Florida Trail Association Inc

IT’S ‘GIVE MIAMI DAY!!!’

We ask you every year to consider joining the FTA and us in our Volunteer Work Parties up and down the State of Florida and we tell you all about the fun we have cutting back brush with weed-eaters and other nifty tools, cutting up downed trees with chainsaws (after lotsa training, of course) and we give you pans of orange paint (not just any hue, mind you) to ‘blaze’ the trees that make it possible to make your way along 1500 miles of trail which may or may not be underwater…  SO, you might be asking WHY??

Help us meet our modest goals today!!

• To take fifteen young adults to next year’s Clyde Butcher Swamp Experience. Participation fees: $1125; snacks and water $300
• To pick up the tab so young members of local organizations can accompany us on activities that are not free. Entrance fees range from $15 on up….
• To sponsor memberships in the FTA for the underserved community. Each individual membership is $35/yr.…
• To purchase a Joelette Mobility Device that helps us take our mobility-challenged members and friends on our trails; each costs $6280.

We know that the needs of our community are great - hunger, homelessness, puppies and kittens needing refuge, and more - and that there are hundreds of charities reaching out for help. 

But we, the FTA and Big Cypress, with our hiking trails and outdoor activities are also serving an unmet need by helping boost mental health. Being in the great outdoors is a salve for the soul, offering possibilities to be close to nature, to allow for self-reflection, and to help give sense of purpose and direction to many. Sometimes, we just need to get away from the reality of our lives for a few hours— and this goes for adults and youngsters alike! Our latest numbers show that in 2022, some 405,000 people set foot on the FNST. BUT, there remains much work to be done….many people have still not heard about us nor our trails!

This is where YOU come in.

Our future stewards are the young people of today and nurturing their love for the ‘Glades is just the first step.  If the adults of tomorrow don’t know about or care about it, they won’t look after it.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: We plan over the coming year to introduce youth and others facing mobility challenges in our community who otherwise would not dream of doing so, who think they can’t, and who perhaps can’t afford to do so, to our trails, be it in Everglades National Park or Big Cypress National Preserve or even local parks. 

Help us preserve our wildplaces and bring a sense of joy and wonder to young and not-so-young faces. Make a difference in someone’s life, won’t you?  Help us meet our goal, won't you please?

WHO WE ARE: The Florida Trail Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to develop, maintain, protect, & promote a network of hiking trails throughout the state of Florida. These trails include the approximately 1,500-mile-long Florida National Scenic Trail (FNST/Florida Trail) which starts underwater (for much of the year) at the Oasis Visitor Center on Tamiami Trail/US41 and ends on the gorgeous sandy beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Panhandle. 

Although we are based in Gainesville, we have a membership of almost 4000 enthusiastic volunteers in 19 Chapters throughout the beautiful State of Florida! Your local Chapter, the Big Cypress, representing Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, boasts over 160 members! 

Please support our efforts, won't you?