Trail Ambassadors
With federal budgets dwindling, our local Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests have less and less ability to adequately staff our trails. Coupled with the millions of visitors to each forest every year, and our public lands are seeing adverse effects in the form of trail maintenance backlogs, trash strewn about, and habitat degradation.
In the summer of 2017 we launched our current iteration of the Trail Ambassadors to educate trail users on how to best recreate responsibly, provide interpretive talks and hikes, engage the public in volunteer public lands stewardship events, and provide a presence on the ground.
The Trail Ambassadors are making a big impact! In the summers of 2018 and 2019 alone, the Trail Ambassadors have amassed some staggering stats:
- 5,452 visitor contacts
- 1,597 pounds of trash removed
- 233 logs removed from trails
- 128 campsites cleaned
- 196 interpretive hike participants for 633 hours
- 1,034 miles of trail monitored
- 130 miles of trail maintained
Friends of the Inyo would like to recognize the following organizations for their financial support over the past five years of the Trail Ambassador program:
Thank you!
Support the Trail Ambassadors
Updates
Memorial Day is barely in the rearview mirror, and Friends of the Inyo’s merry band of Trail Ambassadors have already made a big impact on the Forest Service public lands of the Eastern Sierra. Partnering with Forest Service staff across two Forests (the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe), and five Ranger Districts (from south to north, the Mt Whitney, White Mountain, Mammoth, Mono Basin, and Bridgeport), the Trail Ambassadors partner with the agency to bolster the on the ground presence through trail maintenance, visitor education and general information, leading volunteer groups and events, and sharing interpretive hikes and content. Working alongside FS…
Trail Ambassador Program Receives National Forest Foundation Grant In March, as spring arrived and the Worm full moon hung large in the sky, Friends of the Inyo received the exciting news that our National Forest Foundation (NFF) grant application to help fund our Trail Ambassador program was successful! This $47,000 grant is a huge boon to our ability to staff the Inyo, Humboldt-Toiyabe, and Sierra National Forest lands in the Eastern Sierra with five Trail Ambassadors this season. In addition to myself and Lindsay Butcher, we are going to be able to hire three additional staff members to provide…
Support the Trail Ambassadors in 2021 We are committed to making 2021 a brighter year for our public lands. And one thing you can count on in these uncertain times is Friends of the Inyo doing stewardship work on the public lands of the Eastern Sierra. If you make a donation, a board member will match the first $10,000 in donations to fund our Trail Ambassador Program. Help us reach our goal of raising $20,000 to help fund our work in 2021. Make a donation online. Read our open letter and learn about our plans for this upcoming Stewardship Season: Sincerely,…