Central Oregon Nordic Club had a good showing at the Allingham Trails Skills College which was held the weekend of June 2nd through 5th. This Trails Skills College is a joint project of the Pacific Crest Trails Association (PCTA) and the Deschutes National Forest. Its goal is to provide hands-on learning about trail maintenance and stewardship for everyone from beginners to seasoned volunteers. The long weekend offered a range of courses, including initial certification for both crosscut saw and chainsaw bucking, brushing and scouting, basic trail design, sign installation, summer trail maintenance, and Nordic/snowshoe trail maintenance.
CONC Vice President Sue Sullivan happily reported on the result: “We now have nine newly certified crosscut sawyers in the club!” She reported that a number of CONC volunteers took a variety of classes, including first aid, crew leadership, summer trail maintenance, GPS navigation, and trail decommissioning and wildland restoration.
CONC leaders Bob Timmer and Sue Sullivan taught a class in Winter Trail Maintenance and Construction. They brought the class participants to Three Creeks Sno-Park to work on ski and snowshoe trails as part of their field work.
These Trails Skills College courses are offered free of charge as an effort to support knowledgeable stewardship of trails. Trainees attending one or more sessions are encouraged by the organizers to volunteer at least 8 hours of work on trail projects during the coming year.
Here is a link to the PCTA’s website for anyone who would like more information: https://www.pcta.org/volunteer/trail-skills-college/allingham/
