REI Grant Helps Fund National Trails Day Event, Southern California Volunteer Recruitment, and Youth Outreach

This spring, outdoor retailer Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) awarded the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) with a significant grant to help recruit new volunteers and involve more families and youth in its work in Southern California. This grant marks the third award in three years to the PCTA from the outdoor gear retailer.

In Southern California, as many PCTA membersknow, a committed and organized group of PCTA volunteers called the Trail Gorillas contribute thousands of hours of labor each year to preserve the 700 miles of trail between the Mexican border and Kennedy Meadows in the southern Sierra.  The Trail Gorillas are a model of an effective volunteer trail crew, but they can’t do it all and they can’t work forever. With this in mind, the PCTA is expanding volunteer recruitment efforts in Southern California, engaging new volunteer groups in the area, and reaching out to a new generation of Southern California volunteers and crew leaders. And thanks to REI’s most recent grant to the PCTA, these initiatives are off to a strong start.

National Trails Day 2007

REI funds were critical to making the PCTA’s Southern California National Trails Day (June 2, 2007) volunteer project and trail fair a success. Helping to plan the event was Brian Edwards from REI’s Rancho Cucamonga store and Gina Sampson, Director of Partnership Programs for the San Bernardino National Forest. Participating organizations also included the American Heart Association, American Hiking Society, Backcountry Horsemen, Northwest Service Academy/AmeriCorps, and San Gorgonio Wilderness Association. Geared towards being fun and educational, the event included information booths, a work project on the PCT, and interpretive nature walks.

REI’s Rancho Cucamonga store provided event advertising and event registration services as well as food and drinks for breakfast and lunch. The San Bernardino National Forest Association Youth Interpreters Program was on hand to provide short, guided hikes. The American Hiking Society provided signs and banners as well as goody bags for participants that included donated items from REI.

Additionally, the Backcountry Horsemen held a popular dutch oven cooking contest and gave stock demonstrations. The San Bernardino National Forest led a trash pick-up project in the immediate area of the Lytle Creek Ranger Station in the San Bernardino National Forest (where the trail fair was held). PCTA staff and a Northwest Service Academy (NWSA)/AmeriCorps crew led a trail maintenance project in nearby Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area.  

“It was amazing to bring so many different organizations and PCT partners together on National Trails Day,” says Suzanne Wilson, PCTA Southern California Regional Representative. “Nearly 40 volunteers participated in trail work that day. Some were our dedicated Trail Gorillas but others were brand new to us and had learned about the project through REI publicity.” Also participating were approximately ten youth from Casa De San Bernardino, a nonprofit dedicated to helping at-risk youth in San Bernardino, Calif. Gabe Garcia, Front Country District Ranger for the San Bernardino National Forest joined the group and swung tools out on the trail. John Hachey, a Southern California PCTA Trail Gorilla was instrumental in helping to plan and publicize the event, in particular working closely with Lytle Creek Ranger Station and the REI Rancho Cucamonga store.

REI grant funds were used to help fund the National Trails Day Event on many levels but were particularly important in helping the PCTA develop a volunteer recruitment booth. The booth will be used at Southern California PCTA events from now on and includes display panels, banners, and an LCD projector to attract and educate new PCTA members and trail maintenance volunteers.

Youth Outreach

REI funds are also helping the PCTA to develop a youth outreach and youth volunteer program in Southern California As part of this new program, the PCTA has been working with a unique public high school serving students in Southern California’s Lawndale, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Gardena, Los Angeles, Torrance, Redondo Beach, and Manhattan Beach communities. The charter school, called the Environmental Charter High School (ECHS) has 330 students, each of whom is required to complete a certain number of hours of community service every semester.
 
As part of the project made possible by the latest REI grant, ten students and two adult chaperones (including teacher Amy Frame) joined Suzanne Wilson (PCTA Southern California Regional Representative) and a Northwest Service Academy/AmeriCorps crew for a special trail maintenance project that included one day of trail work and two nights of camping. The group worked at Three Points trailhead off the Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest and camped at nearby Horse Flats campground. As part of the project the high school students cleared brush, reestablished tread where it had washed out, did rock wall repair, and improved drainage along the trail.

“It was a hot day and the work was tiring but I was very impressed with what the students accomplished,” says Wilson. “There was a student who, after getting the hang of clearing brush, went back and re-did the entire section of trail she’d just finished because she knew she could do it better. That night, we were all tired but satisfied and everyone relished the dutch oven desert that the NWSA/AmeriCorps crew cooked up. We [PCTA and NWSA-AmeriCorps] went to bed early, but the students stayed up late talking and bonding. It seemed like they would want to come back again.”

Prior to this work project, the ECHS students didn’t know much about the PCT beyond its name. “But by the time they left,” says Wilson, “they knew about thru-hikers, the PCT, and what good trail work looks like. For their first trail project, they did a remarkable job. They are a motivated group and its going to be a pleasure to work with them again.” Wilson plans to continue to put REI funding to use to plan and administer two more upcoming trail projects with ECHS students during the upcoming 2007/2008 school year.

Wilson is also working with the students from the William S. Hart Union High School in the Santa Clarita Valley who have adopted a 7-mile portion of the PCT. As part of this trail adoption program, the PCTA will provide the William S. Hart students with trail crew leadership and wilderness first aid training. The training will include two days of trail skills and two days of leadership development.  Students will learn techniques for conflict resolution, trail assessment, working with agency partners, and volunteer recognition.  The trail skills portion of the training will include teaching stations on rock walls, steps, brushing, and tread. As part of their safety training, the students will become certified in wilderness first aid and CPR. 

From trailheads to school hallways, REI grant funds are helping the PCTA to expand its programs and volunteer recruitment in Southern California in new and exciting ways. If you would like to get involved in the PCTA’s Southern California National Trails Day events or youth programs, please contact Suzanne Wilson at swilson@pcta.org.