David Anderson is a veteran staff member at our Division store. He is a cycling advocate both on and off the road. A long-time member of Northwest Trail Alliance (formerly PUMP), David regularly organizes work parties around Mount St Helens to repair and maintain biking/hiking trails. If you see him on the trail, make sure to thank him for all his volunteer work!

Bike Gallery encourages its employees to get involved in various volunteer projects outside the work place. And as tax revenues continue to fall, land managers increasingly rely on volunteers to help maintain the infrastructure which many people rely on for their recreation. If it weren’t for volunteer labor, many trails would have to be abandoned by land managers because they don’t have the manpower to repair storm damage or clear the brush to keep the trails many of us use for recreation intact.

Work crew on Plains of Abraham, Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument, June 28, 2009

This summer has seen several Bike Gallery employees — myself included — out in the field helping to maintain trails used by mountain bikers and hikers. We have been found in such diverse places as Forest Park and Powell Butte in the City of Portland, the new under-construction trails on BLM land above Sandy, and on the slopes of Mount St Helens. Several of us have joined existing work parties sponsored by the managing agency, while others of us have worked with the managing agency to organize our own work parties.
The number of work hours put in directly by us, and those they have organized, is significant. It is measured in the hundreds. The money this donated volunteer labor represents is in the thousands of dollars in labor cost savings.

So the next time you enjoy riding or hiking on a trail on your public lands, if you see a volunteer doing some trail maintenance work tell them how much you appreciate their work in keeping those trails open. And consider joining a work party soon in a park near you. Groups that are always looking for volunteers to help on projects include Portland Parks Department, NorthWest Trail Alliance, Mount St Helens Institute, and Wasington Trails Association.

The next time you see Bike Gallery employees who have volunteered their time in maintaining biking and hiking trails, give them some thanks: David Harkness (Woodstock, worked on Plains of Abraham, Mount St Helens), James Ceccorulli (Hollywood, worked on Plains of Abraham, Mount St Helens), Adam Osborn (Division, organized a Venture Crew work party on the new BLM trails above Sandy), Butch Wells (Division, works on Trails in Forest Park and Powell Butte), Randall Magahay (Hollywood, a hiker working on Powell Butte Trails).