Santa Fe, NM—Close to one hundred people gathered on Museum Hill on Sunday afternoon, January 27, to honor and remember State Trails Coordinator Jessica Terrell who was killed in a car accident on January 9. Among those present were her mother Judy and brother Chad, both of Wilmington, Ohio; State Parks Director Dave Simon, State Representative Nathan Cote, Superintendent Sharon Cook of the National Park Service and Lisa D Madsen of the Public Lands Interpretive Association.

Jessica was posthumously honored with the 2008 State Parks Director’s Award, presented to her mother by Director Dave Simon. In recognition of Jessica’s accomplishments during her brief, two-year tenure as State Trails Coordinator, the New Mexico House of Representatives issued an official Letter of Condolences, presented to her mother by State Representative Nathan Cote, sponsor of the letter.

Guests were invited to bring a rock to the memorial, to be included in a trailhead cairn sculpture which will mark an as yet unselected Jessica Terrell Trail somewhere in New Mexico. More than a third of those present contributed items for the cairn including rocks from the Grand Canyon, the Pacific Coast, Jessica’s favorite state park in Missouri, the banks of the Rio Grande as well as a Zuni bear fetish and Jessica’s hiking boots.

Director Simon recalled Jessica’s last day at work as being full, wonderful and typical of the complete life Jessica led. As evidenced by the attendance at the memorial and by the many recollections of Jessica, it was a life that will be remembered by all who knew her.—Stephen G Maurer

It is with great sadness that we report the death of South Team member Jessica Terrell who was killed in a tragic automobile accident on January 9th when her vehicle skidded on ice and onto the path of an oncoming semi truck on NM Highway 550.

The road that led Jessica from Missouri to New Mexico began during the summer of 2002 when she, as a member of the American Frontiers South Team, traversed the great public lands of the Southwest from the Mexican border to northern Utah. It was during those unforgettable two months that she fell in love with public lands and became determined to move to the West. Her dream finally came true in 2006 when she became State Trail Coordinator for the New Mexico State Parks System and moved to Santa Fe.

Our public lands have lost a passionate advocate. We, who have been fortunate to know her, lost a dear friend.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the New Mexico State Parks System, P.O. Box 1147, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504.

Celebrating the fifth anniversary of American Frontiers, Public Lands Interpretive Association has created an online slideshow about the history of America’s Public Domain. Titled The Geography of Freedom: A Brief History of America’s Public Lands, the slideshow was conceived as a legacy project of American Frontiers: A Public Lands Journey. “Our goal was to create an interactive media overview of the history and benefits of public lands,” said Stephen G Maurer, project director. “A rich, multimedia environment was chosen as the delivery method, rather than a textual exposition,” explained Maurer, “in order to engage a larger audience who may not have had prior interest in the subject of public lands.”

Funding for the project was provided by the New Mexico Humanities Council, Public Lands Interpretive Association, and the sponsors of American Frontiers. Geography of Freedom was designed to become a permanent part of PLIA’s website at www.publiclands.orgg/visitorcenter/slideshow It is also available as a free PDF download or CD.