In 2006, the National Forest Foundation partnered with REI to establish the Wilderness Volunteer Program. This by-invitation program provided conservation awards of $1,000 to $10,000 to nonprofit partners to implement projects that directly affect Wilderness Areas within our National Forests and Grasslands. Conservation Awards were given for 14 projects in U.S. Forest Service Wilderness areas throughout the country.  

Award Recipients

Montana Conservation Corps
MontanaYES-Youth Volunteers in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness (MT)
To enlist the resources of local youth volunteers involved in our MontanaYES program to complete wilderness stewardship activities such as trail maintenance, weed treatments and campsite restoration in the Anaconda-Pintler Wilderness.

San Juan Mountains Association
WIS Program- Restoration and Transfer Model
San Juan National Forest; Weminuche Wilderness (CO)
To expand the WIS program in the Weminuche Wilderness to include ecosystem restoration by community volunteers and act as a regional model for training other forests about our WIS and monitoring programs.

The Bear River Watershed Council
Hyde Park Canyon Unauthorized Route Restoration Project
Wasatch-Cache National Forest; Mt. Naomi Wilderness (UT)
To restore and remediate the prominent motorized use violation on the north ridge of Hyde Park Canyon and provide a high profile and educational project opportunity.

San Gorgonio Wilderness Association
San Gorgonio Wilderness Ecosystem Restoration- 2006
San Bernardino National Forest; San Gorgonio Wilderness (CA)
To identify, document and restore ecological damage throughout the wilderness by 58 volunteers who will also educate the general public about wilderness ethics necessary for protecting the wilderness ecology.

High Sierra Volunteer Trail Crew
Monarch and Jennie Lakes Wilderness Areas Trail Work and Monitoring
Sequoia National Forest; Monarch and Jennie Lakes Wilderness (CA)
To build 150' of rock wall; stabilize and naturalize 300' of wash out; renovate four miles of tread devastated by blow downs, overgrowth and uncontrolled run-off; and provide basic and advanced restoration on another six miles of trail.

Walama Restoration Project
Obsidian Falls Preservation Project
Willamette National Forest; Three Sisters Wilderness (OR)
To expand stewardship efforts to sustain ecological diversity in the Obsidian Falls region and act as a model program involving communities to reduce the human impacts of recreational uses in wilderness areas across the nation.

East Carolina University
Volunteer Wilderness Monitoring in the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness of North Carolina
Uwharrie National Forest; Birkhead Mountains Wilderness (NC)
To conduct wilderness monitoring procedures in the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness which will assist managers in the forest planning process, and function as a friend's group to continue monitoring practices.

Georgia Appalachian Trail Club
Engagement of a Non-Traditional User Group in Combating a Non-Native Pest in the Wilderness
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest; Blood Mountain Wilderness (GA)
To target youth from the Latino community and teach them about wilderness values and issues such as invasive species and their influence on native biodiversity which will provide context for a field project to survey for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Ridgerunners: Promoting Environmental Stewardship in Wilderness Areas
George Washington and Jefferson National Forest; Multiple Wilderness Areas (VA)
To provide safety and natural resource information to visitors along the Appalachian Trail in areas of heavy use and in environmentally sensitive areas such as designated wildernesses and conduct invasive species surveys for future removal projects.

Student Conservation Association
SCA Wilderness Rangers in the Sipsey Wilderness
Bankhead National Forest; Sipsey Wilderness (AL)
To provide assistance to the Bankhead National Forest's Wilderness Ranger Program by conducting public outreach, wilderness education and volunteer coordination as well as resource inventories, restoration and visitor impact mitigation.

Student Conservation Association
SCA Wilderness Rangers in the Clifty Wilderness
Daniel Boone National Forest; Clifty Wilderness (KY)
To help recruit and maximize the use of other volunteers in inventory-related projects for the Limits of Acceptable Change planning process, help mitigate the effects of off-highway vehicle use and increase the Forest Service's presence.

Student Conservation Association
SCA Conservation Crew in the James River Face Wilderness
George Washington and Jefferson National Forest; James River Face Wilderness (VA)
To perform trail rehabilitation and backlog maintenance to stop, or significantly slow, trail degradation vegetation loss and ensuing soil loss due to intense fire behavior and two seasons of above normal rainfall/hurricane occurrence.

Student Conservation Association
Pemigewasset Wilderness Campsite Rehabilitation
White Mountain National Forest; Pemitewasset Wilderness (NH)
To rehabilitate, re-vegetate and close illegal or undesirable wilderness campsites within the Pemigewasset Wilderness; may also involve light trail maintenance on deteriorating wilderness trails.

Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness
Superior Wilderness Volunteer Crew
Superior National Forest; Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (MN)
To create a volunteer program that will assist the established Wilderness volunteer crew on the Superior National Forest by funding a portion of the expenses for these volunteers.