First Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea-Trail workday of 2026 was a massive success! The morning was was right at freezing when we arrived, but we warmed up quickly...

We moved a big pile of trash a mile out of the woods, up to the road, for the state to pick up. Including a bunch of nasty tires that had been previously pulled out of the river... I carried one that was too busted to roll straight (and probably weighed literally a third of my bodyweight!) and then we got smart and put most of the rest onto the wheelbarrows. 💪🏻🧠

Not pictured - @mbroome & I also spent a pleasant half-hour pulling invasive Chinese privet along the riverside. Got to play with the [weed wrench](https://www.weed-wrench.com/), which is the "no, really, fuck you" solution for plants that are too big to pull by hand, but too small to be worth cut-and-dabbing.

Note to self: maybe next time don't bother getting up early to squeeze in the usual morning cardio workout. 😁 We hiked ~6 miles just doing the cleanup!

#outdoors #volunteering #TrailMaintenance #MountainsToSeaTrail #TrashCleanup

Behind the Lens: Volunteering in Bavaria’s Mountains

A few weeks ago, I teamed up with Hanspeter Mair, the DAV Wegewarte organizer, to create a video for the Bavarian State Government’s volunteer office. It was my first time shooting a focused video with an interview. The day was a rewarding learning experience and the video has been well received.

https://www.franzgraf.de/blog/2025/behind-the-lens-volunteering-in-bavarias-mountains/

#Alpenverein #DAV #DeutscherAlpenverein #Karwendel #MeinEhrenamt #mountains #TrailMaintenance #Wegepflege #wegewarte #youtube

Trump’s Federal Cuts Threaten Moab’s Prosperity

...#MoabTrails #WholeEnchilada #MountainBiking #SaveOurTrails #PublicLands #MoabEconomy #TrailMaintenance #LaSals #ArchesNationalPark #Canyonlands #BLM #USFS #MountainBikeCommunity #TrailAdvocacy #MoabAdventures #ProtectOurTrails Source link The article highlights the impact of federal budget cuts under the Trump administration and its so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) on public land management in Moab,…

https://cyclereview.co.uk/trumps-federal-cuts-threaten-moabs-prosperity/

The Forest Service is cutting its seasonal workforce to the bone

Forest Service crew clearing obstruction from Moran Creek Tr No. 2, July 15, 2023 – W. K. Walker

Here is a very concerning discussion of next year’s Forest Service seasonal worker hiring freeze. Note that this affects the regular seasonal employees. The recently established “permanent seasonal” employees will still have work, although there will be no money for additional duties. And there is still money to staff the fire crews. Still, this portends a difficult trail maintenance season next year.

…The agency relies on a large, often underappreciated army of seasonal or temporary workers who clean bathrooms and campgrounds, empty trash cans, maintain trails, welcome people at visitor centers and do critical research work on the environment.

These employees help monitor the health of the public waters and forests that the agency oversees, clearing brush and trees that pose wildfire danger and monitoring the health of Alaska’s sockeye salmon. The Forest Service-managed portions of the Appalachian Trail that were damaged by Hurricane Helene will likely be repaired by temporary workers. (Hikers are currently advised to stay off over 800 miles of the Appalachian Trail.)

Next summer, however, most of these tasks will be performed by other staff — or else not done at all…

Continue reading . . .

#trailMaintenance #USForestService

Letters frickin' work, man. I strive to pen something to someone about some transgression on our Mother Earth every day. Usually only takes a brief moment of research to figure out who's in charge and who can make shit happen. When gov't agencies receive a written letter, some count it as at least 10 other people's opinion, so one letter can mean a project gets prioritized over others. Time & time again I get positive reinforcement like this that shows that state agencies actually need citizen input for their decision making. This heavily used trail local to me overlooking epic ocean beauty has not been adequately maintained for decades had a literal creek running down it all winter & people have been trampling through the woods along the edges to avoid the muck, squashing rare orchids and mushrooms, making the trail over 20' wide and now several new trails off on the edges. I wrote to people in charge of the resource & got this back: "The trails leading from the Parking lot to the beach are actually slated as a project for Spring 2024. Our trail crew needs to wait for the weather to become a bit more dry and less frequent with rain. Once the weather has improved, the work will start. They are waiting so that the improvements they make can be more permanent with their install, but you'll see them out there working very soon!

I can assure you that you aren't alone in your concern for this area which helped bump this project up in our list of priorities!" #writeletters #penmightierthanthesword #trailmaintenance #rareplants #DefendTheEarth #democracybythepeopleforthepeople