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Reminiscing : While I was PWV Chair... Margaret Shaklee

PWV had a Remarkable year while I was the Chair:

• Congress voted to delay a Federal Gov’t shutdown with days to spare.
• A late-spring, 3-ft deep snowstorm made us move Spring Training from Camp to Campus; we had 48 hours to move the entire event to the USFS campus in Fort Collins.
• The CLRD (USFS) required PWV members to be recertified every 5 years; we established a Recertification Committee to address this and held our first Recertification
• Effects of beetle-kill significantly impacted trails; in 2017, we cleared 2,658 downed trees from our trails
• Over 300 members submitted a Volunteer Agreement form in 2017.
• We were challenged to find volunteers to fill key positions, which may result in some changes to the expectations of PWV members.

We Responded

As PWV Chair, I maintained an open-door policy during my term. Members were invited to stop by the USFS office on the first Fridays of each month to share their opinions, ask questions, or just get to know me. I hope that future Chairs will do something similar. The Chats were valuable both to me and the general membership.
I continued to search for an effective way for Board members and Officers to communicate the business of PWV with all PWVs. We used the broadcast emails, but there are other effective ways, such as Facebook. Your suggestions and ideas are most welcome.

We Revitalized

• I met with most of PWV’s committee chairs to review and update their Organization Handbook pages
• We merged, renamed & updated the purposes of some Committees & Programs
• We organized the first annual Committee Chair Conference for November 11, 2017
• We decided to review & update the PWV Bylaws in 2018

We Reached Out

Our Public Outreach included staffing booths at local events, Sunday Meet-Up hikes, Restoration public work days, and Weed Pulls open to the public. We also made presentations to Pole Mountain Resource Group in Wyoming, to the Red Feather Lakes “Mountain” Lions, to the Brazilian Tech Group, and to Foothills Unitarian Church, and at the NWSA Wilderness Workshop in Russellville Arkansas.
We assisted the Friends of Eagles Nest Wilderness in reforming their group and Board

We Recruited

• Along with the Recruiting Chair, we reviewed and revised our recruiting program
• We recruited 41 new PWVs
• Our Recruit class of 2017 was reduced to 50 from the usual 80, because of the new Recertification requirement. 39 Recruits completed Patrol Certification (KON and ST), and 2 joined the Off-Trail program as non-patrolling members.

We Retained

We kept members engaged with regular email announcements of activities, on-line event registration, and the PWV Event Calendar on the PWV.org website. Affiliation Gatherings continued to be popular and fun and educational. Join us this winter starting in October at CB & POTTS, on Horsetooth in Fort Collins.

We Reinforced

PWV offered a New Blended Approach to First Aid/CPR Certification & Recertification
We offered Field Classes in Geology, Snakes, & Butterflies, etc.
We’ve expanded the Leave No Trace Program

• Trained 9 PWVs to be LNT Trainers
• Introduced LNT Patrols

We Reviewed

PWV constantly evaluates our training programs and instructors with a goal to improve our Supplemental and Recruit Training programs.

• We created an effective way to remind participants to complete their evaluations for Leave No Trace Patrols and Mentor Patrols
• We increased the Mentor Patrol evaluation response rate from 49% in 2016 to 80% in 2017.
• We refined the Training Course evaluation forms to improve consistency; we now ask trainers for class rosters.

We ReBooted

Remember... PWVs Hike or Ride with a Purpose. We continue to offer other ways to patrol:

• Winter Patrols
• Kids In Nature
• Adopt-A-Highway
• Trailhead Hosting

Our Non-Patrolling Program is getting bigger and better each year. We have a new chair of the program, who is working hard to build the program.

We Reacted

Our Trail Management and Rebuilding programs are working hard to keep the trails open and safe.

