A New Strategic Plan for the Buckeye Trail Association

If you don't know where you're going, how will you know when you've arrived? And why would anyone go with you?

The Buckeye Trail Association's new Strategic Plan serves as our map for a shared journey. The mission and vision let us talk about why we're here and what we're doing; the plan identifies key steps we need to take to get there. Taken by itself, the plan, mission, and vision is like a guidebook sitting on a shelf: it doesn't do much, until you pick it up and engage with it.

Throughout 2025, a small group of volunteers on the Strategic Plan Committee led an engagement process with Buckeye Trail members. That process served to raise awareness, gather many perspectives, and ensure that the plan began with as comprehensive a view of the landscape as possible. From there, the committee worked to identify themes, spot areas of challenge where growth is needed, and build a plan that distilled everything we learned into a simple, actionable framework for the future.

Along the way, the committee realized that a clearer, simplified mission and vision was needed to ensure projects are aligned with long-term strategy. These updated statements are below.

The new Strategic Plan also introduces five core pillars. These pillars will serve as the foundation for day-to-day operations moving forward, and create a framework for Buckeye Trail committees, teams, and leaders to establish goals through collaboration that will help advance the identified strategic priorities. The bullet points below each numbered pillar serve as starting points, gathered from member input and analysis of the landscape, although we expect them to evolve over time as the Plan moves from vision to reality.

Below is a brief overview of the Buckeye Trail Association's updated Strategic Plan, Mission, and Vision. As leaders and committees get more engaged with implementing the Strategic Plan, more detail will be shared on the BTA website. Stay tuned for more information and updates in 2026.

Our Mission: To improve, promote, and protect Ohio’s Buckeye Trail.

Our Vision: The Buckeye Trail is recognized as a world-class outdoor destination, showcasing Ohio's natural and cultural heritage for all to enjoy.

Our Plan:

1. Cultivate financial support for the Buckeye Trail Association

   • Explore, evaluate, and initiate innovative methods to increase revenue

   • Develop and implement a comprehensive long-term plan to fund the full life cycle of the Buckeye Trail, from land acquisition to ongoing maintenance

   • Engage volunteers, community leaders, members, and partners to advocate for increased public funding and support for the Trail, the BTA, and Our Mission

   • Sustain and augment the Buckeye Trail membership program in collaboration with key stakeholders including individuals, families, businesses, and partners

2. Develop and support a robust community of volunteers and members

   • Offer meaningful opportunities for members, volunteers, and the public to engage and partner with the BTA

   • Communicate and enhance incentives to attract new participants

   • Build out the Volunteer Resource Center with user-friendly ways to access introductory, intermediate, and advanced trainings for activities aligned with Our Mission

   • Support local Chapters and leaders with development of regional initiatives to build engagement, outdoor volunteer opportunities, and community

3. Strengthen Buckeye Trail capacity and capabilities

   • Evaluate and streamline the organization's bylaws and committee structure

   • Develop and implement a robust training and succession plan for key roles

   • Strategically apply administrative, conceptual, and technological tools to support and advance Our Mission

   • Analyze and evaluate Trustee capabilities, and recruit new Board members to match identified needs

   • Prioritize training, certification, and professional growth opportunities for BTA personnel, including staff, Trustees, and volunteer leaders to increase capacity, satisfaction, and effectiveness

4. Inspire connection to the Buckeye Trail

   • Develop and launch an official BTA Trail Angel program

   • Plan and implement BT signage improvements statewide to increase visibility of the Trail

   • Build and strengthen reciprocal relationships with Trail Towns and communities along the Trail to reinforce its positive impact on local economies

   • Explore and prioritize methods to connect new user groups to the Buckeye Trail

5. Protect and promote the Buckeye Trail and the trail corridor

   • Communicate and continue to build a robust maintenance program across the Buckeye Trail, including gap analysis and connecting local leaders to needed resources

   • Enhance trail protection on the ground through volunteer education and training

   • Prioritize permanent preservation efforts to provide a world-class trail experience, including access to unique landmarks, landscapes, and sites

   • Evaluate, prioritize, and implement opportunities to move the Trail off-road

   • Monitor and engage with programs, initiatives, and developments around the state that impact the Buckeye Trail and the hiker experience

If you have any questions, or would like to be involved in any part of implementing the Buckeye Trail Association's mission moving forward, please reach out! The BTA is guided and brought to life by the vision, dedication, and passion of volunteers and hikers just like you. Take a look at the opportunities and pitch in today!