Quote Originally Posted by rafe View Post
Yep, there's some ageism there, ya think? Remember also that a lot of trail maintainers and builders are in the Redford and Newman and Nolte demographic. The majority, from what I've seen. You know, the folks who organize and do the real work of making the trail a thing.

Whether it's trail maintenance, little league, boy scouts, food banks, or whatever there just aren't a sufficient number of younger folks to replace the older folks doing much of the work when they need to stop for health reasons (or pass away). It's an ongoing issue since at least the 1990s, nothing new in 2015. Older organizers recognize it, but there have been few if any real solutions to increase volunteerism among Gen X, Y, or Millennials. Unless there are, the future of all things that depend upon volunteers are not going to continue as-is much longer.

(And please, I know there are younger volunteers--especially for short periods of time like multi-day work trips to do special trail projects--just not nearly enough for most of the rest of the year, or to adopt and solidly maintain sections of trail, shelters, etc. It could simply be a long-term commitment problem even though we see a fewyoung folks out there. Since many of the current aged volunteers did get started as young folks, I have to think that this is a more recent phenomenon.)

Volunteers who are Baby Boomers and the "greatest generation" before them are literally and figuratively a dying breed not being replaced one-to-one or even close to that. That's a fact, no need to debate it. But are there any practical ideas at our cyber campfire for improving that situation?