The Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC), in cooperation with local Appalachian Trail (A.T.) maintaining clubs and Appalachian Trail Communities™, is seeking volunteers to support A.T. Communities with outreach, education, local projects, events and initiatives.  These positions work directly with the A.T. Community Advisory Committee and the appropriate A.T. maintaining club to identify committee and club needs, and create a position that will work with and support both their interests.  Ambassadors may table events providing A.T. information, work on highlighting the A.T. in local media and through social media, reach out to engage merchants n events, reach out to non-traditional hiking audiences, and/or recruit local citizens to work on local maintenance, management and conservation projects on the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.  This is a one year term VOLUNTEER position, with the option of renewal.

 What is involved? The Appalachian Trail Community Ambassador Position will:

• Be committed to serving as a liaison in at least one designated A.T. Community™
• Attend and support at least one A.T. Community Advisory Committee meeting
• Provide community updates to ATC for enews
• Send in a brief report of happenings; one summer report and one end of year summary.
• Be available to check in remotely via Skype or phone call with other Ambassadors and ATC staff quarterly
• Send in pictures and posts for social media to share all the successes happening in the community!

  The benefits of being an Appalachian Trail Community Ambassador include:

• Announcement of your role in community program enews, blog and highlights of your efforts in enews and in other media outlets
• Opportunity to learn about and play a key role in Appalachian Trail cooperative management partnerships
• Training in A.T. history, management, ATC programs, and hike leadership
• Support from ATC staff
• Sharing A.T. experiences with a network of other A.T. Ambassadors
• The satisfaction of knowing you are contributing to the protection, management and maintenance of the A.T. and growing the next generation of A.T. stewards!

Position purpose: 

Composed of local community representatives, Appalachian Trail Community Ambassadors from designated A.T. Communities™ will be trained to facilitate outreach to community members, visitors and groups about the A.T. and local Trail maintaining clubs. Ambassadors are responsible for increasing their knowledge about the Appalachian Trail, Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the cooperative management system that is in place to help maintain and protect the A.T.
Ambassadors will become familiar with:

• A.T. Trail Club organizational structure, activities, events and volunteer opportunities;
• Support recruitment for ATC volunteer opportunities including Trail Crews, rare plant monitoring, invasive species plant monitoring and control workshops, phenology monitoring, other trail maintenance projects as regionally prioritized;
• Provide information on the A.T., ATC and Trail Club at conferences, events and workshops;
• Be encouraged to participate and lead a hike for Family Hiking Day;
• Communicate community efforts by collecting and reporting projects, participants, volunteer hours and events.

The goal of developing and training Appalachian Trail Community™ Ambassadors is to motivate participation and engagement to help bolster volunteer stewardship of the 2,186-mile Trail, to include preserving Trail lands and adjacent priority conservation landscapes critical to the Appalachian Trail recreational experience.

 A.T. Community Program overview:

Trail visionary and forester Benton MacKaye, who coined the now familiar term “regional planning” in his proposal for the Trail, never conceived of the Trail as simple, remote track in the wilderness. Rather, he advocated a linear community that would both conserve and use the natural resources of the eastern mountains in revitalizing the American people and the lands on which they depend.  Today, the Appalachian Trail is the most significant conservation corridor in the eastern United States.  Having successfully developed the Trail and its 6,000-member volunteer base, ATC is now focused on carrying out the second half of MacKaye’s vision, protecting signature landscapes and the unique cultural flavor of communities along its 14-state route from Georgia to Maine.

The Appalachian Trail Community™ program is designed to recognize communities that promote and protect the A.T.  Towns, counties, and communities along the A.T.’s corridor are considered assets by A.T. hikers and many of these towns act as good friends and neighbors to the Trail. The program serves to assist communities with local initiatives such as sustainable economic development through tourism and outdoor recreation, while preserving and protecting the A.T.

 * Bold indicates Communities that already have an Ambassador

 A.T. Communities

Dahlonega, Georgia

Gilmer County/Ellijay, Georgia

White County/Helen, Georgia

Union County/Blairsville, Georgia

Towns County/Hiawassee & Young Harris, Georgia

Franklin, North Carolina

Fontana Dam, North Carolina

Hot Springs, North Carolina

Unicoi County, Tennessee

Damascus, Virginia

Abingdon, Virginia

Marion/Smyth County, Virginia

Pearisburg, Virginia

Narrows, Virginia

Bland, Virginia

Buena Vista, Virginia

Glasgow, Virginia

Troutville, Virginia

Nelson County, Virginia

Waynesboro, Virginia

Page County/Luray, Virginia

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Front Royal/Warren County, Virginia

Clarke County/Berryville, Virginia

Harpers Ferry/Bolivar, West Virginia

Greater Waynesboro Area, Pennsylvania

Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania

Duncannon, Pennsylvania

Wind Gap, Pennsylvania

Delaware Water Gap, Pennsylvania

Warwick, New York

Harlem Valley A.T. Community (Dover & Pawling), New York

North Adams, Massachusetts

Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Norwich, Vermont

Hanover, New Hampshire

Rangeley, Maine

Monson, Maine

Millinocket, Maine