balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,527 
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 30, 2022 7:58:08 GMT -8
Most of you know that I spend a few days, or sometimes weeks, doing volunteer work in the National Forests. I've done this in the Mokelumne Wilderness, the Sierra National Forest, and Desolation Wilderness, and I've never had a bad day. But enough about me. This is about you. Are you interested in joining a crew of really great people who take the time to pay back some of the pleasure they find in the Sierra? I hope so. The Mokelumne Wilderness is looking for more volunteers. What, you might ask, does that actually entail? Volunteers do all sorts of things that assist rangers in managing the wilderness. Those activities include: Conducting wilderness patrol Issuing wilderness permits Educating visitors on wilderness ethics, regulations & Leave No Trace Principles Informing visitors of trail conditions and hazards Performing trail maintenance and construction with hand tools Assisting in wilderness training & education events Conducting wilderness impact monitoring surveys, and Restoring impacted sites And you don't have to do it all. Volunteers are encouraged to choose the activities that best suit their interests and abilities. I love to do trail work, and to interact with other hikers. But some folks prefer to issue permits, or assist in education events. It all needs to get done. Please drop me a note to let me know that you're interested, and I'll get you connected to the people who can make it happen. Heck, we'll even teach you how to pronounce Mokelumne. And you get to tell people on the trail that you're doing more than just hiking. You're making it better for everyone. Here's a link to get you started: www.backpackthesierra.com/contact |
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rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685 
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Post by rebeccad on Aug 30, 2022 18:03:11 GMT -8
I’ll ask my question here, since I might not be the only one wondering: is it enough to maybe have one or two chances/year to get out there? I don’t live in the area anymore, but the idea is appealing. Or would it be better to hunt up a local trail (I’m sure there must be some WA trails that also need help  ) |
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balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,527
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 31, 2022 5:51:30 GMT -8
I’ll ask my question here, since I might not be the only one wondering: is it enough to maybe have one or two chances/year to get out there? I don’t live in the area anymore, but the idea is appealing. Or would it be better to hunt up a local trail (I’m sure there must be some WA trails that also need help ) Of course, everything helps. The advantage in the Mokelumne is that we have a list of tasks and areas that have been identified for various needs, and we have a local ranger who is committed to helping volunteers get involved. |
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Post by cweston on Aug 31, 2022 15:09:21 GMT -8
Yeah. Approaching retirement, I have very few regrets in life. But one that I do have is not volunteering and/or working in the wilderness, somehow, when I was young and lived in Seattle. Now, I live too far away to be of much use in any mountain wilderness area: I couldn’t commit to being there more than a few days a year. But this is definitely one of the things I’d love to be able to do in retirement. TrailElder has been doing this sort of work at Eagles Nest Wilderness in CO and may have something to add here. |
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Nov 7, 2022 6:29:19 GMT -8
Sorry, crew. Thanks for the tag, cweston, which I just saw. I'm sorry to be MIA from this forum this season. My involvement in our Wilderness Alliance is in some part to blame! I'll tell you my story on a separate post, in case you are interested, but I'd say first: What a great message and invite from balzaccom. Sounds like you have done lots of good Wilderness stewardship work there. I'm really a neophyte, but I've gone all-in in the past two years and have loved it and learned a lot. My two adult daughters have become involved as well, and really enjoy the work. If anyone wants to get involved in stewardship work for their local Wilderness Areas, there is probably a Wilderness Alliance of volunteers connected to them. A source to find them would be the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance, which is basically the alliance of alliances, and provides funding and other support to us. In Colorado, nearly every federally protected Wilderness Area has a volunteer alliance and we all communicate to share best practices and -- before COVID -- to fellowship from time to time. We are organizing a meeting for 2023 now. (Maybe we should start a space for Wilderness volunteer work on the forum?) There are lots of volunteer opportunities, of course, for non-Wilderness open spaces as well. I agree that all are welcome, every bit helps, and the experience of just doing a day project is very memorable even if you don't have time to do more or regular access to the areas. Our group, Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance, looks out after Eagles Nest, Ptarmigan, and Holy Cross WAs in central Colorado. I'm the chair this year -- which has been an intense amount of work, I don't recommend! But one of the things I worked on was adding to our coverage the White River NF (southern half) of Flat Tops Wilderness, which was not getting any attention, though it gets a lot of hunting impact in particular. The northern part in Routte NF is being covered by another alliance out of Steamboat Springs to the north. The Flat Tops are known as "The Cradle of Wilderness" because that's where Arthur Carhart came back from a survey to develop Trapper's Lake and said, "This place should not be developed, it should be preserved." It's meaningful to me to be a part of carrying that forward. |
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Sept 2, 2023 6:35:26 GMT -8
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Sept 2, 2023 6:38:41 GMT -8
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Post by absarokanaut on Sept 2, 2023 7:39:18 GMT -8
Who hooked her in the snozz with a MEps # 3? Just kidding, hope you have a COLOSSAL stick. Thank you for your work.
