Clearing over 400 miles of Idaho’s beloved trails is hard work — it takes a total of 16,614 volunteer hours to do so, to be exact.

But it’s all in a season’s work for the Idaho Trails Association.

Through 98 service projects in five of Idaho’s wilderness areas, nearly 950 volunteers brushed trails, fixed miles of tread, built or maintained a total of 936 water bars, and removed over 5,600 access-impeding logs.

It's honest work, the kind that brings back volunteers like Tom Dabrowski, 81, year after year. 

"Going out and working all day is really a lot of fun," he said, "unlike many other things, you're able to see exactly what you got done."

There's a special kind of camaraderie to be found working alongside those with similar interests, he added. 

"We have work for everyone: easy tasks all the way up to moving big logs and working with cross-cut saws," Dabrowski said. 

Volunteers completed 50% more projects in the Panhandle region alone compared to 2024, according to North Idaho Program Specialist Barbara Sammut. 

A total of 27 projects were completed throughout the Panhandle, including maintenance on English Point Trail, Coeur d'Alene River National Recreation Trail No. 20 in Shoshone County, and Fault Lake Trail No. 59 in Boundary County.

“It’s been a pretty big year,” Sammut said.

In fact, it was the nonprofit’s biggest year yet — and unlike previous years, not a single project was canceled for lack of volunteer sign-ups.

The increased interest in ITA’s volunteer projects came as discussions over the potential sale of public lands in the western United States circulated earlier this year.

“People want to protect our public lands,” Sammut said. “It’s been really special to see.”

ITA’s work has been made possible since 2010 through a number of land management partnerships, including with the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

Though USFS saw some cuts to its workforce earlier this year, the agency has remained “very supportive” of its partner agencies, Sammut said.

"It's becoming even more important for people to volunteer," Dabrowski said.

Even with this season’s successes, ITA’s work is never truly done.

The organization is in the midst of expanding its Youth Program and will offer six to eight volunteer opportunities for teens in the 2026 season.

Youth Program volunteers gain experience in using traditional tools, like crosscut saws and are educated in "leave no trace" principles and other pillars of environmental stewardship.

“It’s really inspiring for them to learn how much they can do, especially when they work together,” Sammut said.

Sammut also hopes to grow ITA’s "Women in the Wild" program, which offers women-only projects and proved to be the most popular volunteer opportunity of the 2025 season.

Community, she said, is pivotal to all that the organization is able to accomplish.

“There’s a special bond that comes with working side-by-side,” Sammut said. “We are attacking the problem together and being part of the solution.”

    Idaho Trails Association volunteers trek through Kaniksu National Forest during a trail maintenance project in July.
  

    Idaho Trails Association volunteers removed a whooping 5,601 logs from Idaho trails in 2025.