Please join us in welcoming Stephanie Campbell as the new Eastern Regional Coordinator for the Pacific Northwest Trail Association!

As Regional Coordinator, Stephanie will head up the operations on the trail's east end where it runs through Montana and Idaho, about 400 miles of the Pacific Northwest Trail's 1,200 total mileage. She will be based out of the quaint little resort town of Whitefish, Montana within a stone's throw from one of our nation's crown jewels, Glacier National Park, where most of our thru-hikers begin their trek. 

Originally from the Midwest, Stephanie is lucky enough to have adventured all across the country's vast and incredible landscape in order to pursue her life's passion for connecting people to one another and to their public lands through conservation and stewardship, especially in working with trails. Utilizing her background in communications and community engagement, Stephanie has gained fantastic, life-changing experiences in a diverse array of roles including developing a trail town program for the Great Allegheny Passage, leading backcountry and frontcountry trail crews for the US Fish & Wildlife and Forest Services using traditional tool skills, teaching environmental education as a park ranger, and patrolling mountainsides as part of a search & rescue team. When she's not working, Stephanie can often be found in the wilderness following winding rivers in hopes of spotting mountain goats.

Over the next few months, Stephanie will be taking time to explore the trail primarily where it traverses Montana and Idaho as well as spreading the word about the Pacific Northwest Trail by attending local events, meeting with partner organizations, and visiting towns the trail runs through. Stephanie is looking forward to spending time on the trail and with those who enjoy it and work to protect it. She is your resource for the trail in Montana and Idaho so please feel free to contact her. Stephanie would love hear from any and all user groups from thru-hikers to mountain bikers as all inputs are appreciated in order to learn about this spectacular and valuable public natural resource. 

She can be contacted at [email protected] or at her office: 750 2nd St. W, Suite A, Whitefish, MT 59937.

 PNTA's SKY Job Corps Crew members work on stairs along the Lake Serene Trail.  Crew Leader Cody Pohern (shown in orange) leads crew members in stair building while PNTA mascot Zeus oversees the work. 

The Service Knowledge Youth (SKY) Job Corps crews have started up for the season and are doing wonderful work in Western Washington. Led by Crew Leader Cody Pohern, each crew is made up of new students with Cody acting as lead. Crews work along the trail corridor in Western Washington and on US Forest Service contracts.

The SKY Job Corps program is a partnership between the Pacific Northwest Trail Association and Job Corps with the goal of offering trade skills to high school and college-aged students. Through the Pacific Northwest Trail Association, Job Corps students learn the ins and outs of trail maintenance and construction.

We caught up with the SKY Job Corps crew while they worked a US Forest Service contract on the Lake Serene Trail. Devin, a crew member who has been able to move up to second-in-command, is gearing up for a career as a masonry foreman. He feels he is learning much from his time with the SKY Job Corps program. He notes "As a masonry foreman, I will be in charge of assuring that the days' tasks are properly performed. As this is my second time on crew with the PNTA, I have a better idea of what we need to do and the other guys really listen to me. It was my idea to build the rock foundation under the stairs, and Cody seemed really open to the idea of me explaining it to the others. I really hope I get to work on another crew with the PNTA as I really enjoy the work, learning how to lead the crew members, and interacting with Cody and Lewis (Regional Coordinator, Western Washington)."

For more information from the Western Washington Region, contact Regional Coordinator Lewis Trout: [email protected].

Crew Member Devin admiring the trail he and his fellow crew members are rebuilding.