As the years go by, I am increasingly inspired by the unique human connections that are so critical to building and supporting our communities. I am convinced that virtually every interaction has at least the potential to make a tremendous difference in my life and the lives of others.

More specifically — from my perspective as passionate advocate for trails — I have been reflecting on some of the powerful exchanges of knowledge and values that shape our local, regional, national and even international trail systems.

I had the good fortune to attend a trail building workshop in Wisconsin taught by Willie Bittner, a renowned trail professional. Willie currently owns and operates the company Great Lakes Trailbuilders, and he and his team have built trails and trained hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers and professionals all over the world. The workshop I attended was called Stonework and Rigging for Trails, and I was joined by a fascinating group of motivated trail professionals from all over the country – and as far away as Hawaii.

Willie started the workshop with an impressive classroom presentation, but he quickly insisted on getting us out on the trails. He made the rest of the weekend a compelling hands-on experience designed to teach us to build with stone — creating essential trail structures that will potentially last for hundreds of years. We learned to select, move and split the rocks, and then we began constructing a staircase and retaining wall for a new local community trail system.

As a trail professional, I was in awe of Willie’s knowledge and skills. He had an incredible array of tools – from a carbide rock hammer (to shape stone) to a griphoist (hand operated winch to move heavy stones into place), and he knew how to safely maximize the effectiveness of each one.

As a former professional educator, I was also impressed with Willie’s skilled approach to teaching. He was prepared with a meticulously planned curriculum, and, at the same time, he was ready and able to adapt to our range of knowledge, the realities of the rocks and terrain, and even a lingering thunderstorm – common challenges and opportunities for all trail professionals.

Over the course of the weekend, I realized I was not the first person from the Upper Valley trained and inspired by Willie. When Willie described a big project he led in Patagonia, I made the link with our former Upper Valley Trails Alliance (UVTA) Summer Crew Leader, Josie Bourne.

Josie started her journey as a trail professional as a multi-year Upper Valley High School Trail Corps participant from Lebanon, NH. The UVTA Trail Corps and Trail Stewards programs help to train 60 young people and build and maintain over 100 miles of local trails every summer. After working with us, Josie stayed connected and told us about an exciting trail building opportunity in a new Argentine national park in Patagonia.

After the workshop with Willie, I reached out to Josie who has become an impressive trail professional and leader in her own right and is currently working as a Trail Crew Leader for the Deschutes Trail Coalition in Oregon. Thankfully, Josie was visiting the Upper Valley for her brother’s graduation this year and was happy to come visit us to reminisce and share trail and life stories.

In some ways these national and international mentoring connections are unique and exceptional, but they are also exemplary and have been seeded by design. Josie is not alone. UVTA has now had multiple female Trail Corps members return as Summer Crew Leaders and explore other trail organizations.

Our 2025 Summer Crew Leader, Heidi Ahlgren, is now the fourth Trail Corps graduate to pass the torch in this important leadership role. Heidi is heading into her sophomore year at Montana State University after graduating from Lebanon High School, and she does so with the skills and knowledge of a trail professional.

We are so thankful to be a part of this wider network of regional and national youth conservation corps that are training the next generation. As part of that work, we are now putting Willie’s training to work by completing multiple Upper Valley stone projects this year and teaching Trail Corps members many related skills.

Part of the reason Willie was excited to hire Josie is because he fully understands and embraces the power of training and inspiring young people. In fact, he was a founder of WisCorp – a Wisconsin youth conservation and trail corps.

It’s thrilling to have palpable evidence that these kinds of programs are creating ripples and even waves of stewardship and learning. As David Viazmenski, Hanover High School and Trail Corps graduate and Trail Steward, eloquently expressed in a testimonial last year, the Trail Corps experience helped him and his peers to “. . . discover our strength, our capability, and our power to shape the world around us.”

Randy Richardson lives in Woodstock and is development director at the Upper Valley Trails Alliance. He also serves on the Billings Park Commission and Ottauchquechee River Trail Committee. He can be reached at randy.richardson@uvtrails.org.