Vermont’s Green Mountain Club looks to the future

The Green Mountain Club, based in Waterbury, Vermont, is a membership based nonprofit organization that is responsible for the maintenance of the Long Trail system, including the 272-mile footpath through the wilderness, 185 miles of side trails and 70 backcountry campsites. The GMC also participates in maintenance and protection of Vermont’s 100-mile portion of the Appalachian Trail, a long-distance national scenic trail that extends from Georgia to Maine.

The mission of the Green Mountain Club is to make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people by protecting and maintaining the Long Trail system and fostering, through education, the stewardship of Vermont’s hiking trails and mountains. The GMC is headed by executive director Michael DeBonis, who has been with the organization for three years.

Over the years, as use of the Long Trail system has risen and development pressures have increased, the GMC has evolved from being focused on purely trail building and maintenance to a more comprehensive program focused on protecting natural resources from overuse, protecting the trail from development, safeguarding special natural areas, backcountry sanitation and waste disposal, educating hikers and publishing guidebooks and maps.

In short, the GMC is managing how people relate to and interact with our hiking trails, campsites and their surrounding land. DeBonis put it this way: “We’re providing a wild experience. We manage the resource to provide that.”

A stewardship program at GMC manages land conservation and easements. As a maintainer and protector of the Long Trail, the GMC works in partnership with the Green Mountain National Forest, state of Vermont, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, and private land owners.

Learn more here…

 

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