WV Celebrates WV's 150th

We know we're not the only WV out there.  The fine state of West Virginia is celebrating their sesquicentennial this week.  It's a state that has an abundance of wild lands and that's worth celebrating!  

This fall we'll be running our third consecutive service project in West Virginia wilderness. Our trip to the Dolly Sods wilderness is all full this year (you can always join the waitlist), so be sure to sign up early when next year's schedule is released.

A photo from WV's 2012 project in Dolly Sods Wilderness

In the meantime, our friends at The Nature Conservancy have released this travel guide to help you discover some of the great natural areas you can explore in the Wild and Wonderful state. Enjoy!

WV in the News

Dolly Sods Wilderness, Monongahela Nat'l Forest, WV (2012)

For the second straight year, Wilderness Volunteers spent a week clearing trails in West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest - this time in the scenic Dolly Sods Wilderness.  The trip was a success, as we maintained several miles of trail and rehabilitated half-a-dozen campsites (amidst glorious fall foliage!). Needless to say, the US Forest Service is eager to see us return in 2013.

And so are our volunteers, especially this one, who has found inspiration in WV service projects to get involved with trail maintenance in his local community.  Visit NorthJersey.com to read more and learn what it's like to spend a week "Giving Something Back" with Wilderness Volunteers.

And stay tuned for a list of WV's 2013 Summer and Fall projects, which will be announced in early December!

Take Gandhi's Word For It!

Cranberry Wilderness, Monongahela Nat'l Forest (WV), 2011

I recently came across these words in a book I've been reading:

"To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves." - Mahatma Gandhi

Well put. Each time I step into the woods for a week with Wilderness Volunteers, I find myself slowing down, reconnecting, and rediscovering. It's a priceless experience, and it's just one of many reasons to lace up your boots, strap on a pack, and head off on an adventure service project with Wilderness Volunteers. With week-long volunteer service trips in national parks, forests, and wilderness areas from Hawaii to Alaska, Maine to New Mexico and most everywhere in between, there's a trip for everyone and plenty of earth and soil in need of digging and tending!

I'll be swinging a pulaski and tending the trail in West Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness in early October - just in time to catch the onset of the incredible autumn colors in some beautiful country. It's reinvigorating just thinking about it and sure to be memorable.

But you don't have to take my word for it - take Gandhi's. And rediscover the great outdoors and yourself this year. Join WV in "Giving Something Back" on any one of the 50+ volunteer service trips available in 2012. Check out the complete project list and sign up here.

P.S. For more on the rejuvenating powers of WV, read self-proclaimed "WV Junkie" Nancy Cappelloni's account in the Winter 2011 newsletter.