Every year, volunteers around the nation exchange keyboards for shovels and head out of the office for Wilderness Service Day in an effort to improve trails and monitor the use of wilderness areas. NOLS pitched in, too.

At Worthen Reservoir, NOLS staff picked up their shovels, axes and rakes to help the U.S. Forest Service redirect a heavy-use trail. © Susanna Helm

At Worthen Reservoir, NOLS staff picked up their shovels, axes and rakes to help the U.S. Forest Service redirect a heavy-use trail. The 23-member group worked for four hours to move a stretch of trail from the road into the woods. At the Split Rock climbing area in Natrona County, Wyoming, a NOLS group observed and recorded patterns of use in the area. Split Rock is a popular climbing destination, used regularly by NOLS courses, but it is also an area of intriguing history, serving as an important landmark along both the Oregon Trail and the Pony Express route.

On July 29, 2004 a NOLS Wilderness Horsepacking course helped the Forest Service at the Castle Creek site on the Yellowstone River. The students helped reclaim the salt site, covering the area with dead trees in order to keep wildlife from recompacting the soil. “Having a bunch of willing hands eager to help out made the job much pleasanter and time passed quickly,” said a Forest Service employee when the tough job was finished.