Join PNTS on September 29th for a trail protection conversation with experts at the Pacific Crest Trail Association, Ice Age Trail Alliance and Trust for Public Land.
Speakers will discuss the strategies and tools that NGOs and trail groups are using to conserve land and protect their trail.
Attendees will learn about:
- How to diversify funding and stewardship partners in a changing federal landscape
- How private philanthropy can fund protection
- The benefits of closing on smaller properties to reach protection goals
- Types of protection tools including license agreements, handshake agreements and easements
- Owning parcels as an NGO and trail stewardship after protection
- How route planning and parcel analysis open the door to new opportunities
- How the Trust for Public Land’s GIS tools can support parcel analysis
Register Now
Meet the Speakers
Paolo Perrone
Senior Conservation Manager
Pacific Crest Trail Association
Paolo Perrone is the Senior Conservation Manager for the Pacific Crest Trail Association, managing land acquisition along the entirety of the 2,650-mile trail corridor. With nearly twenty years in land conservation, he previously held positions with Trust for Public Land, The Nature Conservancy, and private consultancies. He has a Master’s Degree in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Bachelor’s Degree in Politics from University of California, Santa Cruz. In his spare time, you will find Paolo hiking and surfing near his home in Ventura, California, where he lives with his partner Alexandra and their two dogs Monkey and Chula.
Kevin Thusius
Senior Director of Field Operations
Ice Age Trail Alliance
After receiving his graduate degree in biological sciences, Kevin Thusius began working for a small local land trust before beginning his career with the Ice Age Trail Alliance. After a variety of roles with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, he is now the Senior Director of Field Operations and is responsible for all aspects of the land procurement, trail development and maintenance. For the last 16 year, he has facilitated or executed more than 170 real estate transactions for the benefit of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. He has participated in all aspects of land protection from initial landowner contacts to deal structuring/fundraising to closings and management. He has used a variety of land protection options and worked creatively with landowner and others to ensure that the trail is protected. Outside the office Kevin enjoys his time birding while coaching soccer, hunting and fishing.
J.T. Horn
Senior Director, Trails Initiative
Trust for Public Land
J.T. Horn is the Senior Director of the Trails Initiative at Trust for Public Land where he has worked since 2007. He oversees TPL’s national portfolio of trail projects that transform communities to be healthier, more vibrant places to live, work and visit. These include major urban infrastructure projects with budgets in excess of $1 billion to community trails projects designed to help small towns tap into the recreation economy and advance rural prosperity. J.T. has extensive experience in all aspects of land protection and trail creation and has successfully closed some of the largest conservation projects in the Eastern United States. Prior to Trust for Public Land, he worked for 10 years at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy as the New England Director overseeing 730 miles of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail between Connecticut and Maine. Early in his career he worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club in the White Mountains of New Hampshire including stints as a winter caretaker doing avalanche forecasting and search and rescue on Mount Washington and leading the Camp Dodge Volunteer Trail Crew Program. J.T. is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY with a degree in philosophy.