Dear Member,

Get out there and bring a friend on a hike!   

I want to thank you for your efforts in furthering our mission of providing, preserving, protecting, and promoting recreational hiking trails and hiking opportunities in Pennsylvania.  Each of you make a difference on Pennsylvania hiking trails and hikers.  

Our 40th anniversary KTA Trail Care program in 2024 marches on into fall with many more opportunities to give back to the trails you love so much.  Plan to participate in one or more of the remaining trail cares - even if it’s for only one day.  Check out our website for details.

We are looking for nominations for individuals and clubs for Certificates of Achievement, Volunteer of the Year, Club of the Year, and the Citation Award for lifetime achievement.  Nominations for these awards are due by September 15.  Surely there are great things happening by our volunteers and clubs that we wish to recognize.

Make sure you plan to submit for your hiking award or encorage others who have completed hiking trails to submit for their award. The hiking awards are also listed on our website.  

Your gift to our Keystone Trails Endowment fund this year will make a positive impact in furthering our mission.  In particular, toward member Club mini grants that have been making an impact in the local clubs on various trails.  Plan to make a gift now.  Recognition of the gifts will be made at the Fall Annual Meeting.  

Be sure to register now for our KTA Fall Annual Meeting will be nestled among the many hikes and activities at the Keystone  Hiking & Outdoor Weekend in the Susquehanna Riverlands of Pennsylvania on October 18-20. This will be a great family event.  Plan to sign up and bring a friend.  

At our fall membership meeting we will recognize individuals who have completed hiking awards throughout the year so please be sure to submit your applications which are available on our website.  We will recognize those who have attended our Trail Cares throughout the year.  There will be recognitions for our Keystone Trail Endowment donors, Certificates of Achievement, Volunteer of the Year, Club of the Year, and the KTA Citation Award for Lifetime Achievement recipient.  .  

On behalf of the Board and the membership I want to thank our Executive Director, Brook, and all our staff for the wonderful job they are doing to further our mission. 

For the trails and those who wander on them!  See you on the Trail!

Thanks
Wayne E. Gross
President, Board of Directors 
Keystone Trails Association
The Statewide voice of Pennsylvania Hikers

KTA's nominations committee has nominated Ezra Thrush, Pradip Bhatnagar and Kathy Borrell for KTA's board. Voting will take place at the fall board meeting during the Keystone Hiking and Outdoors Weekend in the Susquehanna Riverlands, PA. Get to know Ezra, Pradip and Kathy below!

Pradip Bhatnagar

"I was born in India in a small town. After finishing my M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry, I came to the US and obtained my MS and a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Did postdoctoral research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas and became an Associate Research Professor at the  University of California San Francisco. Joined Beckman Instrument for couple of years. This company merged with SmithKline Beckman (which is now GSK). The company moved me to the Philadelphia area. After a career of  two and a half  decades,  that included six months of living in Oslo Norway and Linz, Austria, I moved back to India to head research for Ranbaxy and Daiichi Sankyo- India. Retired after 8 years and returned back to my home in Exton, PA. Since my return, I have been trying to get a small biotech company (focused on Brain Tumors) off the ground. 
I did not have much opportunity to enjoy outdoor activity during my professional life. However, in 2018 I joined Chester County Trail Club  and currently serve on the Board of Chester County Trail club as a liaison for KTA. Now I am hooked on hiking and backpacking and trail maintenance. Beside hiking on local trails in the south-eastern Pennsylvania, managed to do about 400 miles of AT, 36 miles of End-to-End Brandywine trail, 26 miles of Blue Marsh Trail, Allegheny Front Trail and Bucktail Path, Loyalsock Trail, Old Logger’s Path and trails in Allegheny National Forest.  I have assisted in maintaining and fixing Brandywine Trail, Horse Shoe Trail, Mid-County Trail, Struble Trail and Marsh Creek State Park trails  
I have been living in Exton, PA for the last 36 years.  I am lucky to have a wonderful personal life with my wife Pat and two daughters (grown up now) Priti and Pooja. I am proud to say that my older daughter Priti had been  a test pilot for the US Navy for twelve years and currently flies for National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and my younger daughter is a dedicated Occupational Therapist helping senior citizens and special-need children in overcoming complexities in their lives." 


