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(April 10, 2013 - Phoenix, AZ) - American Trails will host the first International Trails Symposium April 14-17, 2013 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. The event is the largest gathering of trail planners, builders, managers, and advocates in the world. Public events surrounding the conference will start Saturday with a Cyclovia in downtown Fountain Hills and on Sunday the 25,000-square-foot exhibit hall featuring the newest and best technologies, planning services, products, and equipment in trail building will be open to the public from 2-5:00 pm. Training for those attending starts Sunday with opening remarks Sunday night by Arizona's outdoor recreation leaders.

The Trails Symposium program features an international panel of experts from many countries. They will focus their remarks on tourism and economic development with a final presention of the International Trails Award. Presenter trainers and attendees are coming from South Korea, China, Australia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Japan, Columbia, France, and a US Territory, Puerto Rico.

Educational programs include the new in-depth training on a variety of topics plus an additional 50 concurrent sessions on every aspect of trails and greenways. Educational mobile workshops will highlight cutting-edge local projects and every type of trail. Over 100 exhibitors will showcase the latest in technologies, tools, and services for putting sustainable trails on the ground.

This International Trails Symposium will generate more than a million dollars for economic development for the Fountain Hills areas. In addition, a Legacy Trail will be built around the Yavapai Nation's facilities by the Professional Trail Builders Association of America throughout the conference as part of the training for trail builders to watch and participate. That trail will serve the nation as a transportation corridor and recreational trail for tribal members and their guests.

The location for the Symposium is in Fountain Hills, the high Sonoran desert just east of Phoenix where the wildflowers are in full bloom. Hosts for the Symposium are the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation whose Radisson hotel with nearby hiking, the Verde River, and views of desert saguaros and cactus. The days are expected to average 88 degrees and 65 degrees in the evening.

Registration is still open for the conference. We hope you'll join us for this historic conference as American Trails celebrates 25 years of working on behalf of all trail interests.

Get all the facts and register online at AmericanTrails.org/2013. For more information contact symposium@americantrails.org or call (530) 547-2060.

VIEW AND DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE PRINTED PROGRAM AT: http://www.AmericanTrails.org/2013