Volunteer Hours Logged Since 2011:
Education
July 8, 2025
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Carson Blaker
MWBA volunteers steward local multi-use trails in two basic ways: maintenance and (fire) restoration. Nature is always changing with flora, fauna, and even the geology constantly on the move, so we work hard to keep trails clear, consistent, and sustainable against erosion and overgrowth. Whatever sort of project we’re doing, we have an array of tools to get the job done.
Our most frequent task when restoring or maintaining trails is brush clearance. We go big when we brush a trail back. Most of the trails in the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument are designated multi-use for cyclists, hikers, and equestrians, so we maintain a trail corridor that can accommodate at least the width of mountain bike handlebars and the height of a horse and rider. Keeping trails brushed wide also helps sight lines and prevents tread erosion and decay. Also, going big means we can wait longer before going back.
Whether or not brushwork is the order of the day, volunteers usually carry basic brushing tools like hand saws and loppers. These tools are easy to stow away in a pack and are highly effective when tuning up a trail corridor. Saws are good for woody branches between 1 and 3 inches in diameter. Pruning loppers can handle anything up to about 1.5 inches. We also employ battery-powered tools like reciprocating saws and auto-loppers. The battery saws can cut brush down to below the tread, and can also tackle larger diameter cutting projects that would be impossible with loppers or much slower with a hand saw.
Auto-loppers are a relatively recent addition to our arsenal. They are as powerful as handled loppers but require a tiny fraction of the effort compared to manual loppers. They are also safer to use because they can be operated with one hand, freeing your other hand to manage the branch you’re trimming after it’s disconnected from the shrub or tree instead of letting it fall to the ground (or onto your head). Auto loppers also allow volunteers who are not strapping youngsters with bulging muscles and endless energy to get enormous amounts of work done.
When the brushing is done we look down to the tread. Trails degrade in various ways. Misshapen tread can capture water and form long ruts. Overgrown trails force users to the outside edge, causing more degradation. And even sustainably-built treads can be covered by landslides. Luckily we have some tools to help. We use square shovels for tread scraping and round point shovels for digging holes. We have a dizzying array of hoes: Highlanders, Travis tools, Hoe-rakes (HRs), and the aptly named Beast - a dual-headed tool with a highlander hoe on one side and an axe blade on the other. We also use pick-mattocks, fire rakes, rock bars (or pry bars), pulaskis (root ballers), and McLeods.
The McLeod is our stalwart, often used by wildland firefighters, and is the template for some of our more modern tool shapes. A long handle is topped by a rectangular flat metal head that has a wide-toothed rake on one side and a sharpened blade on the opposite. It chops up hardened tread with the blade, scrapes and rakes dirt and duff with the rake, and then the flat end is used to tamp down loose tread when finishing. Our HRs are a lot like McLeods, just with a smaller head and a sharper edge on the hoe side.
MWBA has also invested in smaller versions of HRs and fire rakes, the orange-handled Backslope tools. The smaller form factor is easier to carry and, like the auto-loppers, allows for a wider range of energetic capabilities in our volunteers. Crucially, the smaller treadwork tools are also easier to use in scenarios where the tread is very narrow and there isn’t room to swing a full-sized tool.
When you start out volunteering on MWBA dig days, you’ll have your choice of tools at our tailgate safety meeting. Pick the one (or two) that works for the jobs you expect to be doing and for your size and strength, but don’t limit yourself to that tool once we’re out on the trail. We encourage volunteers to switch off on tools and projects so the work doesn’t get monotonous. Leaders will explain how to choose tools effectively for working in groups based on the projects for the day. If everyone is raking but nobody is lopping branches, there’s nothing to rake! And if everyone is digging up tread but nobody is scraping it away or tamping it down then projects only get half done. When we coordinate the work the jobs get done!
The tailgate safety meeting is also where we'll review how to use the tools safely and pass out required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as helmets, gloves, and eye protection. Feel free to bring your own gloves and eye-pro! MWBA puts extra emphasis on safety since the tools are often inherently dangerous and the work happens in remote locations.
Out on the trail, let gravity help you as much as possible. Use the weight of the tool to drive it from waist or shoulder level instead of swinging it above your head. Pull, scrape, or shovel loose dirt and debris downhill, never uphill. And don’t use tools beyond their purpose: a McLeod is not a pry bar and a rake is not a hoe. Well, unless it’s a hoe-rake then it’s both!
Once you are attending our dig days regularly, you may find yourself in charge of one of our power tools. In addition to the reciprocating saws mentioned above we have several other gas- and battery-powered tools that are serious force multipliers for the efforts of our volunteers. When conditions allow, we put these tools to work clearing huge swathes of encroaching (and sometimes poisonous!) brush.
There are a few other tool kits we employ with less regularity but great enthusiasm when needed. For instance, our rockwork kits feature sledge hammers, boulder nets, rock pounders, post-holers, stake drivers, and buckets. We have a trench shovel and plenty of weld wire for installing basket retaining walls, Sutter walls, deadman anchors, and various other tread improvements.
Finally, MWBA has a team of volunteer Sawyers, certified by the USDA Forest Service to operate chainsaws in the forest. Generally used on smaller strike missions (sometimes you’ll see them on our big volunteer efforts), our chainsaw teams have three basic roles: Supervisor, Sawyer, and Swamper. Class A Sawyers operate the chainsaw, bucking--cutting up--deadfall that has landed across or along a trail. Supervisors (Class B Sawyers) consult on the cut plan and monitor the project while the Sawyer works. And Swampers do the heavy lifting: moving bucked rounds off the trail and raking or scraping the tread clean after the project is finished.
If you’re interested in working with our chainsaw team, the first thing to do is start coming regularly to our monthly volunteer dig days. Learn the basics of trail maintenance and restoration; show consistency in your efforts and progression of your skills; and get friendly with our Sawyers. They may just invite you out to swamp for them one day, and then you’re really in for it!
