Dear Senators Murkowski and Merkley and Representatives Simpson and Pingree:

Federal land management agencies are facing a crisis that will have major ramifications on recreation access and experiences across 640 million acres of U.S. public lands. The undersigned running race owners and event directors are alarmed by the ongoing staff and budget reductions of public lands agencies and are deeply concerned about the resulting impacts to our businesses, the economies of our surrounding communities, and the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy in the U.S. as a whole.

Running races on public lands are highly visible events that highlight the intersection of this economically vital recreation activity with some of the country’s most treasured federal public lands. As the fastest growing outdoor recreation sport in the country, trail races occur on U.S. Forest Service lands and other federal public lands across the United States and bring hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to these highly valued landscapes. Each trail race contributes significantly to the local community’s economy, and often brings the added benefit of extending tourism into the off-season for ski towns like Mammoth Lakes, CA, outdoor recreation hubs like Flagstaff, AZ, and remote communities such as towns on the Olympic Peninsula, WA.

The recent mass firing of over 5,700 public servants from the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management is extremely alarming to runners and the entire outdoor recreation community. Federal employees at our land agencies are integral to making events on our public lands such as competitive trail races possible not only through their work to ensure that trails are safe to use and facilities are maintained, but also by assisting with the special use permitting and monitoring process required for major events. 

The fired workers within federal land agencies include search and rescue teams and emergency responders, wilderness rangers, trail and facility maintenance crews, permit administrators, and other key staff. Without essential staffing, public lands will suffer from reduced access, degraded infrastructure, and slower emergency response times. The impacts will directly affect our ability as business owners to provide positive recreational experiences to our customers and communities. 

As the owners and organizers of race events across the United States—including many on federally managed public lands—we are very concerned about how these staff reductions will impact our businesses, the economies of our surrounding communities, and the country’s $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy. We ask you to prioritize taking any and all actions available to you to restore lost jobs and intervene with the administration as necessary to ensure that agencies are adequately staffed to provide for public access, protect our public lands, and fulfill their missions.

Sincerely,

[Alphabetical order by last name]

