Taking action at the Statehouse!

March 11, 2024

“Fight for the things that you care about. But do so in a way that will lead others to join you.” -Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

KT has hit the ground running for the 2024 legislative session! Abby Long, KT’s dedicated Executive Director, has been actively involved at the Statehouse, engaging in conversations that promote, support, and advocate for bills that bolster outdoor recreation investment and preserve our natural landscape and resources in alignment with the KT mission to enhance the health of our local community, surrounding environment, and regional economy.


Here is what we’ve been up to!


Outdoor Recreation Bill H.673


Abby serves on the Executive Committee for the Vermont Trails & Greenways Council (VTGC), an independent nonprofit supporting the Vermont Trail System, officially serving as an advisory body to the Vermont Department of Forest Parks and Recreation (FPR). This session, through VTGC, KT is supporting Bill H.673, an Act relating to Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy. H.673 aims to rightsize investment into outdoor recreation stewardship to benefit Vermont and its communities. The bill proposes initiatives such as;

  • a statewide outdoor recreation economic impact study to understand better how impact is distributed across recreational activities and land ownership, 
  • administrative support for the Vermont Trails & Greenway Council, 
  • and codifying and agreeing on best management practices with FPR. 

H.673 will result in concrete recommendations on many aspects of outdoor recreation, including how we, as a state, invest in trail maintenance and stewardship.  Answering the question of how we develop an appropriate mechanism to recognize private landowners will be a critical component of how we retain public access. 

Abby has testified on H.673 in both House Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry and House Commerce & Economic Development, urging legislatures. View one of Abby’s testimonies here on 02/07/2024! (Starts at 0:45!) 


KT’s Landowner Advisory Committee also joined in the advocacy for private landowners who host trails and H.673 at the Statehouse by crafting a letter to send to our legislators on behalf of KT landowners. We encourage all to contact their VT Reps and to monitor H.673 here on Vermont’s legislature website: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.673

Outdoor Recreation Day 02.16.2024


Abby, joined by Lukas Ray, KT’s Community Collaboration Director, participated in the first-ever Vermont Outdoor Rec Day (VORD), organized by VOBA, Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance, and VTGC! We joined 85 fellow outdoor recreation professionals, while our friend, Kelly Brush, of the Kelly Brush Foundation, provided a devotional on resiliency and the importance of outdoor recreation, especially as an adaptive athlete. Together, we watched as a Joint Resolution naming February 16th as Outdoor Recreation Day was presented and adopted! The remainder of the day was spent again encouraging the Legislature to pass Bill H.673 and support Bill H.723, which provides for investment in a Flood Recovery Assistance Program and to invest in housing and permit reform to encourage workforce development and business innovation.


Read more about Outdoor Recreation Day here!

Forest Future Strategic Road Map


Abby also serves as the outdoor recreation voice for the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap Advisory Panel, tasked to create the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap as established in Act 183 in 2022. This strategic roadmap seeks to strengthen, modernize, promote, and protect the forest products sector and the greater forest economy, of which outdoor recreation is a part. In January 2024, after an 18-month process, the completed roadmap was released to the public. Read it here!

As Abby noted at the Vermont Forest Future Press Conference on 02/22/2024, KT is a true example of recreation that provides renewed economic vitality and operates in a complementary manner with the forest products sector. KT not only elevates our region as an exemplary place to live, work, and play, assisting area businesses’ need to recruit a workforce, but we have also conserved over 400 acres of forest with the Vermont Land Trust, forests enrolled in current use, allowing us to host our first-ever timber harvest last winter. KT is proud to share that story through signage on the trail so trail users from afar pass by and learn, building stronger linkages and understanding between the forest user and the positive impact of the forest economy.

