Coastal Trail Expedition Sponsors

We write in the hope that you will consider helping us support a project we hold in high regard and to which we are dedicating our summer of 2003.

On June 3rd, our family will step away from the Oregon border on the 2003 Coastal Trail Expedition, a 1,161-mile trek that will end 112 days later on September 22nd when we, and our nine fellow hikers, reach the Mexican border! We will, of course, derive a great deal of personal satisfaction from the trip, not the least of which is helping Coastwalk in its efforts to create a California Coastal Trail. By walking the coast this summer we will help draw attention to our need for a continuous trail from border to border so that we can all enjoy the benefits of our coast.

You know that I have devoted my life to the protection of coastal wildlands and endangered marine species, which is the mission of WiLDCOAST, the organization I co-founded in 1999 with Serge Dedina.  Similarly, Coastwalk, founded in 1983, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and one of its missions is to promote the completion of the California Coastal Trail, a mission very much in line with WiLDCOAST's. Coastwalk organizes annual walks in each of California's 15 coastal counties and in 1996 mounted a statewide hike similar to the one we will participate in this year. One result of this past walk was the naming of the California Coastal Trail as the 'Millennium Trail' for California by the Federal Government and the passage of California State Senate Bill 908 in September 2001 mandating the establishment of a coastal trail in California.

For the past two years Coastwalk has been working as an active partner with the Coastal Conservancy, the California Coastal Commission, and California State Parks to implement Senate Bill 908. The California Coastal Trail Expedition 2003 will further this important work.  Along the way, we will help in actively assessing the existing trail as well as participating in community meetings and press conferences. It's only through creative, active partnerships like these that we'll succeed in protecting our coasts in perpetuity.

By now you understand why we support this great organization!

In order to ensure the successful completion of the California Coastal Trail, Coastwalk must secure resources beyond what individual hikers are paying for their expenses. When you return your Coastwalk donation to the address below, you will walk beside us as a virtual walker this summer. We will place your name on a scroll which we will carry the length of California. On the starting day of the Coastal Trail Expedition, we will read your name out to the assembled. We will also repeat this ceremony at the end of the hike at the Tijuana River Estuary Reserve, at California's Mexican border.

The fundraising challenge to our team of ten hikers is to find $10 sponsors for each mile we walk. So, please consider sponsoring a few miles! You can even let us know which miles of the coast you wish to sponsor by referring to the attached spreadsheet. 

Please feel free to share this challenge with others who may be supportive of our goals or let us know if you have another ideas to help this project.

Together we will help establish the California Coastal Trail!

To learn more about Coastwalk, visit the web-site: www.coastwalk.org. You'll also be able to track the progress of our expedition online at www.californiacoastaltrail.info.

Thank you in advance for your donation.