Scott Abbott, California International Marathon and others
Fred Abramowitz, Run, Rabbit, Run
Randy Accetta, Grand Canyon Trail Half Marathon & 5k and others
Christine Adams, Carlsbad Marathon and others
Jen Adelmann, America's Finest City Half Marathon and others
Steven Aderholt, Cocodona 250 and others
Jake Anderson, Three Days of Syllamo and others
Jesse Armijo, Mt. Taylor 50k and others
Eli Asch, Twin Cities Twilight Relays
Cadence Atchinson, Maine Track Club Turkey Trot
Kimberly Aubuchon, Prickly Pear 50k and others
Bryant Baker, Rim to River 100 and others
Kat Baker, Mount Laguna Trail Marathon
Victor Ballesteros, Tamalpa Headlands 50k
Cindy Baswell, Spa Running Festival
Tom Besson, Forever Young Races
Brad Bishop, Never Summer 100k/60k and others
Tia Bodington, Miwok 100k Trail Race
Dee Boeck, Thanksgiving Day 5k
Eric Bone, Middle Fork Trail Run and others
Terry Borneman, Run Past Cancer
Magda Boulet, Miwok 100k Trail Race
Skip Brand, Lake Sonoma Race Series
Porter Bratten, Devil's Gulch and others
Daniel Bucci, Rainier to Ruston Relay and others
Daniel Button, Boise Front Trail Runs and others
John Bysiewicz, New Haven Road Race and others
Patrick Caron, TARC Trail Series
Julian Carr, Cirque Series
Kirk Cherep, Knobstone 50 and others
Chris Cloyd, Point Mariah Trail Marathon
Wendy Cloyd, Midnight Sun Run 10k
Ben Cohoon, Market to Market Relay and others
Travis Wright Colopy, Cary Greenways Tour and others
Jessika Coltz, Just a Short Run and others
Austin Corbett, Kahtoola Uphill
Scott Crellin, Cuyamaca 100k Endurance Run
Valerie Denton, Cedro Peak Trail Run
Mark Donovan, Boilermaker and others
Noah Dougherty, Mogollon Monster 100 and others
Peter Downing, Suffer Better Fall Trail Runs and others
Abbey Drake, Canyons Endurance Runs
Cody Draper, Bear 100
Trisha Drobeck, Missoula Marathon and others
Tom Eckelman, Girls on the Run - St. Louis and others
Jennifer Edwards, Big Sur International Marathon and others
Caleb Efta, High Lonesome 100 and others
Mathias Eichler, Beast of Big Creek and others
Luis Escobar, Santa Barbara Nine Trails Endurance Run and others
Kim Field, Running with Bigfoot 8k and others
Robert Fiero, Ghost Train Trail Races
Julie Fingar, Rio Del Lago 100 Mile Endurance Run and others
Kayla Fitzgerald, Hell Hole Hundred and others
Mike Foote, The Rut Mountain Runs and others
Katie Fox, Rock Canyon Half Marathon
Liuda Galinaitis, Twilight Series Pleasant Valley 4 Mile and others
Dale Garland, Hardrock Hundred Endurance Run
Sid Garza-Hillman, Mendocino Coast 50k
Jen Gaynor, Loopy Looper and others
Bob Geiger, Thornton Turkey Trot and others
Jim Gerweck, Boston Buildup Winter Series and others
Justin Grigg, City to Sky Trail Races
Tim Grotenhuis, Smoky Mountain Relay and others
Rachelle Hadley, Lincoln Track Club Spring Forward Run
Sean Harrasser, Dark Divide Trail Races and others
Rusty Harvey, Spirit of Syllamo and others
Keira Henninger, Sean O'Brien Trail Runs and others
Jakob Herrmann, ANF Trail Race 25/50k and others
Nancy Hobbs, Executive Director of American Trail Running Association
Jeff Holman, East Bay Front Runners and Walkers Annual Pride Run and Walk
Kathy Hubel, Pikes Peak Marathon and others
Jeff Huff, HURT 100
Jeremy Humphrey, IMTUF100 and others
Bud James, Park Forest Scenic 10 Mile Run
Renee Janssen, Mt. Hood 50 and others
Tamira Jenlink, Leadville Trail 100 Run and others
Leslie Keener, Running Up For Air Series
Jason Keith, Running Up For Air Moab
Creigh Kelley, Emeritus Race Director
Max King, Bend Marathon and others
Lauren Klein, Canyons Endurance Runs
Jean Knaack, Executive Director of Road Runners Club of America
Aimee Kohler, The Long Run and others
Chris Kostman, Badwater 135 and others
Nick Kovaleski, A Runner's Mind Gobble Wobble
John Lacroix, Silverheels Trail Runs and others
Sandi Lake, Skyway 10k and others
Steve Landau, Catalina State Park Trail Races and others
Ellen Larson, America's Finest City Half Marathon and others
Cliff Lentz, Star City San Bruno Mountain Half Marathon
Kim Levinsky, Wild Goose 100 and others
Dann LG, Laurel Highlands Ultra and others
Jeremy Long, Gorge Waterfalls and others
Gina Lucrezi, Lake Sonoma 50 Mile, Marathon, and Trail Sisters Half Marathon
Bethany Lueck, Bloomsday 12k Run and others
Brendan Madigan, Broken Arrow Skyrace and others
Chuck Magera, Cooper River Bridge Run and others
Terry Majamaki, VALENCIA Trail Race and others
Chris Martin, Forever Young
Eric Mauricette, Bay of Fundy International Marathon and others
Jason McConnell, Capital Peak Ultras
Kevin "Houda" McDonald, TransRockies Run and others
Kelsey McGill, Cline Buttes 3/6/12hr & Last Person Standing
Sean Meissner, Peterson Ridge Rumble and others
Meira Minard, Rothrock Trail Challenge
Brian Mister, Around the Crown 10k and others
Krissy Moehl, Chuckanut 50k
Joseph Moody, Finger Lakes 50s
Stephen Moylan, Run Baby Run
Ruairi Moynihan, Flagstaff Doggie Dash and Buffaloops Ultra
Jess Mullen, Cascade Crest 100 and others
Luke Nelson, Scout Mountain Ultras
Matthew Nelson, AZT North Rim Ramble and others
James Nowicki, Subaru Buffalo 4 Mile Chase and others
Todd Oliver, Whitefish Marathon and others
Colleen O'Neil, Indian Creek Valley Gorge 5k
Nicholas Panebianco, Revenge of the Penguins
Char Parker, Spokane River Run
Amanda Pennington, Elder Creek Night Runs and others
Mary Peterson, GBP Winter Trail Series and others
Stephen Pino, Sandia Mountain Shadows Trail Run and others
Wes Plate, Copper Kings 100
Allison Powell, Montana Meltdown
Heidi Quinn, Hatcher Pass Races and others
Susan Rancourt, Newport Rhode Races and others
Josh Reed, Ultra X Nevada and others
Chris Reese, WRRC Twilight Series
Amy Rusiecki, Vermont 100 Endurance Race and others
Matias Saari, Crow Pass Crossing and others
Mike Scarber, Coyote Two Moon
Adrienne Schaefer, Sunflower Marathon, Half Marathon, & Relay and others
Susie Schmelzer, Kodiak Ultra Marathons and others
Craig Schmidt, Marin Ultra Challenge "The MUC" and others
Emily Schulz, Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon and others
Nathan Schwab, Newton Hills Trail Races and others
Terry Sentinella, Baker Lake 50k and others
Chaz Sheya, Canyons Endurance Runs and others
Jennifer Shultis, Olympic Mountains Trail Races
John Smith, Carlsbad 5000 and others
Maria Smith, Citrus Heritage Run
Scott Sowle, North Bend Trail Fest and others
Jim Stasaitis, Boilermaker and others
Marina Steerman, Missoula Marathon and others
Paul Stofko, Crazy Legs 10k Trail Run and others
Jeff Stoner, The Kook Run and others
Craig Thornley, Western States Endurance Run and Waldo 100k
Brandon Thrower, Mt. Mitchell Heartbreaker 50M/55K and others
Tim Tollefson, mammoth trailfest.
John Trent, Silver State Endurance Runs
Brendan Trimboli, Kennebec Mountain Run
James Varner, Orcas Island 100 Miler and others
Mark Voelker, Path of the Flood Historic Races
Todd Vogel, Bishop High Sierra Ultras
Katie Wallace, Over the Rainbow Runs
Shelly Warner, Wabash Trace Nature Trail Marathon & Half
Daniel Weissauer, Bulldog Ultra and others
Holly West, Lincoln Track Club Spring Forward Run
Charles Weston, Morgan Hill Veterans Day Run
Tom Whitaker, Omaha Marathon and others
Jennifer Wierman, Finger Lakes 50s
Marian Yasuda, HURT 100 and others