Volunteers are crucial part of trail maintenance

The next time you hike your favorite trail, you might tip your hat to the volunteers from the Washington Trails Association.

WTA volunteers maintained 153 trails during 720 trail work parties last year. More than 2,600 volunteers worked at least one day on a Washington trail last year, contributing to more than 100,000 hours of work. It’s the largest program of its kind in the nation.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work that wouldn’t get done without them,” said Mary Bean, recreation programs manager for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Bean said the trails association holds several of its weeklong volunteer trail work vacations on the local forest each year, as well as many shorter work projects on the forest. Bean said forest officials identify areas that need work and send a list to the association. If the association can get a crew to volunteer for the job, they’ll do it.

Some projects that require long hikes or brutal combat with mosquitoes are left for paid employees or veteran volunteers who want a challenge, she said.

“It’s really a good program. It’s like a guided trip, but they’re really doing something meaningful. Our trails would not be very well maintained without their help,” she said.

“If there’s one trail in the state we’ve adopted, it’s the Lakeshore Trail,” said Susan Elderkin, WTA spokeswoman. WTA crews have worked 32 weeklong volunteer vacations totaling more than 220 days on the Lakeshore Trail over the past 12 years, she said.

Statewide, the WTA is hosting 27 different weeklong Volunteer Vacation trips this year. The cost of a trip is $195 for WTA members and $235 for nonmembers. The cost is reduced to $145 for additional trips.