We would like to express our immense gratitude for the 100+ Landowners who make up the KT network and the local businesses, organizations, schools, and stakeholders who make up our community! We advocate with you, for you, and for our future! #community

Leadership Transition Announced at Kingdom Trails and the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative

By Sven Cole • July 25, 2025
Dear KT Community, I write to you today as I begin a transition in my relationship with Kingdom Trails. I have made the difficult decision to take the next step in my professional journey and step away from my role as Executive Director. Serving Kingdom Trails and this incredible community over the past eight years has been one of the greatest honors of my life. I am deeply proud of the work I’ve led and supported, from navigating immense global challenges and natural disasters, to forging incredible relationships, with our landowners and community. And throughout this journey, the Northeast Kingdom has become not just where I live, but truly my home. It’s the place I chose to become a mother and where my family has put down roots. That said, I am ready to explore new ways to serve this community, ways that will allow me to continue growing as a leader. I’ve accepted the role of Interim Executive Director for the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative, where I will carry forward the work I fell in love with through Kingdom Trails: strengthening our communities and supporting thoughtful economic development. In this new role, I’ll have the opportunity to advocate not only for outdoor recreation, which is so essential to the heart of our region, but also for the many sectors that make the Northeast Kingdom such a unique and vibrant place. Please know I remain deeply committed to Kingdom Trails. This is my home, and it will remain my home. I wish to always be an ambassador for KT, including playing a role in ensuring a graceful, responsible transition with care. The Board of Directors and I have committed to this, to ensure continuity, stability, and the trust you hold in this organization. I am grateful beyond words for the opportunity to have served my community through this role, and I look forward to closing this chapter with the same heart and good intention with which I began it. Georgia Gould is stepping in as interim Executive Director to lead the organization through this transition. Georgia has served on the KT Board of Directors since 2021, leading both the Landowner and Trail Advisory Committees. She is a KT Landowner with an impressive mountain biking and cyclocross resume - including a bronze medal in one of her two Olympic bids on Team USA and five career national championships in cross-country and short track mountain biking. Georgia, her husband Dusty, and their two young children are engaged members of the Burke community and the KT team. Her deep ties to the sport of cycling, dedication to providing great trails for all skill levels, and her love of this community make her the perfect choice to lead KT in its next phase. The Board and I are thrilled that Georgia has agreed to lead KT and feel confident that she will hold the mission of the organization at the center as she has throughout her Board service. You can reach Georgia directly and welcome her to this new role at ED@kingdomtrails.org . With deep gratitude, Abby ### Kingdom Trail Association The mission of the Kingdom Trail Association is to provide recreation and education opportunities by managing, maintaining, and building trails to foster the health of our community, surrounding environment, and regional economy. Kingdom Trails strives to accomplish this mission by offering a 100+ mile network of quality, non-motorized, multi-use trails for all levels of ability, incorporating the best of our local scenery and natural diversity. The Kingdom Trails are made possible through the generosity of 106 private landowners. Northeast Kingdom Collaborativ e The mission of the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative is to improve the quality of life for all residents of the NEK through coordinated economic and community development as the vision is a strong, vibrant Northeast Kingdom where we all thrive. The NEKC brings people together to spark positive change in our communities, creating structures that bring partners together across service areas, sectors, municipal and political boundaries to provide solutions for the renewal of the Kingdom. The NEK Collaborative serves as the backbone organization for the federally designated NEK REAP Zone and community partner for USDA Rural Development.

Cannondale Becomes KT's First Corporate Sponsor

By Sven Cole • June 17, 2025
Cannondale Dirt Party a Success
Vermont State Treasurer, Mike Pieciak, speaks at the 2025 Outdoor Recreation Day at the Statehouse

KT is taking action—on the trails and in the Statehouse!

By Abby Long • February 13, 2025
KT is taking action—on the trails and in the Statehouse! This 2025 Legislative Session, KT is teaming up with other amazing trail organizations through the Vermont Trails & Greenway Council, to advocate for H.147 a bill to establish the Recreational Trails Compensation Study. Why does this matter? Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy generates $2.1B annually, nearly 5% of the state’s GDP, that's 2nd in the nation after Hawaii (Go VT!) KT alone drives $10M in economic impact annually. Therefore, the state must recognize and incentivize these generous private landowners, including the 106 who make KT possible and allow public access to trails.
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