Another Year in the Books!

Wilderness Volunteers wrapped up the 2014 season just before Thanksgiving with the Saguaro National Park service trip in southern Arizona. This was the latest trip that we've fielded, but it was a perfect time with great weather and we plan to do it again in 2015.

Thanks to everyone who participated in a project this year. We collectively maintained and repaired more than 106 miles of trail, built 3 miles of new trail, created more than 490 waterbars, cleaned 219 existing waterbars, placed 105 checkdams, removed 652 trees from trails, moved 97 tons of rocks, removed two and one/half miles of trail, 60 illegal fire rings, and 235 illegal campsites. We also maintained/improved 68 campsites, created 8 new campsites, took out 1/4 mile of closed road, removed 99,000 invasive weeds and planted 621 native plants. This list of work done in 2014 isn't complete - reports are still being collected for the last few projects.

We did all of this on public land in cooperation with some wonderful agency personnel who supervised and supported our groups across the country. We're especially thankful for our great volunteer leaders who give so much time to planning and making sure that the projects are successful, to mentor new leaders, to keep everyone safe in the field, to cook all those meals, and to be the face of Wilderness Volunteers to the world -- they are truly the heart of our organization.

We are thankful for our partners and sponsors who make the program possible, especially the National Forest Foundation who supports our work in national forests with matching grants, and to Keen for awarding us a Keen Effect grant. They make much of this work happen!

While we love to take stock of what we've accomplished, there isn't much time to look back as it's time to leap ahead into next year's projects. We are finishing the planning for 2015 and will post the summer and fall projects later this week. Stay tuned! Let's do it again!

Great Places to Give Something Back

Our 16th season of giving something back is now underway and there are still available spots on service projects in some seriously great wild places:


Alta Toquima Wilderness, June 23-29

This amazing central Nevada wilderness area lies in the middle of the Toquima Mountain range as part of the Humboldt-Toyaibe National Forest (largest NF in the lower 48). Offering excellent hiking and majestic sweeping views, the area offers amazing Great Basin recreation. Our service project will be general trail maintenance in lush Pine Creek Canyon and camping in an established campsite.  Learn more and join WV at Alta Toquima.

Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area, July 21-27

While the Mallard-Larkins Pioneer Area lacks formal wilderness designation, it does NOT lack for wild beauty.  The area's 30,00 acres are part of a larger section of 260,000 roadless acres in north central Idaho that features rugged landscape, many fantastic lakes and impressive biodiversity. The service project will focus on general trail maintenance from an established campsite that offers striking panoramic views. Join us in Mallard-Larkins.

Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Aug. 4-10 

Central Idaho's Sawtooth National Recreation Area and surrounding White Cloud Mountains have a breadth of terrific recreational opportunities, including top-notch hiking, biking and fishing. You'll fall in love with the area's natural beauty and the wide-range of flora and fauna that the area supports. Our service project is a backpacking trip in lush and narrow Little Casino Creek Canyon, where we'll be doing trail maintenance to keep this trail open and passable. Learn more about the WV project in the Sawtooth NRA

Weminuche Wilderness-Continental Divide Trail, Aug. 4-10 

Backpacking in the Southwestern Colorado Rockies is a thrilling experience and the WV service project in the Weminuche Wilderness is no exception. With several peaks topping 14,000', this rugged wilderness lies across the San Juan National Forest on the west of the divide and the Rio Grande National Forest on the east. The WV trip will work on the CDT from a basecamp of 11,500 containing erosion on one of the continent's great trails. Learn more and join us in the majestic Weminuche Wilderness.


Jedediah Smith Wilderness, Aug. 25-31

Travelers comes from around the world to reach the storied and sometimes crowded parks of Yellowstone and Grand Tetons and experience the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. On the west side of the Teton range, stretching across the Wyoming and Idaho border lies the lush forests and gradual rise of the Jedediah Smith Wilderness, offering outstanding biodiversity without the crowds. We'll backpack in several miles and work on the Hominy Peak trail, rerouting and building erosion controls to keep it accessible. Join us in the spectacular Jedidiah Smith Wilderness.

Saguaro National Park, Sept 29 - Oct. 5 

While many deserts are lively ecosystems, few can match the wide range of flora and fauna of southern Arizona's Saguaro National Park.  Boasting more than 900 species of plants, over 200 species of birds and countless other biological fascinations, this globally unique ecosystem is an area not to be missed.  Our project is in the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, that rise high above the Sonoran desert and offer changing temperatures. We'll camp by our vehicles at the base of the mountains and hike up the Rincons working on trail maintenance of the Miller Creek trail. Learn more and join us in Saguaro National Park.

San Gabriel Mountains Proposed Wilderness, Sept. 29 - Oct. 5

The San Gabriel Mountains are more than a scenic backdrop for the bustling city life of LA and the inland empire. These mountains support an interesting array of wildlife, many native species of plants benefiting from the range of microclimate and elevation variation, and also provide a much needed watershed for Southern California. Our service project in this proposed wilderness  is the removal of invasive Spanish Broom, which thrived following 2009's wildfires. We'll work with the Angeles National Forest's biology team to eradicate these invasives and also collect native seed for replanting.  Join us on the first WV project in the San Gabriels.

Big Bend National Park, Oct. 20-26

Big Bend National Park is unique as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan desert in the United States with more than 120,000 species of plants within its boundary. Lying on the Mexico border, the area offers an exceptional range of biodiversity with elevations ranging from 1,800' to more than 7,800'. The area offers much in the way of human history with archaeologists uncovering items dating back more than 9,000 years! Our service project will focus on trail maintenance and erosion controls on several key passages throughout the Park.  We'll stay in an established Park Service campground in the center of the Park, offering a great base to explore.  Learn more and join us on the last WV project of 2013, in Big Bend.

All 2013 Wilderness Volunteers Service Projects can be found on our website.