President's Logbook
By Jim Fetig
I heard someone joke the other day that if his belly was a tree stump, it would have too many tree rings to count. It’s doubtful that he was a PATC member.
It’s winter and we are busier than ever. Our Meetup calendar is full of hikes, the cabin desk is busy, and lots of groups are out working on trails, especially crosscut saw blowdown removal. We’re building muscle, burning calories, and making memories. In a nutshell, that’s why we’re here.
While the Cadillac Crew and the North Chapter and some others never sleep, continuing to work at full scale through the winter, the Hoodlums suspend regular work trips during the winter months, relying instead on smaller subgroups to keep their trails open.
Yesterday (mid-January) for example, the Eager Beavers Hoodlums crew had 14 sawyers on the ground. Two of them were a chainsaw team working the ridgeline while 12 on two crosscut crews were clearing North District blue blaze wilderness area trails in Shenandoah National Park.. We worked until darkness slid down the mountains and filled the valleys.
For those who don’t know, only muscle-powered tools can be used in a federally designated wilderness area. Using a swing blade to weed in mid-summer on steep slopes can be challenging. Otherwise, the crosscut and axe work can be fantastic exercise.
Now for some more good news, our year-end fundraiser exceeded its goal, raising $120,000. That is a fantastic response that is well ahead of previous campaigns. Here’s a heartfelt thank you to everyone who donated to support the club.
It’s also worth noting that we will have elections in November. The club has 12 elected officers who, together, compose the Executive Committee (ExCom). There’s more on club officers here.
We will be appointing two committees to run the election. The first is the nominating committee. Its job is to find and encourage candidates to run for office. The elections committee actually administers the election itself. Our elections are online, so administering the election process, a candidate forum if needed, and other functions is straight forward.
If you are interested in serving as an elected officer or on either committee, please contact Evan Hoffmann, staff director, at: ehoffmann@patc.net or John Hedrick, outgoing nominations committee chair at: jhedrick@erolds.com
Dan Hippe, ridgerunner coordinator, is hiring ridgerunners for this season. Ridgerunners are seasonal employees who spend the summer hiking the AT helping hikers and serving as the eyes and ears for the club, ATC and the park service. They report needed trail maintenance, render first aid, coach Leave No Trace, and scoop up trash as needed. They must be expert backpackers with diplomatic personalities. Contact: Dan Hippe at: dhippe@patc.net
Earlier in January, club leaders with responsibilities in Shenandoah National Park had their annual meeting with park leaders at PATC headquarters in Vienna. The park faces challenges along with the other parks in the system. The club pledged to step up to support the park in appropriate areas.
Shenandoah was PATC’s first national park and our largest partner. In total, we have around 400 volunteers in the park during any given year.
Stay busy and don’t let your belly grow any extra tree rings!