I volunteered but was told the work party was full. Why was I not included?
A huge component of our work parties is planning. We need to make sure we have the appropriate number of volunteers for the work we plan to do and the resources we have on hand. Too few volunteers and we may not be able to complete all of our planned jobs. Too many volunteers and we encounter safety concerns while performing work, or we just don’t have enough work or tools/equipment for everyone.
Why are sawyers required to be Forest Service Certified?
First and foremost, our land managers require it. Safety is a huge focus of all of our work. Our sawyers are trained to operate in the difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions found on our trails. Each of our sawyers is trained to use chainsaws effectively, efficiently and safely as well as on the full use of appropriate PPE. Sawyers are also required to be First Aid certified.
Why is it taking so long for SORBA-CSRA to clear our trails?
There are many answers to this question. We will address a few common answers.
Trail Access: We are constantly coordinating with land managers to determine when and how we can assess and begin work. A very important aspect of this coordination is respecting land manager request for no access or access limitations.
Planning: Every work party requires tens of hours of behind the scenes support work to ensure we have volunteers documented and lined up with equipment, resources, and achievable work.
Safety: We appreciate the efforts of all of our volunteers and we want to make sure they are able to do their work as safely as possible even if that comes at the cost of speed.
Scale: The scope of our current trail devastation is like nothing any of us have seen in our 25 years at SORBA-CSRA. This storm easily caused destruction on the order of 10-20x that of any other weather event in CSRA history.
Volunteers: SORBA-CSRA is a 100% volunteer effort. Volunteers are performing support and administrative functions often working around full time jobs and busy family schedules.