by Rocky Shire

The term "Board of Directors" carries images of a prestigious, important and, for some people, glamorous governing body. I do not think that a single KTC board member who has ever served in that capacity would characterize what they do as glamorous. If there is any prestige associated with the position it would have to come from the significant accomplishments and deeds of the board over the past twenty-five years to dramatically increase the number of the trails available in Kansas for the various user groups.

So, what does that leave? Every former and present board member regards the position as important for the future of Kansas's trails. They do and have always taken the job seriously because they love to be on the trail and like the idea of having them close by to enjoy. They take pride in them because of their active involvement in creating and/or maintaining them for others to enjoy. The importance of the work the Board of Directors can be clearly defined and understood in the things that they do and the decisions that they make for the trails that they have built and currently supervise and maintain.

What exactly is the work of the Kansas Trails Council Board of Directors?

The board is responsible for managing the private trust left to KTC for the expressed purpose of creating, maintaining and promoting public trails in Kansas.

The board makes prudent decisions concerning the appropriation of money for membership in state and national organizations relevant to its cause such as the American Hiking Society and the North American Mountain Biking Association and, of course, horseback riding and canoeing organizations.

The board makes important decisions concerning the appropriation of funds for the newsletter, the KTC web site and tools and equipment for use in maintaining and/or building trails for Kansas.

The board members serve as advisors in the development of new trails and outdoor recreation areas where their advice and expertise in trail building have been requested and respected.

The board plans and makes preparations for such membership activities as the Super Outdoor Weekend at Elk City Lake.

Most of the board members also serve as trail watchers and coordinators for the trails in their area.

The board devotes a great deal of time striving to find new ways to promote the cause of Kansas's trail system and new ways to appeal to the various user groups.

Okay, those pretty much cover the period right before, during and after the quarterly board meetings. So, what do they do the rest of the time for Kansas's trails?

You will usually find them out on the trail holding the business end of a bow saw, a shovel, a gas powered string cutter, or a set of loppers using them to either expand or maintain an existing trail. Being a trail coordinator or board member does not mean that you call up a crew and tell them to get out and clean up a trail. It just means that you get first dibs on the best tools and the volunteers pick what's left or they supply their own. It should be noted that sometimes the board member or coordinator supplies his/her own tools too. Sometimes the board member or trail coordinator is the only volunteer. In those cases there is no fighting over who gets what tools.

Most of the board members who have served on the board have also distinguished themselves as the hardest workers in the creation and/or maintenance of KTC trails in their area. The little story that follows is just one of the many stories of the long and hard work that board members have contributed to the cause of Kansas trails. It is not unique. It is just representative.

My case in point:

I am a wood worker with a rather extensive workshop so I volunteered to take on the job of making the sign holders, brochure boxes, and the sign-in boxes for our pilot KTC sign project. My penalty for procrastination in completing this project was to work on it in my garage workshop with the temperature hovering around 100 degrees in the shade. The total construction time for the signpost, sign holder, etc was around thirty to forty hours. That actually was the easy and fun part of this project. The rest of the project was much tougher.

When I finally had the signs ready for installation I drove to the trailheads to dig the holes and cement in the four by four posts. The temperature had "cooled off" to about 105 degrees the afternoon that I chose to do this. To understand the challenges of this phase of the project you must understand that you can stub your toe on bedrock throughout most of the Elk River Hiking Trail and the trailheads are no exception. I finally found some spots where I was able to chisel my way down through the "soil" to about twenty inches which was about the absolute minimum depth for the posts to be able to support the weight of the signs and the boxes on them. Then came the concrete and water lugged in from the road and mixed on the job site.

After about 6 hours of digging, chiseling, shoveling, mixing and shoveling again with sweat pouring into my eyes; with deer flies, flies, bumble bees and mosquitoes making non stop bombing runs on my head and back; and with a tick embedded in my chest going for the mother lode of my life's blood, I completed the project. I returned home pondering my prestigious and glamorous role as a member of the Board of Directors for the Kansas Trails Council.