Land Rover Monmouth Reps TREAD LIGHTLY! Campaign at Outdoor Adventure Expo

Land Rover Monmouth Advocates Off-Road Ethics with TREAD LIGHTLY!

PHOTO BY L. CAMPBELL

By JOSEPH V. KUCA

This past weekend staffers from Land Rover Monmouth attended the Monmouth County Park System’s annual Outdoor Adventure Expo at Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold, NJ.  The Land Rover Monmouth trio volunteered their time to represent the TREAD LIGHTLY!^® organization and to promote its principles of ethics, education and stewardship for all four-wheel enthusiasts who take to the less-trodden trails of America to enjoy outdoor recreation.  Land Rover USA is a founding member of Tread Lightly!^®.

Tread Lightly!’s mission is to promote responsible recreation through outdoor ethics education and stewardship, focusing on off-road motorized recreation.  Tread Lightly!’s educational message, along with its training and restoration initiatives are designed to instill an ethic of responsibility in outdoor enthusiasts and the industries that serve them.  Tread Lightly!’s goal is to balance the needs of the people who enjoy 4x4 outdoor recreation with everyone’s need to maintain a healthy environment.  So, off-road enthusiasts attending the Outdoor Adventure Expo this weekend had a great opportunity with the folks of Land Rover Monmouth and Tread Lightly! to learn more skills in order to be proactive and promote good land stewardship.

This year the Monmouth County Park System’s Outdoor Adventure Expo saw a record turnout.  Nearly 5,000 visitors attended, one of the largest turnouts for any Expo since this annual event began taking place, this according to MCPS Program Coordinator and Expo Director, Michele Clampffer.

Once again, the Jersey Shore Chapter of Trout Unlimited held a well-attended Children’s Fishing Derby during the Expo.  In addition to the popular Children’s Fishing Derby, area residents attending the Expo were invited to try out kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and the Park System’s own 25-foot climbing wall.  The Expo featured a variety of free lectures, demonstrations, clinics, and on-site nature hikes, led by MCPS staff and volunteers, as well as featuring a very popular reptile show.

Members of local outdoor adventure clubs were also on hand to answer questions and to give advice, as well as representatives from a good number of companies that sell outdoor recreation equipment such as Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS), Garden State Rocks and the Sierra Club to name just a few.

The Monmouth County Park System is celebrating its golden anniversary of keeping the county green and livable, since the Board of Chosen Freeholders created the first county park in 1960. Today, the Park System has grown to over 30 sites totaling more than 14,500 acres and offers approximately 4,000 recreation programs and activities, making it the perfect place to come outside and play.

For more information on the Monmouth County Park System, visit www.monmouthcountyparks.com or, you can call the Park System at (732) 842-4000.

To learn more about Tread Lightly! visit www.treadlightly.org or, call 1-800-966-9900.