Volunteers needed for chance to open Cape Horn Trail

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Ryan Ojerio
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Joined: September 21st, 2008, 6:31 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Volunteers needed for chance to open Cape Horn Trail

Post by Ryan Ojerio » February 2nd, 2018, 1:30 pm


Interested in hiking the full Cape Horn loop all year?


The Cape Horn Conservancy is spearheading a proposal to provide volunteer trail "ambassadors" to spend 4 hours on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday to share information about nesting falcons. If successful, the program could lead to the lifting of part or all of the seasonal closure. Join the team of volunteers needed to make this work.

RSVP to join other hikers at a local pub for one of these short training sessions next week!: https://www.capehornconservancy.org/wor ... ignup.html



Volunteer Training Opportunities

Thursday, Feb. 8 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 11 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

54°40′ Brewing Company
3801 S Truman Rd #1
Washougal, WA 98671


See more info below, from the Cape Horn Conservancy and Friends of the Gorge.


One of the most magnificent birds in North America, the Peregrine falcon, resides in the cliffs of the Columbia Gorge. We need your help to ensure this once-endangered bird continues to thrive in the Gorge for years to come. As many of you know, the lower portion of the Cape Horn trail has been closed from February 1 thru July 15 to protect local falcons during the nesting season. The U.S. Forest Service is now considering environmental stewardship and monitoring options for protecting the falcons and believes the hiking community can play an important role in helping balance protections for falcons with the hiking community’s interest in keeping the trail open year-round. But to make this happen, we need your help.

Friends of the Columbia Gorge is supporting Cape Horn Conservancy (CHC) in building a new model of stewardship and monitoring that engages the hiking community in active partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. To do this we need to build a network of dedicated, informed and responsible volunteers. Volunteer trail stewards will be stationed at two different locations on the trail, interacting with hikers, educating them about falcon habitat and how to minimize disturbance to the nesting birds, while passing out support materials. When this environmental stewardship system is ready to put in place, the Forest Service is willing to open the trail year-round. We would like to get started right away to be ready for the spring hiking season.

This is a significant commitment. At a minimum, we need volunteers to cover every Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (in four-hour shifts) during the nesting season (Feb 1 - July 15). We also need volunteers to work Monday - Thursday during the weeks of spring break, which are the last week of March (in Oregon) and the first week of April (in Washington). The Forest Service would prefer that we steward the trail five days a week, and we will work toward that goal once we have the weekends and spring breaks scheduled. Establishing this level of volunteer steward presence will be a win both for helping safeguard falcon habitat and for demonstrating how hikers can be active stewards for the wildlife that make the Gorge such a rich and vibrant place.

CHC will provide trainings for volunteers on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 11 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. The trainings will be held at 54°40′ Brewing Company, 3801 S Truman Rd #1, Washougal, WA 98671. It is critical we cover every four-hour shift for both locations on the trail in order to meet the conditions agreed on with the Forest Service. If we have 80 volunteers, we can cover all the shifts with each person doing one shift per month. If we have only 40 volunteers, it would take two shifts per month.

Now is your opportunity to make a difference. Please step up. Simply click this link and fill out the form. Please make sure we have your email address and phone number. When we have more details about trainings and the scheduling of each shift, we will be in touch.

This is an incredible opportunity for everyone who cares about the wildlife and the trails of the Gorge. The Cape Horn trail is one of the premier hiking trails in the Gorge and we now we have the chance to demonstrate that hikers and falcons can peacefully coexist year-round.
Washington Trails Association
Southwest Washington Regional Manager
[email protected]
(360) 722-2657

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