Greetings!,

A few weeks ago you may have caught our report on the elusive trail gnomes. It was a thorough investigation and the findings were crystal clear: Trails don't build themselves. If you enjoy mountain bike trails anywhere in Northwest Oregon or Southwest Washington, chances are that our members and volunteers have had a hand in ensuring their existence.

That's where you come in. This holiday season as you are feeling charitable, drafting your New Year resolutions and deciding on your year-end contributions, please remember to renew your membership with

Any week out of the year, you can find NWTA volunteers hard at work. In 2013, we organized an estimated two hundred citizen lobbyists to contact their elected leaders, participate at hearings, and attend meetings. We spent thousands of hours speaking with land managers about mountain biking. We spent dozens of weekends digging in the dirt, and promoting the sport of mountain biking at community events and festivals. And our mountain bike patrol spent 108 hours monitoring trail systems, helping trail users and maintaining excellent relationships with land managers.

Advocating, building and sustaining trails isn't cheap. Thankfully, we know a lot of appreciative mountain bikers that understand the importance of giving back! Please consider remaining in our community of over 600 members dedicated to sustaining and improving access to our region's mountain bike areas and trails.

We can't do it without your help.

Sincerely,

Kelsey Cardwell