Tread Lightly! Honors Champions & Partners at 25th Anniversary Celebration

Awardees Recognized for Help in Protecting Access and Opportunities in the Great Outdoors

Tread Lightly! Honors Champions & Partners at 25th Anniversary Celebration
Tread Lightly! Honors Champions & Partners at 25th Anniversary Celebration
Tread Lightly!
Tread Lightly!

Salt Lake City, UT -(AmmoLand.com)- The national nonprofit Tread Lightly! recognized a selection of individuals, corporations and organizations who have made significant contributions to helping the organization protect and enhance outdoor recreation access through education and stewardship over the last 25 years.

“Since its inception, Tread Lightly! has become a thriving nonprofit organization with materials, programs and services unrivaled in scope, content and purpose,” said Lori McCullough, Tread Lightly!’s executive director. “None of our success would have been possible without the advocacy, counsel, and financial support of many, many individuals and partners. We are thrilled to officially honor a few of them this year.”

The following awards were announced at Tread Lightly!’s 25th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC last week:

Outstanding Agency Partner Awards

James Schwartz: The US Forest Service’s National Program Manager for Outdoor Ethics, James “Jamie” Schwartz, was recognized for his work as an advocate for Tread Lightly! for more than ten years. In his role as advisor to Tread Lightly! on behalf of the Forest Service, he was key in the creation of the Respected Access is Open Access campaign. Schwartz was also crucial to the development and expansion of unprecedented interagency partnerships that will help customize Tread Lightly!’s celebrated RIDE ON campaign in ten additional states in 2016.

Sean Hardwood: Sean Harwood, Trails, Travel Management, Dispersed Recreation Program Lead for the US Forest Service, was honored for his role in expanding Tread Lightly!’s important outdoor ethics campaigns, including Respected Access is Open Access and RIDE ON. Harwood was especially highlighted as a critical factor in the funding and facilitation of ten statewide collaboratives.

Aaron Curtis: The Bureau of Land Management’s Regional Director of Recreation, Aaron Curtis, has personally advocated for Tread Lightly!’s increased involvement in each state in the West. He was also instrumental in the initiation of a soon-to-be-released campaign called Respect and Protect that will aim to address human behavior issues surrounding archeological and paleontological artifacts and sites.

Raymond Suazo: Raymond Suazo, State Director of the Bureau of Land Management’s Arizona State Office, was recognized for his role in developing one of Tread Lightly!’s most successful state partnerships to date. Under Suazo’s leadership, the Respected Access is Open Access in Arizona campaign was launched in 2012 to implement education, stakeholder engagement, and stewardship activities in the Phoenix area to address impacts associated with irresponsible recreational target shooting practices. He has been key in elevating the campaign to be a national model for public-private partnerships promoting responsible use of all types of recreation on public lands.

Founding Member Awards

The following corporations and organizations were part of the original founding partners who helped launch Tread Lightly! 25 years ago. They have continued to fund, support and champion the organization’s cause to this day.

  • Jeep
  • Land Rover
  • American Motorcycle Association
  • Warn Industries
  • ARB 4×4 Accessories
  • International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association
  • Jeep Jamboree USA

Outstanding Partner Awards

Yamaha Motor Corp, USA: Yamaha is Tread Lightly!’s longest running partner in the powersports industry. The company was recognized for its consistent support through dissemination of outdoor ethics to its consumers, board of directors involvement, annual unrestricted contributions, and funding of restricted funds programs—most recently Tread Lightly!’s new 25 for 25 program.

Discount Tire: As one of Tread Lightly!’s newer partners, Discount Tire was honored for its exceptional drive to be involved in all aspects of Tread Lightly!’s cause. Currently Discount Tire contributes annually as an Official Partner, has funded and provided volunteers for projects under the Restoration for Recreation program, offers a special discount to all Tread Lightly! members as part of the member benefit program, donated product for fundraisers, and has sent a representative to serve on the organization’s board of directors.

About Tread Lightly!:

Tread Lightly! is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a national nonprofit organization in October 2015. Founded in 1990 through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, Tread Lightly! promotes responsible outdoor recreation through ethics education and stewardship programs. Tread Lightly! has more than 70 official partners from various industries and is likely the nation’s only non-profit holding MOUs with every federal and state agency in the U.S. Tread Lightly!’s diverse member base enjoys a wide range of outdoor activities including hunting, angling, camping, boating, biking, four-wheeling and much more.

Become a Tread Lightly! partner or member today and start supporting access, education and stewardship at www.treadlightly.org.