Why the help is needed
In the past our efforts went into developing a watershed management plan, planning and building The Bluff Trail, and seeking protection for the Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area. Protection was finally achieved in October 2011.
Since then the trail has become well known and increasingly used — about which we are very happy — but it has also meant that most of our effort now goes into maintaining it. In a given year that is:
- Monitoring and reporting on the state of the trail
- Cleaning up inappropriate fire pits and the residues left by hikers
- Holding trail-building workshops
- Maintaining the boardwalks and the signage
- Cutting half the trail back, every year
- Picking up garbage from the parking lot and the trailhead
- Checking the sign-in book at the Pot Lake Loop junction
- Attending Halifax Regional Trails Association meetings once a month
- Writing the funding applications that pay for all of the above
Most of that work is carried out by members of the WRWEO board, with additional volunteers sought for particular events and activities. We also collaborate with the St. Margaret's Bay Stewardship Association on stewardship of the wider wilderness area, and on youth and family events.
The obligation is real
Our ability to run those wider activities has been compromised by the need to give priority to maintaining The Bluff Trail, because we have legal obligations in that regard. The trail is user-maintained. If we could not maintain it properly, it would have to be closed.
Where help is needed
Cleaning the parking lot
An ongoing task that can easily be done weekly, and is particularly necessary in spring. It works at any scale: one person spending ten minutes or an hour collecting litter, or something more ambitious — a volunteer setting a date and inviting WRWEO members, other volunteers and the public to clean not just the lot surface but the surrounding woods, where much of the winter's litter gathers. There are a few large and heavy items that would need a truck. WRWEO can supply garbage and recycling bags and work gloves.
Trail clean-up and talking to people
Especially since 2011 we have seen increasing evidence of harmful human impacts on the trail: litter, food waste such as fruit peel and nut shells, toilet paper, dog waste, and unauthorized campfires. We would like more users to take an active role in collecting and packing out all of it — and to dismantle and remediate unauthorized campfire rings as quickly as possible, so that other users do not see them and assume campfires are permitted. There are no authorized campfire sites anywhere along The Bluff Trail.
The trail also needs volunteers willing to spend time talking to others out there, spreading the word and encouraging everyone to improve their stewardship practice. That conversation is the single most effective thing the program does: in 2024, stewards spoke with 1,904 of the 2,265 people they saw.
Trail counting
It would be very helpful to have a better sense of how many people use the trail. Checking and switching the sign-in book at the Pot Lake Loop junction, and tallying what is in it, directly feeds the funding applications that pay for maintenance.
Work days and workshops
Brush cutting, boardwalk building, stone tread construction, campsite inspections and sign runs happen through the year. Training is provided, and no experience is expected on your first outing. Stone tread construction has been the standard maintenance technique here since 2010, introduced with the guidance of Garnet McLaughlin of Cobequid Trail Consulting.
Work that is not on the trail
Indoors or out, for a day or for days. Grant writing and fundraising, communications and social media, volunteer coordination, financial oversight, photography, writing an article or an opinion piece for the website. If you would like to help in some way, drop us a line.
Become a Bluff Trail Steward
The Bluff Trail Stewardship Program recruits and trains volunteer trail stewards, who carry out regular monitoring, engage with trail users, and remediate damage. Four new stewards were trained in 2024.
- Submit a trail report after any walk — 130 came in during 2024.
- Log your hours in the BTSP Stewards and Volunteers club on Strava.
- Read the volunteer handout (PDF), which carries the Leave No Trace principles used on our signs.
Join the board
No AGM was held in 2024 for want of directors and volunteers, and WRWEO is actively recruiting. As a regular trail user you have an invaluable perspective on what makes the trail work and where it can improve.
What the commitment looks like
- Roughly six to eight board meetings a year, usually online over Zoom, plus the annual general meeting
- Taking part in discussions and decisions informed by your experience on the trail
- Contributing to the organization's mission and goals
- Taking part in activities based on your interest and expertise — fundraising, trail maintenance, communications and social media, volunteer engagement
- Helping with fundraising and seeking grant opportunities
- Promoting conservation of the wilderness and Leave No Trace principles
Experience we are particularly looking for
- Trail knowledge and advocacy — understanding of the trail's condition, user needs and potential improvements
- Volunteer coordination — mobilizing and supporting the volunteer base
- Communications and outreach — telling the story of the trail and engaging the community
- Fundraising and grant writing — securing the resources that keep the trail going
- Environmental stewardship — conservation and sustainable trail practice
- Financial oversight — managing the resources that keep operations running
- Legal and governance — keeping a non-profit running properly
All strong candidates who are active trail users can put their names forward. Send a brief expression of interest to [email protected]: your connection to the trail, any relevant experience or skills, why you want to contribute, and where you feel you could make a significant impact. Any member is eligible to be elected a director, and the board numbers between five and fifteen. Directors serve without remuneration.
What the by-laws say about directors
Get in touch
General volunteering: [email protected] or
902-876-7377.
Board expressions of interest: [email protected].