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Photo by Joseph Gonzalez.

7 volunteer crew leaders who build trails and community

Our amazing volunteer leaders ensure our work parties are safe, fun and even get a little work done. Their deep love for the outdoors and appreciation for our community make them a priceless part of WTA. By Victoria Obermeyer.

The work we do here at WTA is only possible because of our incredible community. For our trail work program, volunteer blue hats play a vital role in the work we do all over the state. The skills and training they provide are vital and help welcome our other volunteers on trail.

We’re highlighting seven of these volunteer leaders who ensure our work parties are safe, fun and even get a little work done. We talked to them about why they devote their time to helping other WTA volunteers get out on trail and make a difference. You may notice a common thread amongst these profiles, a deep love and admiration for the outdoors as well as for the community and people that make WTA so special. 

These outstanding volunteers have become essential leaders in our community.


Micki Kedzierski 

Years volunteering: 18 years
Favorite trail: CCC Road: Upper Trailhead
Favorite trail snack: Dried cherries

Women in rainjacket holding trail tools with bridge in the background.

From her very first work party, led by Pete Dewell at Annette Lake, Micki loved the sense of community WTA provided. She was excited to return and earn her green hat for her first work party, but it was the people who kept her coming back over and over. Ever since then, she has been hard at work as a volunteer, earning her blue hat and going on to lead many of our youth work parties. She is also a WTA ambassador. Micki has always felt a deep connection to the outdoors and the community it can provide.  

“It's easy to become isolated and to forget that we are part of a community. When I think about being out in nature, whether it's in a city or county park, DNR land or out in the mountains — nature is really the only free place for all of us,” she said.

Micki works with our youth volunteers, helping to create the next generation of thoughtful trail users. She focuses on instilling confidence and a reverence for nature — all while having fun. She believes the problem solving and rewarding physical work that go into trail work can help youth grow and gain experience that benefits them both on and off the trail.

At the end of each work party, Micki likes to reflect with her crews on “rocks and sticks.” She asks the young volunteers “what rocked for you?” and “what will stick with you” as a way to help them reflect on what they learned. She says it can be incredibly moving to hear the confidence and joy they take away from even just one day of trail work.

Micki is now retired but had a career in healthcare where she focused as much energy as she could on giving back to her community, including offering outreach and education to underserved communities. In her spare time outside of her work with WTA, you can find her knitting hats for people undergoing cancer treatment. As of September 2025, Micki is three work parties away from 700 days on trail.


Owen Lieser

Years volunteering: 9
Favorite trail: Tinvine Trail or Heather - Maple Pass Loop
Favorite trail snack: Gummy bears, specifically Albanese

Man taking selfie with blue hard hat. Bridge in the background with three other people wearing hard hats smiling at camera in the woods.

Owen was originally inspired by his wife, who had already volunteered with WTA, to trying volunteering himself. Owen appreciated the cool tools he got to use and the skills he learned at his very first work party, but what really got him to stick around was the WTA community. 

Owen has worked all over the state but works most closely with his community in Kitsap County. He invites anyone who is interested to join his work parties and works hard to ensure everyone is welcome.That includes his 71-year-old mother. 

“She was hesitant at first but ended up loving it,” Owen said. “There is truly something for everyone.”  

Working within his own community at Kitsap County Heritage Park, he finds a lot of joy and inspiration in his work

“We come in and we're building a trail through the clear cut and you see these little trees and it's like, okay, those trees in 40 years are going to be that forest, right? And so 40 years from now, there's a decent chance I'm going to be dead, but this forest is still going to be here and this is a resource that future generations can use. And maybe by getting people excited about regular trail work, they start to be excited about these other aspects of open spaces.”

Owen believes that people come first and that safety is an essential element to a successful work party. He also guarantees there is work for everyone, no matter their experience or ability. 

“Do you have shoes? You do? Great. Do you have pants? Sweet.’ Don't worry, we give you the tools, we'll teach you how to use them,” Owen said.

He works hard to get to know everyone on his crew, especially first timers, ensuring everyone feels welcome and finds a space where they can be themselves and find a task they enjoy. 

“We're in this beautiful country and surrounded by people that have the same sort of outlook on the public spaces,” Owen said. “It's like, yeah. Beautiful places doing important work. What could be better than that?”

He relies heavily on his fellow orange hats (or assistant crew leaders) and believes that trust in his fellow leaders is important. Owen was mentored by Charlie Romine and he tries to pass along the leadership skills he learned from her. He works hard to ensure his fellow crew leads have the same opportunity he did.

Owen believes the work you do on trail doesn’t have to be perfect and that what matters most is showing up. Owen focuses a majority of his work parties in the Olympics region, so if you join WTA on trail there, you may get to meet him. Owen also has a doctorate in microbiology and volunteers as a STEM ambassador, inspiring youth interested in careers in STEM.


Simon Lie

Years volunteering: 4 years
Favorite trail: Spray Park
Favorite trail snack: Mike Reed’s (fellow blue hat) pies

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After living in both the midwest and on the East Coast, Simon moved to Washington in the late 90s. While he and his wife had always enjoyed bikepacking and backpacking, living in Washington brought their outdoor recreation to a whole new level. Once he retired from Boeing, Simon wanted something to keep his brain and body active, and that could also help him give back to the places he loved. He found the work at WTA met all of those needs, and he found a thriving community. 

