Have you heard that a recent study found a strong connection between volunteering and more positive emotions, less loneliness, and more social support? And, says Dr. Eric S. Kim at the University of British Columbia, “These things have downstream effects, such as increased healthy behaviors, as well as increased healthier biological function such as reduced inflammation.” 

Benefits we all can use, right? Especially now. In the wake of this month’s election, many among us who care deeply about the environment and our wild lands could use some positive emotions. With the news full of the incoming administration’s plans to open public lands to more energy development and logging, gut regulatory agencies like the EPA, stop efforts to slow climate change and even transfer national lands to states or private developers, it’s enough to bring out the Grinch in some of us.

But, rather than hunkering down and fretting over the fate of the planet, it’s time to volunteer. The good news is that there are nonprofit groups in Summit County that need your volunteer efforts to help protect our local public lands. And this is the time of year when planning and advocacy work gets done so that we are ready to head out on the trails from May through October.

Local groups like Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance and Friends of the Dillon Ranger District (welcome volunteers. 

For example, the all-volunteer Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance works with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the four congressionally-designated Wilderness Areas in Eagle and Summit Counties — the Eagles Nest, Flat Tops, Holy Cross and Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses. After all, most of our favorite trails lead into wilderness.

Sixty years ago this year, the 1964 Wilderness Act was signed into law, recognizing that with our “increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization,” some lands needed to be preserved “in their natural condition” to “secure for present and future generations the benefits of wilderness.” The act recognized the value of preserving “an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

Being so easily accessible from major population centers and attracting millions of visitors each year, our wilderness areas need you.

Many visitors are unaware that when they pass the wilderness sign, they’ve entered an area requiring special protection, including compliance with regulations to keep these precious lands pristine. That’s where volunteers, both on the trails or at trailheads, help educate trail users about our unique wilderness areas.

And since mechanized and wheeled equipment aren’t allowed in wilderness, volunteers are essential for trail maintenance. Upcoming Forest Service hiring freezes make the need for volunteers even greater.

Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance says participants volunteer for seven different reasons:

• Help others: Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance volunteer wilderness rangers assist wilderness visitors, teaching Leave No Trace principles.
• Community involvement: Over 100 community members make up Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance’s team of volunteer rangers, sawyers and trail crews.
• Contribute to a cause: Join Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance’s Advocacy Team to fight for wilderness.
• Develop new skills and have new experiences: Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance Trail Crews can teach you to use tools like Pulaskis and Mattocks to repair damaged trails. The Sawyer Certification course can teach you to use a vintage crosscut saw to clear trails.
• Use your skills in a productive way: From boots on the ground to administrative work, Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance will utilize your skills.
• Stay fit: Volunteers enjoy the most protected public land in North America.     
• Have fun.

So, do something nice for yourself and our natural world — volunteer for public lands.

Frances Hartogh is a volunteer wilderness ranger for the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance.