Mimbres, NM, October 24, 2019 -- 141 volunteers on the Wilderness Ranger District, Gila National Forest contributed service during the 2019 fiscal year equating to an estimated $245,000 of volunteer labor.
On the Wilderness Ranger District, one of the most active Volunteer/Partner groups is Heart of the Gila. The Heart of the Gila coordinated and worked with Back Country Horsemen - Gila Chapter, No Barriers (a veteran’s group), local outfitters and guides, the CDT Coalition, TRAMPS (members of the retired smokejumpers association), New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors and others. Materials for the work such as hand saws, rakes, hoes, shovels, etc. are provided by the Wilderness Ranger District. Funding was provided by USDA Forest Service Region 3 - Southwestern Region, and a $50,000 grant from the State of New Mexico administered by the Town of Silver City.
Campground hosts at Upper End and Mesa Campgrounds also contributed an estimated 500 volunteer hours as well. The efforts of our many volunteers accomplished the following work over the course of the past six months:
- clearing and maintaining equestrian and back-country hiking trails
- Erosion control·Campground cleanup, fee collection, interpretation and information
- Invasive plant removal
- Public Lands Day events at the Gila Center in cooperation with NPS and USDA FS
District Ranger Rachelle Huddleston-Lorton said" I am tremendously grateful for the partnership with Heart of the Gila and for our campground hosts. These volunteers help us maintain and improve critical recreation resources as well as helping to educate the public about the importance of public lands. Our recreation budgets have decreased in the past decade, and without volunteers much of this work could not get done." If you are interested in volunteering with Heart of the Gila, please contact Patrice Mutchnick at heartofthegila@gmail.com. If you are interested in being a campground host on the Wilderness Ranger District, please contact Amber Marshall at amber.marshall@usda.gov.
For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/gila