach.
The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) offers the five-day Leave No Trace Master Educator Course in Sea Kayaking the week after the West Coast Sea Kayak Symposium in the San Juan Islands.
Early support for the Conference comes from National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program, Washington State Parks Statewide Trails Program, American Canoe Association (ACA), American Rivers, Trade Association of Paddlesports (TAPS), and Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership.