The goal of the SCA Trails Corps is to provide meaningful opportunities to volunteers, while effectively preserving and enhancing trail corridors and historic sites on our public lands. We do the dirty work, keeping the water off the trail (and the trail out of the water) in addition to keeping people on the trail. We build turnpikes and bridges, water bars, and check steps, retaining walls and stairs, all so that others may have the opportunity share our enjoyment of the natural world, while minimizing their impact to these precious lands. Trails Teams Utilizing a team of 5 members and one Project Leader, teams spend from twelve weeks to six months in the field. Teams generally spend the duration of the season living in tents and cooking in a field kitchen in front and back-country settings. Great food, hard work and the camraderie of living and working with others from a wide-ranging population makes for a truly memorable experience. Trails Assessment and Condition Survey (TrACS) Teams Smaller teams consisting of two Members and one Project Leader, paired with a trusty measuring wheel and large binder, hike, measure and note the condition of the trails. Teams are able to cover long distances of a season and provide valuable data to the Forest Service on the condition of the trails. US Fish and Wildlife Survey Team A new model for the SCA, a ten member team works to complete the GIS inventory of all trails in the entire National Wildlife Refuge System. Members are travelling to all 50 states and Puerto Rico to collect all new trails since 2006, or those overlooked in the 2006 (Cycle 1) survey. Members utilize advanced GIS collection instruments and identify trail deficiencies in all trails so that our partners will know where to allocate resources. Additionally, the team works with Federal Highways to post-process all data to make it useable for reports, surveys, etc.
