Jon Kachmar, Portland Trails’ new executive director, at Fore River Sanctuary on his first day. He believes the city’s trail network can help solve some of the issues the region is confronting. Drew Johnson / The Forecaster

Portland Trails’ new director sees his role as much more than just providing locals a way to get outdoors. To Jon Kachmar, a long-time Portland resident, trails are an important part of an equitable society.

“Trails, to me, have always been kind of a luxury,” Kachmar, who began the new position on Monday, told The Forecaster. “That could be (because) you’ve just never been exposed to them … It could be something that’s not available because of limited resources or, oftentimes, connected to your zip code and where you live.

“It’s a huge equity issue.”

Kachmar is taking over for Kara Wooldrik, who served as executive director of Portland Trails from 2012-2022. He will work with Interim Executive Director Dana Trotman to ease into the position while he wraps up his duties as executive director of the Eastern Trail Alliance.

Portland Trails oversees more than 70 miles of trails throughout the city, including the new mile-long Clark Brook Trail that connects Portland and Westbrook.

More and equitable access to trails can help solve many of the issues we face today, Kachmar said, from traffic to carbon emissions to health and affordable housing.

“Being able to connect places through trails and alternative transportation, that allows more room for affordable housing,” he said, and trails can offer shorter and quicker ways to commute and run errands, which is especially helpful for those without automobiles.

Working together is also a key to truly delivering on all of these goals, he said.

“I tend to be very focused on partnership building because I think it has a lot of value and it can really help with equity,” Kachmar said. “I like to look in non-traditional partners because it tends to open up doors that we didn’t think of or that just weren’t available.”

Paul Botticello, president of the organization’s board of trustees, said these were some of the qualities and shared goals they were looking for in an executive director.

“He is a proven leader in this arena,” Botticello told The Forecaster. “He has spent his career working on conservation, on the betterment of communities, on trails. His commitment to Portland and the Greater Portland area is impressive.”

In addition to his three years directing the Eastern Trail Alliance, Kachmar serves on Portland’s Land Bank Commission and is also a former chairperson of the board of harbor commissioners and the waterfront alliance, and member of the the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission.

“I have a fair amount of civic background in Portland and have lived here for decades now,” he said. “It just seemed like an opportunity to really be able to connect people and communities to trails for multiple benefits.”

For more information on Portland Trails, such as events, trail maps, and how to support the organization, visit trails.org.