Issue:
Santa Cruz County (in Northern California) experienced increasing demand for use of its limited recreational land. It was important to find a way for people to support the county's trail system and maintain a sense of community among the groups who use the trails.
Action:
Trailworkers, a volunteer organization based in Santa Cruz County, CA, is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the system of trails in its public parks. The organization was officially established in 2000 when a dedicated mountain biker with over 14 years of volunteer trail work experience in Wilder State Park decided it was time to train other volunteers and promote their efforts to keep public trails well-maintained and accessible to all. The organization is sponsored by a number of local and statewide organizations, businesses, and individuals.
Trailworkers volunteer crews are made up of cyclists, equestrians, hikers, and runners from all over the Bay Area; they help to maintain three main sites in Santa Cruz County: Wilder Ranch, Nisene Marks State Park, and Soquel Demonstration State Forest.
Trailworkers successfully supports and promotes trail work by:
- Maintaining and building trails for use by all (typical projects include trail drainage, pushing back poison oak, and general maintenance)
- Educating all park users about the value of land stewardship
- Acting as an information center for trail work, trail users, and supporting organizations
- Helping to plan and coordinate projects with land managers and partners
- Consulting with land managers on the mitigation of problems
- Recruiting volunteers:
- Trailworkers encourages volunteers to sign up beforehand on their website.
- They post information in advance about monthly work days for all three sites; this allows crew leaders to plan with land managers, to better prepare tools and transportation to the site, and to be spend more time working on the trails and less time waiting around.
- The founder of the organization maintains a database of over 350 people — from land managers in high levels of administration to past volunteer participants. Before each work day, he sends a reminder e-mail to everyone in the database.
- Posting reports and photos of all trail projects on the website as soon as each project is completed:
- Volunteers are recognized immediately for the service they have performed.
- Project details, including total volunteer hours worked, are included to keep land use managers and others well informed.
- Providing training for volunteer crews and crew leaders:
- Training days have been held for crew leaders at the trail sites; training is an ongoing activity.
- At the start of each work day, volunteers are given safety training and told what to expect.
- Volunteers are paired with more experienced trail workers so that they learn from hands-on experience.
- Training tips are posted on the website and archived by topic.
- Striving to build cooperation among various trail use groups:
- Although some sites typically draw runners, and others are used more by mountain bikers, a camaraderie of volunteers has developed so that it is no longer uncommon to see bikers, runners, and hikers all working together at any of the three work sites.
- Providing trail work celebrations and get-togethers to promote positive feelings among the trail workers, supporters, and those in the community who use the trails
- Continuing to find ways to educate and train others in trail use and maintenance issues
- In 2002, the Trailworkers organization received funding from the California State Parks Commission to develop a training video and DVD. The target audience is those who have done some trail work but would like to know more.
Outcome:
When Trailworkers first began holding monthly volunteer work days, typically two to five volunteers would show up. In 2003, that number had increased to 10 to 15 volunteers.
Other positive outcomes of Trailworkers volunteer practices include the following:
- Existing trails are kept open more often and are well maintained due to larger and more experienced volunteer crews.
- New trails in parklands are established and opened whenever possible.
- Increased community and volunteer awareness of the need for environmental stewardship and trail work being performed by crews.
- Development and maintenance of friendships among various trail users, with a growing community of volunteers.
