STA hosts volunteer celebration

The Sisters Trails Alliance (STA) hosted its fall Volunteer Celebration at the Belfry on Monday, October 14. The event started with a short video produced by STA Youth Ambassador and SHS senior Jack Turpen, which showcased STA trails.

Forrest Tancer, current Board Chairman of STA, welcomed the 70 plus volunteers and introduced Stephanie Presley, STA’s new Executive Director. She praised the work of STA because it embodies the best in volunteer spirit and community collaboration, and noted that over 350 persons had volunteered on STA activities over the past year. They donated over 3,200 hours, including staffing aid stations for five race events this summer, distributing the Sisters country trail system map to 70 locations around town, and maintaining the trails. She recognized the dozens of other organizations with which STA collaborates, and expressed thanks for the numerous donors and business sponsorships that support STA, including The Belfry and The Barn, who helped make the event possible.

STA’s mission is to protect and preserve the outdoor experience through stewardship of multi-use, non-motorized trails and the adjacent wild spaces. Their main focus is building and maintaining trails, almost exclusively in the Deschutes National Forest. The organization operates under a Volunteer Service Agreement with the Sisters Ranger District to manage some 200 miles of trails, and is currently working with the Forest Service and other partners, including Central Oregon Trail Alliance and Oregon Equestrian Trails, on the Sisters Trail Additions & Realignments (STAR) project which could potentially add 50 more miles of trails in the next few years.

STA celebrated 40 volunteers who earned a Northwest Forest Pass and STA T-shirt for their service, working 16 hours or more during the fiscal year. Robert Bray, the chair of STA’s Trails Committee, noted that STA volunteers had spent over 1,500 hours with over 170 different work parties, taking care of trails in Sisters Country, including removing fallen trees, cutting back brush, and improving trail surfaces. He said Kris Calvin had designed and helped build the new “barrier free” retaining wall at the Whychus Creek Overlook and the new roof on the Jefferson View Nordic ski shelter.

Mark Thompson, STA’s advocate for making trails accessible to folks of all abilities, created the system that now allows people in wheelchairs to see through the wall at the Whychus Creek Overlook. He described the organization’s plans to survey and rate accessibility of STA trails, for those who use adaptive mountain bikes for access. Greg Kallio, STA’s lead for Three Creek Nordic trail network, recapped his team’s work, including the roof replacement at the Jefferson View shelter, new signage, and stocking the shelter with firewood. Lisa Cohen, Vice Chair of the board, shared information about future fundraising plans, especially with projects such as STAR. Donations to support STA can be made at sisterstrails.org/donate.

Stephanie noted that STA has about 30 different volunteer needs, ranging from maintaining trails, monitoring trail use with counters, taking care of tools, updating and distributing free maps published by STA, managing volunteers, spearheading the educational speakers series, obtaining funding from grants and sponsors, interfacing with events that use STA trails, and more. She issued an open call for volunteers to get more involved, and for new volunteers to join the work – either by contacting her directly (stephanie@sisterstrails.org) or signing up as a volunteer at sisterstrails.org/volunteer. Volunteers can express interest in the various opportunities in their Better Impact profile.

In closing, Stephanie noted that the leadership team is currently working on a new strategic plan, and she invited everyone attending to “vote” for the short and long term priorities, and the values that should underpin STA’s work. These votes, along with similar input from many others, will help shape and strengthen STA in the years to come.

STA recognized and thanked the following volunteers: Robert Bray, Rick Retzman, Gary Guttormsen, Greg Kallio, Greg Vandehey, Arthur Turlak, Mark Thompson, Chuck Humphreys, James Moiseve, Scott Collins, Ann Richardson, Doug Benedon, Michael Armstrong, Danny Kuettle, Chloe Hughes, Jeff Scheetz, Forrest Tancer, Michael Johnson, John Peterson, Lisa Cohen, Peter Brewer, Kris Calvin, David Duerhan, Sheree Vance, Charlie Wirtz, Amy Margolis, Jennie Sutter, Jim Redmond, Wendi Vermillion, Louise Boyer, Kreg Lindberg, Patty Vlaew, Laura Nicholson, Beverly MacDonald, Andy Peterson, Lisa Marie Bowers, Peter Jamison, Sally Blust, Nick Skinner, and Steve Jansen.