After receiving the Leave No Trace Gold Designation, the Grand County Trail Ambassador Program shows no signs of slowing down
In November 2023, the Grand County Trail Ambassador Program was the first in the country to receive the Leave No Trace Gold Designation. Now, Program Director Anna Sprout is using that momentum to grow volunteer involvement and continue expanding the reach of the program.
The Trail Ambassador Program began as a one-person operation started by Grand County’s Active Transportation and Trails Division in 2019. In 2021, the Grand County Commission voted to set aside $15,000 to create a pilot trail ambassador program.
Remembering that decision, Division Manager Maddie Logowitz said, “We’d already kind of had ideas of what that would look like. And so when there was funding available, we were kind of poised and ready to develop that program.”
The first season began in fall 2021, and the six staff members educated over 4,300 visitors. Since then, the program has grown to include eight to 10 staff members and a couple of volunteers who have educated over 100,000 people as of May 2024.
In addition, the program has expanded from a focus on hiking trailheads to include mountain biking and climbing trailheads. This year is the first they are adding ambassadors for motorized trail users to the team. Program staff and leadership partner with Science Moab, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service to conduct training and expand programming.
The program includes two seasons each year: spring from March through June and fall from September through October.
During the season, trail ambassadors are posted at popular trailheads, including Corona Arch, Grandstaff Canyon, and Mill Creek Canyon. In brief conversations, trail ambassadors seek to educate visitors on their three main themes: how to protect the landscape, how to protect themselves and how to respect others on the trail.
A primary focus of interactions is explaining why visitors are asked to hike only on designated trails. Educating hikers on the existence of biocrust and its importance to the local environment helps keep recreation contained to the managed trail and minimizes the damage that might otherwise occur with a high volume of visitors.
Trail ambassadors also help educate visitors who have potentially never experienced the desert on how to keep themselves safe. The area in and around Moab is full of a diverse range of recreational activities that attract visitors from throughout the nation and the world. But there’s a reason that the Grand County Search and Rescue team is among the busiest teams in Utah.
The desert can often be unforgiving, so trail ambassadors also provide water, electrolytes and other information suited to each activity to be proactive in helping visitors minimize risk.
“Our educational incentives include WAG Bags, Moab Trail Steward stickers, spill kits, water bottles and electrolytes,” Sprout said. “Each one of these items reinforces the seven Leave No Trace principles and the five TREAD Lightly practices.”
It’s also important for the ambassadors to help visitors respect both other visitors and local community members. This might include anything from observing drone regulations to following hiking etiquette to being respectful while in the town.
“We really want to make sure that people are setting themselves up to have positive interactions,” Logowitz said.
The Grand County Trail Ambassador Program is expansive and innovative, and has grown to fit the needs of a highly visited but delicate ecosystem. Logowitz believes their program can inspire other areas throughout Utah to create their own programs.
“We’re not alone in becoming a popular area because there’s beautiful landscapes all over Utah,” Logowitz said. “Trying to explain [Leave No Trace] behaviors that aren’t typical in other parts of the country or other parts of the world is a challenge for everybody.”
Looking to the future, Sprout hopes to sustain their programs and expand volunteer programming in the coming years.
“Since 2022, our volunteers have educated over 1,000 visitors in the field,” Sprout said. “Our volunteers are a vital part of our program and we appreciate their efforts on trail. We’re hoping to expand our volunteer offerings this year. … We’re looking forward to pairing volunteers with our Trail Ambassador staff on weekends to expand our reach.”
Those interested in volunteering with the Grand County Trail Ambassador Program should be on the lookout for training opportunities in the fall.
