Ice Age Trail Alliance

Programs: Iata has built and maintains about 675 miles of the ice age national scenic trail that are open for public use. Iata coordinates this work with its 21 chapters and volunteers from throughout wisconsin and beyond. In addition to diverse trail construction, maintenance, stewardship, and outreach and educational activities that occur on an ongoing basis, iata added 28,000' of sustainable trail tread and brought an additional 19. 6 miles up to national park service standards. Seventy-six trail structures including 1,646' of wooden structures and 650' of rock walls and 5 new dispersed camping areas were built. Iata's mobile skills crew program generates almost 40% of all volunteer hours reported by the iata. Total volunteers for the year were 2,081, contributing 79,196 hours.

the iata protected properties in 2017 that protect approximately 1. 2 miles of trail and 56 acres. Specifically, iata acquired six properties in both fee and easement. All these lands will host a variety of public recreational opportunities that include the ice age national scenic trail.

iata's annual conference was attended by over 315 people. Twelve 45-120 minute seminars were held, including topics such as highlighting backpacking, field trips and tours, cold cacheing, geology, land protection, hikers forum, and what's on tap. Though four hikes were planned, near blizzard conditions reduced that number to two. A keynote speaker, evening social hours, an all-member meeting, and a chapter leadership forum rounded out the event. Iata's youth education program, saunters, included 22 school districts across the state with 26 program options. In 2017 saunters engaged 2,136 registered students and teachers in active learning along the ice age national scenic trail. Students participated in multi-day backpacking outings in the chequamegon nicolet national forest, a variety of service events including everything from trail construction to landscape restoration, and a series of guided hikes focusing on the glacial geology of wisconsin.