Simon has volunteered for work parties all over the state. He first got hooked after participating in WTA’s saw instructor program and now helps lead many of these programs himself. He always follows the three priorities at any workparty: safety, fun, then get some work done. 

If you’re lucky enough to attend a work party led by Simon, you might have already had the chance to sample some of his famous pancakes. He is known for hauling out a cast iron skillet to ensure fresh pancakes for his backcountry crews, sometimes even throwing in foraged blue berries if the trail provides. He works hard to provide a welcoming space where folks can have fun 

“It's more important that the volunteers have a good time and want to come back, you know, then we squeeze an extra half hour of work out of them or, you know, get three more rocks moved,” he said.

Simon also volunteers for the Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Forest Service. He loves playing soccer and is a volunteer event supervisor and tournament director for Science Olympiad, a science contest for middle and high school students.


Emma Royce

Years volunteering: 11 years
Favorite trail: Trapper Creek Wilderness
Favorite trail snack: Raspberry Zingers 

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Emma was 11 when she started volunteering at WTA. The was inspired to volunteer  after reading about youth work parties in her parent’s copies of Washington Trails magazine.Emma fondly remembers summers spent camping and exploring Gifford Pinchot National Forest with her family. Her very first work party, which she joined with her dad, was in the Southwest region of the state . 

“I was, and still am, often the youngest person on work parties. I think everybody was pretty amazed by me coming up and doing the trail work. And I remember getting put on the coolest project,” Emma said.  

Emma’s done that herself as a crew leader for new or young volunteers. 

“If there's a younger kid who seems excited about the trail work, I'm like, ‘you get to do the cool thing’,” Emma said.

Emma participated in WTA’s first ever all-girls work party near Mount Rainier and she even became a WTA youth ambassador. Her time at WTA has inspired her to pursue a degree in environmental science, which led her to a career as a fisheries biologist. WTA has helped her find a strong community and it connects her with people she might not meet otherwise, including people who are now friends and who are decades older than her. 

“I have so many connections with people who are in a really different stage of life than I am, and I have for the whole time I've been volunteering,” she said. “I think that's really valuable.”

Emma finds many people her age are looking for a third space, and for her that’s WTA. 

“Community to me is continuously showing up for things that you care about,” she said. 

Emma led work parties throughout college and now, even after graduating, helps lead campus trail work parties near the Washington State University campus. Emma hopes to inspire other youths to get involved.

 “I would say to the person who wants to do trail work that you might enjoy making connections with actual people more than the actual trail work, but I think both are good reasons to show up and try it out.” 


Carole Bianquis

Years volunteering: 19 years
Favorite trail: "Any hike is the favorite one at the time I take the hike"
Favorite trail snack: Almonds and dates

Women in orange hat and jacket smiles at camera.

 Carole’s love for hiking began when she moved to Washington over 30 years ago. Initially, Carole started volunteering on trail for a way to keep busy in the winter. WTA fit perfectly in her schedule. 

 “[At WTA] it’s very easy to stretch yourself and go to different places and to meet different people with the common thread of building trail,” she said. 

Carole appreciated WTA’s leadership model and she was eager to earn her blue hat so she could lead work parties. Carole has a deep love for teaching and a knack for interacting with fellow volunteers, which quickly made her a natural leader in our community. 

“As leaders, we're leaders because we want to welcome the people who are coming and joining us for trail crews,” she said.

Carole leads day trips all around the state. She also leads all-women’s work parties. Carole believes that they give an opportunity for women to learn together and build confidence in their trail, building skills.

WTA believes these spaces for women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, youth and more are important, and we appreciate our leaders who help make them possible.

“Carole says WTA has always been a great place for community, even during the isolated times of the pandemic. 

”In a time when we were all looking for something to lean on, it was great to put that energy toward. something productive.”

When she’s not volunteering at WTA, Carole loves to garden and volunteers at her community pea patch.


Todd Dunfield

Years volunteering: 24 years
Favorite trail: Antoine Peak Summit Trail
Favorite trail snack: Nerd’s Gummy Clusters

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Todd not only leads work parties, he is also a valuable member ofWTA’s board. On work parties and beyond he hopes to create a welcoming, inclusive environment. 

“WTA is an organization with a ton of relevancy working towards a more welcoming and inclusive space outdoors,” he said.

Todd’s journey with WTA began as a graduate student at Seattle University. He was an advisor for an outdoors club on campus and the students helped decide which organization to partner with. That led him to his first experience volunteering for WTA. He found his time volunteering extremely rewarding, especially the community.

“Trail volunteers, or stewards, are almost uniformly people who understand the karma they put out into the world by dedicating a day of their life to improving trails,” he said. “It  just feels good, in the same way going to the gym makes your muscles sore at first but over time makes you feel good.”

After living all over the world and having a deep admiration for nature, Todd moved to Washington nearly 30 years ago and fell in love with the trails here. He feels we’re all better off if we can spend a bit of time in nature and when we get a chance to feel connected to other people.

 “Build new trails, maintain old trails, find lost trails, it all adds up to provide the space for people to get outside in nature,” he said.

As a long time volunteer, Todd excels at leading work parties and ensures all his crews get their mandatory snack break, which he likes to ensure includes York Peppermint Patties. When he’s not volunteering for WTA, Todd stays busy volunteering with other outdoor nonprofits in the Spokane area including Spokane Mountaineers, Spokane Nordic Ski Association, Friends of Scotchman Peaks and Evergreen East.   


Interested in volunteering with WTA? We'd love to see you out on trail!