Thank you for becoming a Grand Staircase Escalante Partners Honoring the Land Trail Ambassador! Your time volunteering as a Trail Ambassador will help promote continued stewardship, instill thoughtful education, and deepen the visitor’s connection to the landscape, all while basking in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument’s beauty.
This page offers an overview of the Trail Ambassador Portal and where to find all of the resources you will need to volunteer.
On this site you will find access to our wide variety of Trail Ambassador Resources. This page includes the four online training videos along with a companion questionnaire to test your understanding of each topic as well as survey your interests as an Ambassador. On this page, you will also find The Trail Ambassador Handbook which provides quick refreshers, in depth information on Honoring the Land ethic and Leave No Trace principles as well as helpful reminders when you're in a pinch. This site also includes resources like the backcountry volunteer safety plan, and information on the 10 Essentials.
When you’re ready to volunteer, you’ll need to fill out the Request A Volunteer Day form, which will be your tool to inform us when you would like to hit the trail or trailhead. Once you submit the form, we use this Google Calendar to help you keep track when you and others are volunteering. You may receive a calendar invite in your email from GSEP staff asking if you might be interested in volunteering due to a busy weekend coming up, cancellations, or the like.
After each Ambassador day in the field, you’ll need to finish up by completing an End of Day Report. This form will help us understand your experience in the field as well as give measurable information of the Ambassador impact on visitors…think of it as your field journal 😁 Within your reporting, you’ll document visitor use by counting contacts and how they went, weighing litter, noting impacted areas for damage, vandalism, social trails and trash, visitor surveys completed, and conditions of the trail.
Some locations you’ll be patrolling may be new to you and some not so much. You’ll find an extensive page of helpful area maps and guides that cover each Trail Ambassador volunteer location. Please utilize this resource as a first timer on the trail or even if it’s your 100th time as it is an excellent addition to your field preparedness.
The GSEP staff is always ready with a listening ear, to lend a hand, and answer your questions, please never hesitate to reach out to us. You can find our contact information on the last tab of this website. If you would like to have your contact information included on the contact page for other Trail Ambassadors to view or get in touch with you (say for planning a volunteer day together or to ask questions) please let us know and we will include you on the contact roster!