Vibe-Fall-2024 - Flipbook - Page 37
ago. Volunteers set up tables and displays under canopies
on weekends from May through October at the most popular
trailheads in the White Mountains: Old Bridle Path/Falling
Waters; Ammonoosuc; Welch-Dickey; Champney Falls; and
Appalachia. (The Forest Service also has stewards at the Moat
Mineral trailhead in Conway to explain the rules for people
venturing out to dig for quartz crystals and other minerals.)
At trailheads, stewards provide information on weather
and trail conditions; clothing and gear; sunset time; and a
map for hikers to photograph, if they don’t have one. The
weather is a crucial piece of information for people heading
up in the Whites. The weather at the trailheads is not what
they will experience in the high peaks. Having the right gear
could be a matter of life or death.
TAKING IT TO THE TRAILS
After implementing the trailhead steward program, the Forest
Service decided to “take it on foot,” as Marunowski put it, onto
the trails themselves. Backcountry stewards provide information on routes, trail conditions, weather, Leave No Trace
principles, and answer questions. Since many hikers might be
reluctant to seek help or advice, stewards often initiate conversations, especially with people who don’t look prepared.
Backcountry stewards can also advise backpackers on
where they are allowed to camp, how to store food away from
bears and other animals, and how to minimize the impact of
their camping. The Forest Service does not want campers to
build fires, and stewards in the backcountry dismantle fire
rings and pack out trash that has accumulated in them. Light
trail maintenance is part of the job. As the Forest Service’s
“eyes and ears” on the trail, stewards also report such things
as blowdowns and damaged signs.
Both the trailhead and backcountry steward programs are
what the Forest Service refers to as PSAR: Preventive Search
and Rescue. And the programs appear to be doing their jobs.
New Hampshire Fish and Game coordinates search and
rescue in the White Mountains, and Lt. Jim Kneeland has
been on the job for more than 30 years. From 2014 to 2023,
there were search and rescue calls for 859 hikers and climbers, according to information provided to volunteers at the
training session. Kneeland said that the number of incidents
spiked during COVID, when stewards were kept off the job,
and dropped afterward, when they returned, which proves to
him that the programs are working.
MINIMIZING SEARCH AND RESCUE STATISTICS
Steward volunteers were told at the training that most search
and rescue calls involve hikers getting hurt, lost, or having
medical problems. (Massachusetts edges out New Hampshire
for the most callouts, which prompted laughs from the group.)
Hikers who are deemed negligent, meaning they were not
prepared, are subject to getting billed for their rescue. That
happens about 10 times a year. If they don’t pay, they can lose
their driver’s license.
Noyes and Allegretti, both avid hikers in their early 60s,
work at Old Bridle Path/Falling Waters regularly. They volunteer because they want to give back, and out of a love for
the White Mountains, particularly Franconia Notch. “So many
visitors come to our ‘neighborhood,’ and we really want them
to appreciate and respect this incredible place,” Allegretti
said. The couple also know the turf, enabling them to suggest
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