Trail Ambassadors

About Trail Ambassadors

In the Spring of 2018, the VVMTA launched the Trail Ambassador program.  The VVMTA recognized the need to be the leaders in proactively approaching the education and communication surrounding seasonal trail closures to protect wildlife and our trails.  With this, the Trail Ambassador program was launched.  The Ambassadors’ duties include:

The Trail Ambassador program began to focus on spring seasonal wildlife closures to protect the mule deer and elk calving seasons.  Upon the great success in the Spring, the program expanded to cover our winter seasonal closures to ensure elk and deer were not disturbed in their important winter habitat.

In 2025, the Trail Ambassador program continues its impact with two, full-time seasonal staff that will be stationed at the trailheads. They will play a critical role in helping educate trail users that promotes the safety, enjoyment, and preservation of our trails. With the ever growing increase in outdoor recreation, it is more important than ever to have ambassadors who can interact with trail users, answer questions, and provide guidance on how to minimize the impact on the environment. Stop by to say hello! 

Trail Ambassador Impact

We have been collecting data with strategically placed game cameras on seasonally closed trails.  The goal of these cameras are to:

  • Violations: understand how many people are violating these closures, what type of user they are, and patterns of use
  • Wildlife: capture photos of wildlife in the area during the closure season

The table below tells the story of how impactful this program has become over the years.  In 2017, the program did not exist, community outreach did not occur, signage and gates were basically non-existent.  This data only shows the North Trail but the same data and story exists at other closed trails including Son of Middle Creek, Everkrisp, and more.

The data draws the conclusion and connects the dots that:

  • The more volunteer hours that occur along with education, outreach, and improved signage & gates >
  • The less violations >
  • = Potentially improving the health of wildlife populations
Trail Year Volunteer Shifts Volunteer Hours Violations
North Trail 2017 0 0 212
North Trail 2019 78 138 148
North Trail 2021 327 387 41
North Trail 2022 108 135 23
North Trail 2023 198 250 10

 

Click here for 2024’s Trail Ambassador Impact

TRAIL AMBASSADOR REGISTRATION

*Before signing up, you must have taken the Ambassador training.  Please contact Natalie at natalie@vvmta.org for more info and watch our training videos on our Youtube channel here.

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