Ezra P. Thrush

Ezra P. Thrush, MPA serves as Senior Advisor for PennFuture. In this role, using 15 years' experience, he advocates for strong environmental, energy, conservation, and agriculture policy. Specifically, Ezra leads federal work including the Farm Bill and appropriations, and regulatory, solar, electric vehicles, democracy, and conservation funding issues, among others, in Pennsylvania. He has served in nonprofit and private government affairs, legislative and executive branch, fundraising and donor development, board director, and political campaign roles and holds close relationships with policymakers and key stakeholders from both major parties in both Harrisburg & Washington.
Before returning to PennFuture, Ezra served as the Shapiro Administration’s first Policy Director at the PA Department of Environmental Protection. There, he worked closely with the Office of Governor Josh Shapiro and the DEP executive staff to advance a host of issues including environmental justice, permitting, clean and renewable energy, watersheds and drinking water, mining, the oil & gas program, air quality, PFAS, climate, and infrastructure.
Previously, Ezra served as PennFuture’s Vice President of Government Affairs, among several other roles in campaigns, outreach, and advocacy. In 2022, Thrush was instrumental in securing a historic $900 million increase in funding for clean water and energy efficiency investments, benefiting Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth. Because of this, Ezra was appointed to the Shapiro-Davis Transition Team and its Energy & Environment Committee where he advised campaign and administration officials. Ezra was named to City and State PA’s 2023 Pennsylvania Government Relations Power 100 List, denoting the most influential lobbyists in the Commonwealth.
Ezra has a widely respected expertise on Pennsylvania's environmental policy, climate, energy, agriculture, and conservation issues. His extensive policy knowledge and understanding of on-the-ground issues have effectively advanced environmental progress across the state, all while forming close working relationships with legislators, executive branch officials, policymakers, and stakeholders of both major parties as well as federal and municipal officials. 
Ezra is particularly proud of his background presenting testimony to Congress multiple times, drafting and advancing the REVIVE the CCC Act with Senator Bob Casey, securing clean energy and conservation investments in the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and two iterations of the federal Farm Bill. At the state level, Ezra helped pass legislation to establish the Commonwealth’s new Clean Streams Fund, historic increases for the Growing Greener program, alongside numerous clean energy and climate policies and racked up several decisive defensive wins.
Thrush holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University, concentrating in public policy and nonprofit management. Ezra continues to regularly lecture at local and regional colleges and universities on these issues. He is an avid outdoorsman and active volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, National Outdoor Leadership School, and the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics. And for fun, Ezra enjoys fly-fishing, golfing, Orioles baseball, live music & theatre, hiking, camping, and spending time with his rescue dog, nephews, and family.

Kathy Borrell:

"I've lived in Chester County, PA all my life. Growing up, we were always outside playing. This helped steer me towards getting a degree in Health & Physical Education and working in the field of education.
About 19 years ago, feeling a need to be outdoors more, I joined the Chester County Trail Club. I'm presently their Club President along with being the Wednesday Hike Coordinator. I lead hikes, do trail maintenance, and participate in their Adopt-A-Highway program. I've been the club trail master (most miles hiked in a year), 12 times, and in June 2022, I achieved a club milestone of 25,000 miles. Aside from KTA, I hold memberships in the AMC, ATC, GMC, the Boy Scouts of America (as a scouter and merit badge counselor) and my church.
Hiking has taken me on numerous adventures, here and abroad. Overseas trips have included Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, New Zealand, Austria, Patagonia, but the highlight was going to and summitting Mt. Kilimanjaro. I've been to many of the U.S. National Parks (Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Olympic, Rainer, Yosemite and others) but my favorite trails have always been the ones in PA.
I've earned 5 of the KTA Hiking Awards and presently working towards finishing the State Forest Trails Award. I've completed the AT, Long Trail, Susquehannock Trail System, Mid-State Trail and numerous other PA trails. Several years ago, I started coming to KTA weekends, and instantly felt welcomed into the fold of like-minded hiking individuals."