GREG SPENCER
TRAIL ADMINISTRATOR’S UPDATE With the arrival of Spring, we are in full swing planning for another busy CDT season. Volunteers, youth corps, trail partners, and land managers have some exciting projects planned to improve trail conditions and user experiences. A few – and certainly not an exhaustive list – highlights for the upcoming field season include: •
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New Mexico Youth Corps Pilot: This is a pilot project for a CDT youth corps where each youth corps and land management partner can count on two weeks of funding in addition to any other maintenance, relocation, or trailhead development projects along the CDT. CDT Field Technician: CDTC is hiring a field technician that is funded through the partnership agreement between the Forest Service and CDTC. The field technician will hike the CDT across New Mexico to document maintenance and project needs and work with land managers to submit proposals for future funding.
In addition to projects, I am happy to share that the Forest Service hired an intern for the CDT. Amanda
Grace Santos started in January and is developing a framework for informal tribal engagement to diversify engagement points with tribes and better understand indigenous connections to and perspectives of the Continental Divide. Amanda Grace is based in Santa Fe and is working with several national forests and BLM field offices as well as pueblos and tribes. She will work until September 2022. While all of these projects are focused in New Mexico this year, the intent is for them to be replicated across the CDT. We chose New Mexico for these pilots due to CDTC staff support in the state such as Corey Torivio, the New Mexico Regional Representative, and Dan Carter, the Trail and Lands Conservation Program Manager. The take-home is that the land management agencies cannot do this work without the support of the CDTC and many other partners!
Rachel Franchina National Trail Program Manager U.S. Forest Service PAGE 5
