Volunteer Participation

Greetings from the President! I wanted to let you know about a few ways you can participate indoors for Volunteers for Outdoor Washington. Instead of Google or some other search engine, use GoodSearch.com and designate VOW in the "who do you goodsearch for?" box. Every search gets a penny for VOW! That's all there is to it. If we all do this one little thing (and pass the word along to your friends and family), those pennies will add up to some really nice donations to the cause.

If you shop online, use iGive.com. Joining is free, and a percentage of all of your shopping purchases goes to VOW when you designate our organization as your recipient. Many dozens of the most popular online shopping outlets participate through iGive.com -- isn't that cool? And wouldn't you like to shop at companies who give so much to charity? It's a win-win!


Other organizations that VOW has registered with in the past (I'm not sure if we're still onboard with these, but I'll check) are MyCause.com, GuideStar.org, and GuideStar's Network for Good. Check them out -- if you have a chance before I do, let me know if we're there or not, and if we are, start participating!


Did you know that you can now pay your membership or make contributions to VOW online? It's arranged through PayPal. If you need to know what that's all about, just call the office, 206-517-3019.


When you can't get out on the trail to help, we offer plenty of indoor ways you can contribute! If you want to get off the computer and out of the house, consider calling the VOW office and asking about volunteering in the office. We can always use your help! Other non-trail volunteer opportunities abound as well. We have lots of committee work to do! Publicity, outreach, special events, training, recruitment, and service projects are just a few of the committees, or teams, as we like to call them, that would love to have a few extra hands and minds full of ideas and energy participating to meet this years' goals and objectives.


You can help! When lots of you are helping, you each only need to do one little thing for everything to get done. "Many hand make light work"! Our theme for 2007 is TEAMWORK. Join the team -- join the cause!
Kim

I-90 Corridor Work Parties

My first work party in the I-90 corridor took place at the Gold Creek Pond Trail this past fall.


As you can see it was a beautiful day on this beautiful trail. We arrived around 9 AM and after a short safety talk by crew leader Harold Buresh it was time to get to work. Our focus for the day was cutting back invasives like napweed, clearing vegetation from a picnic table, and thinning trees along the trail corridor. The latter is of particular importance on this trail because it is barrier free meaning that it is wheelchair accessible.

A few weeks later I again joined Harold at the Tinkham Discovery Trail. We spent the first few hours installing a new sign for the trail.


Our focus for the rest of the day was "winterizing" the trail, or preparing it for the flooding and snow that comes during the winter months. So, we spent our time examining and repairing spots on the trail where water, the trail crew's enemy, can collect and cause damage to the trail. It is a constant battle for groups like VOW to construct and maintain trail in Washington State during the spring and summer months only to see the winter months undo much of the work that has been done.

This has been especially true this year with the flooding that happened in November.


So come out to our I-90 corridor projects at Tinkham Discovery Trail, Gold Creek Pond Trail, and the Ira Spring Trail. This weekend, April 21st, we will be having our first work party at Tinkham. Check out our calendar for more dates and information.

-Sean Bulthaup

Iron Goat Trail: 2007 Season

With spring comes melting snow in the high country and the beginning of the 2007 Iron Goat Trail season!

For those new to VOW, the Iron Goat Trail is located up on Stevens Pass is a rich part of VOW's history.


Where trains once thundered, volunteers are now constructing a historic recreational trail. The Iron Goat Trail goes eight miles through lovely forests of ferns, alders and evergreens from Martin Creek to the Wellington townsite and trailhead. The trail from Wellington to Windy Point Tunnel is barrier-free and there is another one-mile barrier-free segment near Martin Creek.


This past season work was completed on the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive Site. It features restrooms, parking, interpretive kiosks, and a restored Great Northern caboose. Below is a picture from our October 14th Ribbon Cutting.


Ultimately it is our volunteers who have built the Iron Goat Trail. For over 20 years and thousands of hours volunteers have constructed and maintained over 10 miles of trail much of which is ADA accessible.


Of course with the snow comes new trail damage and this year is no exception. Our volunteers are needed more than ever to make our trail beautiful. The photo below was taken a few months ago about 1/2 mile from the scenic trailhead.


