Paddlers' Trail Site Stewards

Volunteer site stewards are a crucial part of the Lake Champlain Committee’s stewardship of the Lake Champlain Paddlers’ Trail (LCPT).  Stewards adopt one or more Trail sites to visit frequently during the paddling season, using their own boats.  Although each site has unique monitoring and stewardship needs, stewards will generally check site conditions on each visit, help keep the site in good shape, and make notes of what they observe on site steward checklist sheets.  LCC will meet with and in some cases visit sites with new stewards.  Periodically, stewards will come together for workdays and site steward forums to discuss issues that arise on the Lake Champlain Paddlers’ Trail.

The various sites on the Trail differ in their stewardship needs.  Certain locations, such as those at the more developed state parks, have regular staff on site and are vigorously managed.  Other public and private sites offer primitive camping, and are not staffed at all.  As use of the LCPT increases, so does the importance of having a committed group of volunteer stewards.