I grew up summers horse outfitting up here on the southern half of Greater Yellowstone. Always saddened by !@#$ in better tent spots, etc.
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RumiDude
Trail Wise!
Marmota olympus
Posts: 2,361
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Post by RumiDude on Sept 2, 2023 8:17:36 GMT -8
Not to crash a party, but trail volunteers are needed almost universally. That is, you can find almost anywhere that has trails a way to volunteer to work. Sometimes finding the place that suits your schedule, gifts/abilities, and in turn motivates and brings satisfaction may take a bit of trial and error, but it is worth it in my opinion. State parks, national parks, local urban trails, as well as the usual trail maintenance orgs all provide places to plug yourself in as a volunteer.
Rumi
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Sept 4, 2023 5:57:34 GMT -8
Not to crash a party, but trail volunteers are needed almost universally. That is, you can find almost anywhere that has trails a way to volunteer to work. Sometimes finding the place that suits your schedule, gifts/abilities, and in turn motivates and brings satisfaction may take a bit of trial and error, but it is worth it in my opinion. State parks, national parks, local urban trails, as well as the usual trail maintenance orgs all provide places to plug yourself in as a volunteer. 100%. I see that as the top-line message of this thread. It is rewarding and fun work. Meaningful to give back after decades of using. |
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balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
Posts: 4,527
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Post by balzaccom on Sept 7, 2023 19:23:05 GMT -8
Not to crash a party, but trail volunteers are needed almost universally. That is, you can find almost anywhere that has trails a way to volunteer to work. Sometimes finding the place that suits your schedule, gifts/abilities, and in turn motivates and brings satisfaction may take a bit of trial and error, but it is worth it in my opinion. State parks, national parks, local urban trails, as well as the usual trail maintenance orgs all provide places to plug yourself in as a volunteer. 100%. I see that as the top-line message of this thread. It is rewarding and fun work. Meaningful to give back after decades of using. As the OP, I can assure you that is exactly the point of my message! |
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RumiDude
Trail Wise!
Marmota olympus
Posts: 2,361
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Post by RumiDude on Sept 8, 2023 13:10:09 GMT -8
Ok, aside from trail work and such, there are also lots of things that a person can volunteer to do that add value to society as well as to oneself. Becoming a volunteer reader partner in schools, libraries, and for the blind is really a great gift to the world. Sometimes it requires hoops to jump through such as a background check, but once completed it opens up a lot of opportunities.
Rumi
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Jan 22, 2024 6:09:23 GMT -8
Not sure this link will work here, but I thought of this thread in relation to a film I just finished producing about our wilderness alliance, promoting the work...Please let me know if you are able to view it. It's such a large file, you will have to download the film (3:30) via this link. But I hope you find it worth the trouble! we.tl/t-sYwZr7WXZg |
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Jan 22, 2024 6:21:02 GMT -8
This film will premiere as part of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival we host in Breckenridge every year as an advocacy and fundraising event. It will be a call to action and invitation to get involved in the work. We will also use all of the content we got from the filmmaker -- video and stills -- for our website, social media, etc. One of the challenges in making this film is that we could not use video in our Wilderness Areas! |
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Post by marmotstew on Jan 23, 2024 8:42:45 GMT -8
I haven’t watched it yet. Interesting, why couldn’t you use wilderness area in it?
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