www.trailcrew.org
This program, started in 1995, is dedicated to doing volunteer work on our public lands. The major focus has been on trail work and maintenance in the Sierra, but they do work in their various programs throughout the state of California.
All programs are free, and provide instruction and supervision, superb free food service, and free camping in the area of work.
There are now 4 divisions of this program: Vital Trail Maintainence, Forest Stewardship, Youth Programs, and Forest Facilities Management.
Vital Trail Maintenance involves doing traditional trailwork to maintain foot and stock trails. The group works at a professional level in terms of the quality of work. Although it has skills with chainsaws, rock drills, and other higher-tech gear, it's real specialty is working in Wilderness areas with primitive tools such as picks, shovels, and everyone's favorite, their century-old one and two person crosscut saws for cutting trees. They also do sophisticated work such as bridge building and renovation, and complex rock work projects.
There are two sorts of Trail Management trips: Base Camps, which are drive-in car camping trips over a weekend with day trips, and Backpacking Trips, which go into the deep backcountry to establish either a stable camp, or a moving camp, to provide service to trails farther from the roads. The Backpacking Trips often have stock support to carry gear, tools, and food in and out of the site. There are 11 week-long trips scheduled in 2012.
Forest Stewardship projects have to do with cleaning up areas damaged by unauthorized uses of the forest which have caused damage. These tend to be highly technical and physical trips, that often involve removal of trash and debris by helicopter. Many of the jobs involved in these trips require significant training requirements for safety.
Forest Facilities Management involves rehabilitation or removal of Forest structures. This has involved demolition of buildings, removal of roofs in preparation for replacement, and the placement of over 800 bear proof boxes in campgrounds in the Western Sierra.
Youth Programs have involved youth in activities appropriate for ages involved, predominantly in Vital Trail Maintenance, particularly oriented towards creating opportunities for at-risk youth to experience the natural world.
I have personally participated with this group for about 10 years, and have gone into many deep backcountry trips and seen terrain totally new to me. I also participated in a Volunteer Wilderness Ranger program through this program.
I have made many friends, and gone into astounding areas. I have learned skills that are becoming increasingly rare. But most important, it has been an activity that has enhanced my life tremendously.
I cannot speak too highly of this program.
Here is a complex trail project done by two of the mentors of the program:
http://www.wilderness.net/toolboxes/documents/tools/trail_work_H-T_dolly.pdf read more