Reflecting on Our Volunteer Program in 2021
This year brought continued challenges, glimmers of hope, and a resounding resurgence of love for the natural spaces in the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area. Though nothing was quite as we planned, some things turned out even better than we ever expected. Join us in a collective, deep exhale as we reflect on another year passed and look forward to what’s to come in 2022.
Over the past 12 months, we cautiously re-opened our restoration spaces to volunteers. Over the course of 22 events, we hosted 283 individuals in a collective 1,026 hours of stewardship service. Primarily working on restoration sites, volunteers nurtured young trees and reconnected with each other after many months apart.
One by one, volunteers planted more than 900 trees and shrubs into restoration sites. These baby trees will be cared for throughout their lives by future volunteer stewards. The goal for each site is to foster a healthy, diverse forest that builds resiliency and stability in our ecological systems.
Trails projects also received some volunteer love this year. They were instrumental in supporting our trail crew’s work behind the scenes and setting the stage for projects coming online in 2022.
Greenway Trust staff also ran three pilot tabling events for the Trailhead Ambassador Program. We were able to test out our new outreach booth set up and interact with more than 400 trail users! In 2021, this program was put on hold due to public health guidelines for this category of volunteer, but we look forward to opportunities for trailhead ambassador volunteers in 2022.
We are so appreciative of everyone who supported the Greenway Trust this year, whether that was by volunteering or making a donation! Curious to hear more about what we’ve been up to? You can read about our crew and AmeriCorps accomplishments, as well as a compilation of 21 accomplishments across the Greenway in 2021.
