About Volunteers for Outdoor Washington

Our Mission:
Volunteers for Outdoor Washington trains volunteers to be stewards of the environment. We partner with land managers to build trails, restore habitat and preserve Washington State's rich heritage.
VOW is a non-profit service organization that recruits, organizes and trains volunteers to perform trail construction and maintenance and to restore natural habitat while preserving the rich heritage features found in Washington State. VOW relies on membership and donations to accomplish its work. For more information visit our membership page. Thank you for your generous support! To read what's on tap for 2009, check out the latest issue of Trail Notes, VOW's quarterly newsletter. News of the Iron Goat documentary, Golden Gardens Park, new trails, a letter from VOW's President and more! (To view select archived issues of Trail Notes, see the bottom of this page.)

Over the last two decades we've moved dirt on nearly 200 trails, including many in urban parks and greenbelts around Puget Sound - probably one in your neighborhood. See our brochure for an overview of our volunteer-powered organization. (Note: this is a pdf file, and a large one.)

VOW's current high-profile projects include:

Iron Goat Trail-tracing the old Great Northern Railroad route over Stevens Pass.

City of Seattle Parks-rebuilding trail in many of Seattle's great parks.

Tinkham Discovery Trail-in the I-90 corridor.

Gold Creek Pond Trail-beautiful beaver and trout pond also located in the I-90 corridor.

Asheal Curtis Trail-short I-90 trail that views a beautiful old growth forest.

Signing up is easy at VOW's online calendar.

VOW brings managers of public lands - agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and county parks departments - together with volunteers to help create and maintain public access on those lands. This volunteer effort is ever more necessary as public agencies continue to grapple with budget cuts that have eliminated staff for trail work.

VOW is a member of the American Hiking Society and for several years has sponsored an American Hiking Society Volunteer Vacation week on the Iron Goat Trail. VOW also sponsors and co-sponsors events to celebrate National Trails Day.

VOW was a pioneer in providing high-quality training for volunteers and other organizations that want to participate in the citizen effort to maintain trails. Its training programs are based on three organizational values: be safe, have fun, and perform work that meets professional standards. VOW has been a leader in promoting collaboration among organizations representing trail users of all types (e.g., backcountry bicyclists and horseback riders) to maximize their ability to take increased responsibility for public trails systems.

VOW is funded by foundations, donations, grants, and membership dues. It is the ultimate lean organization with most of its work--administrative and trail work--performed by volunteers.

Archives of select Trail Notes, VOW's newsletter: