12 MARCH 2024 | ASHLAND, OR. -- Fifty percent of our annual revenues come from USDA Forest Service agreements. In February 2025 we were put in the position of not being able to count on those funds for the upcoming season, so we adopted a worst-case-scenario budget, and we have put into action a plan that
- Maintains our promises to returning staff and keeps our team together
- Reduces expenses by 25%. This means fewer interns, from 18 in 2024 to 8-12 in 2025. Grows our private revenue by $100,000 from 2024.
- Maintains our cash reserves so that we're in as strong of a position going into 2026 as we are now.
It's a plan that calls for sacrifice, but it's realistic, and we're going to make it work. So all this chaos isn't bad timing because we're facing some cliff that we're about to be pushed off. It's bad timing because we positioned ourselves for investments that may not be coming through now. It took us 10 years to bring our programs to a place where are really ready to scale by multiples. In other words, things take time:
- Trail stewardship as a business operation is inherently unstable and comes with infinite variables and moving targets. Figuring out how to make that operation work took a lot of trial and error, but we have, and we're always improving.
- Skillsets and leaders aren't born overnight. We have staff who are coming onto their 2nd through 10th seasons and they've been building skillsets along the way. From database management, finances and customer service to advanced trail and leadership skills, we've been reinvesting in our staff and that's starting to really pay off.
- Systems take time. It took us years to develop our playbook, and we'll never stop learning and making it better. We now have a program in place that is replicable and scalable.
The momentum and maturity has ripened us for greater investment. We are ready to scale, not for the sake of it, but because we've grown the leadership and a pool of talent waiting in the wings. I'm ready to go restore more trails, take on more responsibility of our public lands, and use the lessons we've learned to make an even greater difference.
Join us.
Thank you for your support. And long live the backwoods trails.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Howe
Executive Director