A week ago I spent the first two days in Washington, DC. Monday morning I met with Destry Jarvis, brother of John Jarvis, Director of the National Parks Service. I told him Hiking Trails for America had been formed to urge Congress to grant to the other ten National Scenic Trails what it had granted to the A.T. in the 1968 National Trail Systems Act. I next met with Joe Browder, who in the 60s and 70s had worked for the National Audubon Society on Everglades issues and later with the Friends of the Earth. He then opened his own shop as President of the Environmental Policy Center, so he knows his way around Washington and environmental issues. HTA needs some friends in D.C. with lobbying skills.
After lunch I had an appointment with John Assini, staff under Senator Tammy Baldwin from Wisconsin. We talked, as with others, about the mission of Hiking Trails for America. Before the end of the day, I met with Anne Clement, staff in Senator Barbara Boxer’s office about the same subject.
On Tuesday I met with Lauren Covington in Gerald Connolly’s office (Rep. from Virginia) and Will Mitchell in Rick Nolan’s office (Rep. from Minnesota), both democrats who sponsored trails legislation; then Abby Tinsley and Eric Kamrath in Senator Nelson’s office before a final meeting with Eric Olson, Department of Interior, who invited Jim Snow, retired attorney, US Forest Service, and Nikki Moore, BLM, to join us.
Last July the trails community lost an ardent supporter when Chuck Sloan died suddenly from brain cancer. Chuck had been of counsel for years with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and filled a term as president to American Hiking Society. On Wednesday I took Daphne, his widow, to lunch to talk about old times.
Jim