Volunteer trail maintenance program broadens horizons
By Alex Wilson 09/10/2009
Popular trails in the Los Padres National Forest are maintained by dedicated volunteers, and a program that’s traditionally taught Boy Scouts the necessary skills is expanding its reach to the general public this year.
Trail Boss classes are held at the Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center on Highway 33, eight miles north of Ojai, which has greatly expanded educational programming in recent years and has become a hub of forest-related activity.
The Trail Boss program includes two sessions, with the first classroom session on Sept. 19 focused on things like first aid and proper brush clearing techniques, according to course director Gordon Hemphill.
“We teach anybody who’s willing to come to two different classes, the first one being all indoor basic trail maintenance, the tools, safety and first-aid equipment they should be carrying, wearing and all that kind of stuff,” says Hemphill.
The second class on Oct. 17 involves hands-on experience on a local trail. “We’ll go out and actually work on the second session, and the trainees will actually physically work on a trail. We use the Wheeler Gorge Nature Trail across the road here to do that,” says Hemphill.
The program has taught proper trail maintenance techniques to people who go on to projects with a regular trail maintenance program organized by the U.S. Forest Service the first Saturday of every month.
About 75 percent of the work on popular local trails, including Gridley, Rose Valley Falls and Cozy Dell, is performed by volunteers, and Ojai Ranger District Wilderness Trails Manager Heidi Anderson says their work is crucial to keeping trails open to the public.
“As far as our front country trails, they have a significant impact,” says Anderson. “Being chaparral country, the trails get overgrown very, very quickly; and so just to make it an enjoyable experience for people, we like to maintain the trails to some kind of standard.”
People who have been through the Trail Boss program really know what they’re doing, according to Anderson, and volunteering on the trails gives people a new perspective on how much work it takes. “Once they’ve come out for a volunteer day, they appreciate what has been done on the trail so they don’t take so much for granted,” says Anderson. “A lot of what we do, people aren’t going to necessarily notice, but they would notice if we didn’t do it.”
Hemphill says there’s more to cutting brush away from trails than meets the eye. “When you cut it, you want to make sure that you cut it correctly, because if you try something that’s very large, like a big tree limb, disease can get in,” says Hemphill. “And then small stuff we throw away so that people don’t know that we’ve been there.”
Boy Scouts as well as community volunteers receive recognition for attending the class and putting their skills to work on local trails. “The scouts themselves need to do two additional projects to get their Junior Trail Builder award, and the adults need to do an additional three projects to get their Trail Boss patch,” says Hemphill.
Hikers, cyclists and equestrians who use the local trails appreciate the volunteers they sometimes encounter. “When the public does thank us for that, it’s just a feather in the cap of those that are working,” says Hemphill.
People interested in learning more about the program or signing up can call Hemphill at 382-9759.
Please contact Outdoor Observer with details and contact information about environmental events, volunteer opportunities and adventure sports at outdoors@vcreporter.com
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