[at-l] Re: Trail volunteers

[RoksnRoots@aol.com (RoksnRoots@aol.com)]

In a message dated 1/25/02 4:25:14 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
Cosmo.A.Catalano@williams.edu writes:


>   We typically see about 2-6 people on 
> these crews and very few new faces.  Volunteer outreach really needs 
> to be our top priority. Of course the Committee is mostly guys (like 
> myself--though I'm the baby at 48) with limited social skills. 


    *** I see the problem is Trail universal. I don't know what it was like 
in the old days, but today's volunteer pool is starting to thin. During my 
involvement I saw a trend of original AT generation maintainers slowly aging 
and retiring from maintenance. It could be my personal slant, but I feel the 
quality of maintainer has slipped slightly as well. Maybe our generation 
isn't as hands-on as older ones. I don't know what it is. I do feel that 
previous maintainers were persons who were drawn to the AT out of an inner 
drive for the woods and hiking and were glad to get involved. But it's more 
than that. The duty requirements have increased from the past. The old AT 
used to be a mainly paint and clip operation because the Trail was simpler 
and surrounded by country. Today the Trail is more complex and heavily used. 
What is happening is an increase of responsibility on the volunteers with 
less people overall interested. Wood theft, crime, vandalism, ATV's, 
development threats and more have put a bigger load on fewer unpaid backs. To 
make matters worse, the physical Trail can longer afford to be a whimsical 
trace through the hills by blazers taking the path wherever they wish. The 
bill has come in on the old trailbed which has washed out badly in many 
places. So, at a time when volunteers are becoming scarce, the Trail is now 
needing a much higher level of improvement work to bring it up to standard. 
Where Avery just happily blazed across a virgin slope of grass and shrub the 
new maintainer is finding a treadway that needs backbreaking rehabilitation 
in a dying forest devoid of blaze trees. It's tough. 
    2-6 is exactly what we see at our limited excursions. Committee meeting 
attendance (which is open to all interested) is minimal.  



> 
> The AMC provides their "Volunteer Trail Crew" which offers 
> participants a week on the AT or Mt Greylock.  Of course the 
> participants have to pay $65 to volunteer...this is the AMC after 
> all.  The advantage to our club is there are 7 weeks of 3-8 crew 
> people out on the trail--not the most experienced folks mind you, but 
> they are usually young and enthusiastic and are well led by seasonal 
> AMC staff.  What I try and do is meet them for a day of work or at a 
> meal and tell them about the Committee's work and how they can join 
> us.  I've gotten a few nibbles, but the best recruit to date has been 
> a former crew leader.
> 
> Cosmo
> 

     ***  I too wondered what the incentive was to have to pay to do sorely 
needed volunteer work? I suppose the club finds itself in the same position 
and is looking for people who will stay. There's also an insurance issue for 
paying members being covered and others not. The inexperienced volunteer 
problem is yet another hindrance because the level of Trail rebuilding that 
needs to be done today demands heavy, quality construction. This is the only 
level that will last and answer the traffic demands. Many are not capable of 
this. 
    Your assessment about what needs to be done is dead on. Since the Trail 
was a lighter task in the past we have locked in a clip and blaze recruitment 
policy that is undercutting our demand. The answer really is reaching out to 
resource potential pools of the talented interested. This varies from region 
to region. In the south Bob Peoples of Tennessee Eastman gathered a 100 
college volunteers to do the massive switchback project out of Carvers Gap. 
In the northeast I'm afraid we are undergoing a cultural change in lack of 
free time and more work hours. This has been accompanied by a decline in 
interest in outdoor club activities. This is frustrating because the number 
of people needed is not that many. Compounding this is the fact that an 
increase in recruitment will be borne by the same overworked members upon 
which the load is already breaking. 
    What we really need is a renaissance of the original project to revive 
the original enthusiasm. There's and entire Trail's worth of work to do out 
there!  

    
     - R 'n R


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