FORT Board President Bruce Sawhill Signs Agreement with EcoAct

Santa Cruz Friends of the Rail & Trail (FORT) fulfilled one of its organizational development goals by formalizing its relationship with Ecology Action (EA). The two groups, one a well established 501©3 non-profit and the other an unincorporated association (what the state of California calls community groups who don’t file papers to become a non-profit organization) have been working collaboratively for several years. On May 16, 2012 Ecology Action’s Board of Directors voted to become the fiscal sponsor of FORT, providing organizational, administrative and staff structure and support to better help the rail and trail group realize its goals.

Friends of the Rail and Trail will retain its independent identity and be formally connected to EA. The fiscal sponsorship is intended to assist FORT in bringing in more management board members, partners and members as public ownership of the 32-mile coastal rail corridor should take place this calendar year. In the upcoming months FORT will be organizing a rail corridor purchase celebration in coordination with the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) who is the lead agency and rail authority for the corridor; providing input and promoting the RTC’s Monterey Bay Scenic Sanctuary Trail Master Planning process which includes the coastal rail trail; and continuing to promote the many benefits of this legacy project for Santa Cruz County.

Click here to read more about FORT’s organizational development plan. For more information regarding Ecology Action visit: http://ecoact.org/