WTA Awarded Spring Trust for Trails Grant

Big Heart Lake is one of the wonders of hiking the West Fork Foss. WTA volunteers will begin flood damage repairs here this season thanks to funding from the Spring Trust for Trails. Photo by Joe Buoy.

The West Fork Foss Trail leads to a spectacular collection of lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. If you've never been, check out our hiking guide entry. You'll find out that, "in the autumn of 2006 the trail became a river channel when the West Fork Foss flooded. Tread damage was extensive, and this part of the trail is a real mess. Hopefully by 2010 the Forest Service will have received funding and the Washington Trails Association will have assembled a work team to help rehabilitate this popular path."

Fortunately, help has just arrived in the form of a grant from the Spring Trust for Trails.

Funding from the Spring Trust will allow WTA youth volunteers to begin trail work here in May. The Forest Service has secured federal funding to rebuild the bridge next year, after WTA's work is complete.

West Fork Foss isn't the only backcountry trail that will benefit from Spring Trust support this year. The grant will also allow several Backcountry Response Teams to address maintenance needs that lie beyond the reach of day crews and Volunteer Vacations. WTA will field more than a dozen such crews this year from Mount Baker to Mount St. Helens and from the Olympics to the Idaho border.

You can join the effort by signing up for a Backcountry Response Team at West Fork Foss, Mazama Camp, Island Lake and other wilderness locations. 

This year's work is the latest in a longstanding partnership between WTA and the Spring for Trails. Last year, the Spring Trust supported our Safer Trails Campaign and enabled WTA to improve some of the most scenic trails in the Mount Baker area (including High Pass, Yellow Aster Butte, Skyline Divide).

Founded by Ira Spring (a co-founder of WTA), the Spring Trust for Trails is a natural extension of Ira's tireless efforts to preserve hiking opportunities in our state. All of the royalties from Ira's popular 100 Hikes book series are donated to the Trust. The Trust is also supported by donations from like-minded trail users who wish to support hiking opportunities through trail building and maintenance.