Inside the 2024 Crew Leader Training Experience

Written by Nancy Stone

With multiple dig days scheduled across the region every week, having Crew Leaders to lead those events is paramount to the success of NWTA’s stewardship efforts. Each fall, dedicated volunteers from several trail systems come together to learn the ins and outs of leadership on the trail. This year’s training on Sunday, November 10, marked an exceptional turnout, with a class of 18 new Crew Leaders eager to get out on the trail with crews of their own to build and maintain trails across NW Oregon and SW Washington. 

As NWTA’s membership continues to grow and more and more people become excited and interested in trail stewardship and giving back to the trails they love, it is imperative that there are skilled and trained Crew Leaders ready to take all of that energy and transfer it into productive, sustainable trail work. 

However, as it turns out, trail work is only a small part of a Crew Leader’s responsibility. First and foremost, a Crew Leader’s job is to make sure that their crew is safe. Ensuring that their crew understands the inherent risks of working with sharp and sometimes heavy tools in often remote, forested areas, Crew Leaders provide their crews with knowledge and safety practices to protect themselves and those around them. 

Crew Leaders understand that when they increase the knowledge and skill level of their crew, everyone benefits! When we have more confident and skilled trail stewards, we have the ability to have more miles of sustainably built and maintained trails. WIN, WIN for everybody!

Above all else, Crew Leaders understand that their crew are PEOPLE. People are wonderful and complicated all at the same time. During training, Crew Leaders use soft skills to navigate through scenarios of conflict resolution and potential safety concerns. Practicing working through sensitive situations better prepares Crew Leaders for if and when these situations present themselves.  

This group of newly trained Crew Leaders will be dispatched to various trail systems including Cascade Locks, Sandy Ridge and Rocky Point. The next time you are on a crew, make sure to tell your Crew Leader thank you for the time and effort they put into creating opportunities for others to build and maintain the trails that we love so much.