• Restoration Crews
  • Finished North Fork Trail
  • Finished Lion Gulch Trail
  • Began Young Gulch Trail—scheduled to open at the end of 2018
• Adopt-A-Trail on North Fork can now resume operations
• Weed Crew conducted 20 Weed Pulls on trails in or near “wilderness”
• Trail Crew and other members removed 2,658 trees from trails by October 2017; back in 2016, PWVs removed 1,180 trees.
• On-line Equipment Reservations received over 100 requests

We Recertified

We introduced the USFS-Required Recertification Program. 23 PWVs recertified. They attended Kick-Off Night and hiked a 3.4-mile trail in 4 hours with a 15 lb. daypack.
When asked to evaluate the Recertification process, “RECERTS” scored 4.3 out of 5 points for Training Trail, Manuals, and Overall. We postponed Stock Recertification till 2018.

We Pre$erved

PWV’s Endowment Fund, which started in 2010 with $10,000, grew to $68,600 in 2017. We bestowed the first Endowment Grant of $1,500 to Restoration. Donations to Endowment = $2,620 in 2017.
Special Thanks for their contributions to Poudre Wilderness Volunteers go to:

• Clinton Family Foundation = $5,000
• Foothills Unitarian Church = $1,994
• Odell Brewing = in kind donations

Donations to General Fund were as follows: Corporate/Non-Profit = $2,292, Restricted (Walmart) = $1,000, Individuals = $560, Amazon Smile Program = $224, and Grocery Store Programs = $2,320. Grocery Store Cards generated 28% of PWV donations for 2017! Thanks to all of you who are using the grocery gift cards. KEEP USING your cards to buy groceries, gas, pay for Rx at Safeway, King Soopers, & any affiliates. It has a very positive impact on all PWV programs. Cards are now free to PWVs. King Soopers cards come preloaded with $2.50 and Safeway with $5.00. Remember to RELOAD your gift cards. You still get your gas points at King Soopers & Safeway, plus when you use a credit card to re-load your gift card, you get your credit card company’s points. It is a win, win, win! Why not send cards as stocking stuffers to your family or friends in other locations?
Also REMEMBER to go to SMILE.AMAZON– When you order anything from Amazon.

We Revised

Don’t forget to check out the new way to donate to PWV on the PWV.org website. Thanks to Jerry Hanley and Karl Riters for completing this project.
Also NOTE: Your one-time donations to PWV on Colorado Gives Day, December 5, 2017, will qualify PWV for a boost from a $1 Million Incentive Fund and count toward the prize tally, if your donations process successfully on December 5, 2017. Stay Tuned... More details to be announced later

We Responded

The Board of Directors has established five high-level elements of PWV’s Strategic Plan:

1. Increase new-member retention rate each year
2. First-year and veteran members reach their target goal of six or more patrols each year
3. Achieve an overall “priority patrolling” target level
4. Provide a relevant, robust training program for members
5. Increase volunteer hours (patrol, non-trail, & total)

The newly formed Strategic Plan committee, chaired by Jerry Hanley, will work with PWV committees to help them develop their own strategic plans. The PWV Strategic Plan is being measured through your patrols, recording of your non-trail hours, and your participation and evaluation of the training program.

We Remembered

We paused to remember two valued PWV members who passed away in 2017.
  Judy Christensen and Tom Peterson.

We Recognized

As PWV Chair, I was honored to recognize the Web Team, Restoration Crew, Recruiting Chair, Kids In Nature Chair, and Weed Management Chair for their significant contributions to PWV.
Poudre Wilderness Volunteers values long service. PWV honors members who’ve reached service milestones by achieving the following criteria:

• 5-yr pin = 5 or more active years of service and 30 or more patrols
• 10-yr pin = 10 or more active years of service and 60 or more patrols
• 15-yr pin = 15 or more active years of service and 90 or more patrols
• 20-yr pin = 20 or more active years of service and 120 or more patrols

78% (32/39) of our newest patrol members met or exceeded PWV’s patrol expectations.
We proudly recognized the following members for their work on Patrols: