BMTA Membership

Membership fees and donations are the primary source of funds for the Benton MacKaye Trail Association. When you join you are helping to support a budget that last year included over $6,500 for:  tools; materials for steps, footbridges, signs and resting benches; as well as safety gear for volunteers.

When you join or renew, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are playing a critical role in building and maintaining the Benton MacKaye Trail. When you volunteer, you become part of an association of people who love the trail and love the outdoors.

To join, go to the Membership page or simply click here Join Now. You can choose the membership category that fits your needs.

$20 Individual – one person

$30 Family — two adults/children under 21

$15 Student – full-time at an accredited institution

$15 Retired – 60 and over, retired from full time employment

$50 Business/Corporate Partner

$20 Individual – one person

$30 Family — two adults/children under 21

$15 Student – full-time at an accredited institution

$15 Retired – 60 and over, retired from full time employment

$50 Business/Corporate Partner (Was Business/Corporate Member)

Membership is on a calendar year basis from January 1 to December 31. You can renew beginning October 1 for the following year. We encourage all members to renew by December 31. This allows the board to develop a budget for the coming year.

Yes, you can join at any time. Although your membership is on a calendar year basis and will expire on December 31, you have the satisfaction of knowing your dues go to support the trail NOW!

New members or renewing members who join after October 1 of any year are granted membership for the remainder of that year as well as for the following year.

Your benefit is knowing your dues go to support efforts to protect, preserve and maintain the BMT.

Business/Corporate Partners’ logos are on BMTA’s website with a link to the member’s website. The logos and links also appear quarterly in the BMTA Newsletter which is emailed monthly (2,400 subscribers).

We accept the following methods of payment:

— Credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express.

— Bank issued debit cards from Visa and MasterCard.

— PayPal — Use your PayPal account without sharing your bank or credit card details.

— By Check

The Benton MacKaye Trail store has T-Shirts and other trail-related items available for purchase at any time – Go to the Trail Store. If you volunteer 30 or more hours a year you will receive a 30-Hour Maintainer T-Shirt as a small token of our appreciation. (Qualifying hours include hours for Trail Maintenance as well as hours for participating in Publicity events.) If you volunteer 30 or more hours to help with administrative project, you will receive a 30-Hour Volunteer T-Shirt as a token of our appreciation. (Qualifying hours include hours for the Newsletter, website, Mail Chimp emails, financial records, secretarial records, etc.).

Yes, please complete the Membership Form and send it with your check made payable to Benton MacKaye Trail Association (with the notation “Membership” in the memo line) to:

BMTA

PO Box 6

Cherry Log, GA 30522

Renewal notices are emailed to you beginning October 1.

Yes, you can make a membership payment as early as October 1. You will be granted membership for the remainder of the current year as well as for the following year.

Contact us at membership@bmta.org.

Yes, but in order to make it easier for you, and for us, we have eliminated this form for online payments. Now all you have to do is click our online button. We do request you use the form when paying by check.

Your membership is on a calendar year basis and is good from January 1 to December 31.

Renewal notices are emailed to you beginning October 1 or you can simply go to the website and renew.

Contact us HERE

Printing and mailing membership cards would add additional operating expenses. Since we are committed to maximizing membership fees to help maintain the trail, no cards are issued.

Yes, make a donation of $50, $100, $250, $500 — or any amount over $50 — and you will receive an Individual or Family Membership for this year.

As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, donations are deductible to the degree permitted by law. Our EIN Number is 58-1428009.

Donate Here

Membership fees make up approximately 30% of our funding. Effective October 1, 2024, we are offering Partnerships for businesses and corporations. To learn more, go to Partners. In addition, we receive donations and occasional grants. Join or Renew HERE

Simply go to the Renew button on the membership page and rejoin. You can do this any time during the year.

For fiscal 2023, the Association had over 897 members with plans to double the number of members in the next five years.

Yes, we partner with the National Forest Service, National Park Service, as well as a number of state, county and city governments. We also work with other environmental organizations, trail associations and hiking clubs such as the American Hiking Club Volunteer Vacations crews, YCC, SAWS, etc.

Trail Maintenance Partners are groups and organizations (formal and informal) who maintain a particular section of our trail or otherwise contribute substantially to the construction or maintenance of the BMT. We recognize these Partner organizations in our list of section maintainers, and communicate with them through an individual they designate as their leader / liaison.  Trail Maintenance Partner leaders / liaisons must be BMTA members in good standing, trained as are all individual section maintainers or Blaze Team members, and they are expected to communicate that training to their team on each work trip.  A Trail Maintenance Partner leader / liaison (BMTA Member) must be present on all work trips to sign up all attendees on the work trip, give a safety talk and follow up with hours, etc., as with any group maintenance trip.

Trail Maintenance Partner organizations need not pay annual membership dues as a group or club, but we encourage individuals in those organizations to maintain individual memberships in the category that fits their various situations.  Any one of those members also wishing to serve as leader / liaison will need to be trained by appropriate officers of the BMTA.

For additional information, contact the GA Maintenance Director or the TN/NC Maintenance Director.

As a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, donations are deductible to the degree permitted by law. Our EIN Number is 58-1428009. The association is governed by a board elected by and through the membership on an annual basis.

We don’t want to see you go, but if you no longer want to receive our email communications, please go to “Unsubscribe” in the email and you will immediately be removed from our list.