Trail Gorillas

The Trail Gorillas help to maintain 700 miles of the trail, which is the entire Southern California Region. This region is broken up into 7 sections according to the PCT Guidebook. The TG’s have recently created a leadership structure that helps divide the responsibilities among many people, instead of having them weigh heavily on one or two individuals.

At the top of this structure are the 7 Section Chiefs (although right now we are in need of 2 more, as people have moved). They have obligated themselves to helping me (Suzanne) monitor their section and to host one 10 day project a year (which sometimes gets broken into 2 – 5 day projects). Each of these leaders has done more than they have been asked of at this point, however, often holding several weekend projects in addition to the longer one(s).

Below the Section Chiefs are Adopters and Area Coordinators. Clearly, not every piece of the trail has an Adopter or Area Coordinator. Adopters usually hold at least one annual, but usually 2 projects a year on their section. Meanwhile, Area Coordinators help to oversee an assigned/chosen section and work with the community to implement a plan of action, not necessarily involving themselves. For example, Kevin Corcoran (the most active Area Coordinator) has recruited the High Desert Runners to help in his section and lets me and other volunteers know when the area needs work and what type of work needs to be completed etc. He helps to coordinate the logistics for projects, making sure there are enough tools, and scheduling the dates. However, he does not lead the work and cannot always make the project.

We supplement with smaller weekend projects from outside groups recruited from local colleges, high schools, and running clubs. For example, if a volunteer, hiker, or I myself know of an area that needs work done, I might coordinate the work to be done by a local group instead of the TG’s, who might be on another project that weekend, or might just be plain old tired! We have 2 major storage locations for tools and several smaller caches in people’s houses. We collaborate to arrange for picking up and dropping off tools to one of these locations.

The leaders have learned to do the work and teach it simply by doing it. There have been trainings offered, but most people have not attended…something we would like to improve upon. Several are trained in Wilderness First Aid, which PCTA now offers annually. There is also at least one chain saw course held each year, and only certified sawyers can run the saws with all the required safety gear. A crosscut course was also held in 2007.

The TG’s have a bank account set up and Don Line serves as Treasurer for the group. All project receipts are turned into him and he reimburses individuals from this account, which is funded by PCTA dollars. This is a new system implemented in 2007, which has drastically improved the financial situation. Prior to this, one person (usually Pete Fish) would write a personal check to reimburse anyone who purchased project supplies, then the PCTA would reimburse Pete. Not a good system! The TG’s have also adopted the new PCTA Project Reports, but still use their own format in addition which has a more detailed account of the work completed and the money spent to execute the project.

Each volunteer has recruited individuals though work or their neighborhood, but we’ve also utilized local REI stores to advertise projects and have received some great help. I find that people are often intimidated by the idea of trail work so holding one day projects, promoted through REI, isn’t too much of a commitment for people to test the waters. We have retained many volunteers who have begun to commit to longer projects once they learn a few things and feel comfortable.

The Section Chiefs and some of the Area Coordinators have developed good relationships with the agency partners at the local level. I am also heavily involved in the coordination of projects, and working with the agencies to put together a program of work (who will do the work, where is the work, and what does it entail etc.). Each year I hold an annual meeting with each agency. The Section Chiefs and more active volunteers are encouraged to attend if they can, and so far we have really good turn out.