So join the effort! Sign up to volunteer on our events calendar here and, if you haven't already, join as a member of VOW or renew your membership. For more information on the Iron Goat Trail visit www.irongoat.org.

-Sean Bulthaup

Spring 2007 Trail Notes

The Spring 2007 VOW newsletter has just been published!

View it online here. It features, among other things, pictures of the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive Site, Volunteer thank yous, and a list of upcoming VOW events.

Check it Out!

Iron Goat Trail Season Opener

You Are Invited

IRON GOAT TRAIL SEASON OPENER
Wednesday April 18, 2007 6:30—9:00 p.m.
The Mountaineers Building, 300 Third West, Seattle

Sign the 2007 Release Form and pick up the 2007 Iron Goat Trail Organization Chart and Work Party Schedule

Make the sandwich of your choice at the Sandwich Smorgasboard and enjoy meeting other volunteers.

At the Meeting hear about:
WSDOT plans for opening the new Iron Goat Interpretive Site.

See special power point presentations:
Construction of the Windy Point Hiker Trail
Maintenance plans to handle the tremendous amount of Winter Storm Damage
Volunteer work needed on the 1951 Great Northern Caboose

Help distribute the 2007 Iron Goat Brochures

Be sure to Sign Up On-Line : www.Trailvolunteers.org or Sign Up by phone: 206-517-3019
Indicate the type of sandwich you would prefer to make for yourself at the Sandwich Smorgasboard:

Beef, Ham, Tuna, Turkey, or Vegetarian

MARTIN CREEK TRAILHEAD DISCOVERY HIKE
See where we will be extending the Iron Goat Trail in 2008 & 2009
Saturday April 14, 2007 10:00 a.m.

Jim Mattson , Great Northern Railway Historian will show you the abutment and footings of the 165’ high trestle and the abutment of the upper trestle over Martin Creek as well as the switchback route used before the Horseshoe Tunnel was completed. It is important to go on this trip as soon after snow melt as possible so you can see where you put your own feet. Vegetation grows rapidly and obscures your view of the footings. You are fortunate to have a knowledgeable guide to tell the story about these fascinating remains of railroad structures.

Bring lunch, beverage and extra clothing in pack. Wear boots and appropriate clothing for the weather.

Be sure to sign up with Sheridan and Richard Botts 425-227-0431 to arrange time to meet and transportation from Bothell Park and Ride.

Interlaken Park

In case you are new to Volunteers for Outdoor Washington, the main focus of our group is maintaining and constructing trail. While our volunteers are often found working up in the I-90 corridor and on the Iron Goat Trail we also devote a fair amount of our time (especially in the winter months) to urban trail projects in Seattle.

From 2004-2006 VOW worked at Golden Gardens park, completing over 58 work parties and many miles of trail restoration.

This year we have partnered with the City of Seattle: Department of Parks and Recreation to help restore trails at Interlaken Park.

Interlaken Park is one of our original "Olmsted" (An early landscape architectural firm responsible for many prominent park designs through out our country, such as Central park N.Y) designed parks in Seattle. It is a hidden gem that is made up of 51.6 acres of forest habitat.

Since November 2006 at Interlaken we have had 13 work parties and 172 volunteer days for a total of 1010 work hours. As you can see from a few of these pictures our work so far has ranged from re-grading the trail so that it is more durable to heavy rains, removing harmful invasives such as Ivy and Holly, and planting new natives such as Ferns and Hemlocks.

Volunteer work parties will continue at Interlaken until the end of June. Join us Saturdays from 9:30 to 2:30. To sign up visit our events calendar. See you on the trail!

-Sean Bulthaup

VOW Blog Launches

Welcome to the new Volunteers for Outdoor Washington (VOW) blog. I'm Sean Bulthaup, AmeriCorps VISTA member with VOW.

VOW trains our volunteers to be stewards of the environment. We partner with land managers to build trails, restore habitat, and preserve Washington State's rich heritage.

With this blog we hope to provide a quick update on news concerning VOW work parties, events, and current events in trail work.

While the focus will be VOW activities I will occasionally mention other issues going on in the outdoors.

In the next few days I will be highlighting a few of VOW's ongoing projects. Contact me at sean@trailvolunteers.org with suggestions, reactions, and issues with the blog.

And please send me your stories! I love to hear and post stories of work on the trail. Pictures are great too!