by Andrea Kurth
Last year, CDTC began a new community outreach program in New Mexico with the intention of increasing access to the CDT for members of trail-side communities. We recruited eight Gateway Community Ambassadors in four New Mexico Communities: Silver City, Chama, Grants, and Cuba. We tasked them with exploring the CDT around their town in order to become local experts of the Trail and introduce their neighbors and friends to the recreational opportunities that the CDT provides.
Since the launch of the Gateway Ambassador program a year ago, Gateway Community Ambassadors have gotten out on the CDT and invited individuals in their communities to come along. Grants, NM, Ambassadors Kendra and Michael Brown, in partnership with Cibola Trail Alliance, led about 35 participants on a snowshoe hike near Tsoodzil (Mount Taylor) in January.
Claudia Reynoso, a Gateway Community Ambassador and eighth grade science teacher in Chama, NM, shared the CDT with one of her students and his family on a hike in February. Claudia says she decided to become a Gateway Ambassador to increase exposure of her students to the outdoors.
“I believe in the healing power of exposing yourself to nature and the elements,” said Reynoso. “I am a huge advocate of outdoor education and believe everyone should be outdoors learning about the importance of our natural resources.”
At CDTC Trail Days last month, Silver City Gateway Ambassadors hosted a community picnic lunch as well as led a hike in partnership with the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance.
This year, CDTC will work to expand this program trail-wide. Soon, we will be working to recruit Gateway Community Ambassadors in the 11 remaining Gateway Communities in Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. We’ll be looking for folks with a passion for sharing the outdoors with others, and will offer support in getting the training they need to feel comfortable leading groups outside.
Andrea Kurth is CDTC’s Marketing, Communications, and Community Outreach Specialist. She’s passionate about making the outdoors inclusive for all people, and when she’s not working can be found discovering the mountains of Central Colorado.
