The Program
This four-week program is designed for those interested in pursuing trails leadership education or have a special passion for stewardship. This course includes a Leave No Trace Trainer certification as well as a SOLO Wilderness First Aid course and certification. Trail maintenance projects may include brushing, drainage cleaning, rockwork, bog bridging, and new trail construction. A significant portion of this program focuses on backcountry skills and ethics, conservation education, and recreation management. Participants will also receive a copy of AMC's The Complete Guide to Trail Building and Maintenance upon course completion. This program is a great resume builder!

Participants arrive between 4 and 6 p.m. Sunday afternoon at our Camp Dodge Volunteer Center facility where they will spend the night and begin their four-week program. In the next few weeks, participants will complete a variety of trail maintenance projects and trainings in backcountry living and ethics. Please remember that the trail crew work will be strenuous and demanding, and that we will be out rain or shine. During the week, for each of the four weeks, the group will be packing out all food supplies, tools, camping equipment, and personal belongings into the woods with their crew leaders, learning new skills while working on trails at remote sites. Be sure to leave plenty of room in your pack for these additional items.Clothes and other items needed only for the weekends or other weeks can be left at Camp Dodge while they are out in the field. They will be in a common area in the bunkhouse, but valuables can be locked up.

During the weekends with the program, you will take a SOLO Wilderness First Aid course and a Leave No Trace trainer course. On the third weekend, the group will learn about conservation and sustainability, as well as help with our large garden at Camp Dodge and learn about agriculture and resource management.

As the weeks progress, the volunteers will gain more responsibility for the group and each will be offered a leadership role in running the crew during their last week.

After each week on the trails, the crew will return to Camp Dodge for the Friday night barbecue. When the crew packs out on their fourth Friday of the program, they will have the opportunity to join the Trails Staff in our Friday Program Meeting to discuss, as leaders, their project work. Participants may leave Friday evening or Saturday morning – Friday night stay and Saturday morning breakfast are included in the program cost.

What the Volunteers Say
"This program definitely met my expectations. The physical challenge of being in the woods and working hard on the trails is always balanced nicely with the amazing times we have hanging out on the weekends and at night after work. As always, I love the people I meet here, and I love that the leaders actually let us have responsibility and treat us like equals." Leah (2012 Leadership & Conservation Crew Volunteer)

"Excellent food, understanding, and friendly Crew Leaders. And the best: meeting teenagers like me who are interested in forest work and trail maintenance. Learning about LNT (Leave No Trace) was great because it was both a way to preserve the trails and mountains, and a way to lessen my personal impact on the environment. These past 4 weeks have been the best weeks I have ever spent in the outdoors." Ben (2012 Leadership & Conservation Crew Volunteer)

"To anyone who wants to learn about themselves, how to positively interact with others and of course the woods, trail work is where it's at. It takes mental and physical strength, flexibility and grace, a combination of things that most volunteer and job positions can't boast." Hannah (2012 Leadership & Conservation Crew Volunteer)

"The relationships and connections I built with staff and volunteers is something that will always be a part of me and who I am when I walk the streets of my home town or am hiking through the woods." Dianna (2012 Leadership & Conservation Crew Volunteer)

Read what the 2011 Camp Dodge Leadership & Conservation Crew said about their experience on the AMC Trails Blog >>

2013 Dates
June 23-July 19
July 14-August 9

Contribution
$1,200 (AMC-members)
$1,320 (non-members)

Register today!

View Full 2013 Schedule >>