We believe that women can accomplish anything men can – but know that their ideas and skills are often quieted in male-dominated spaces, like outdoor recreation and stewardship. Our society has told women that the “heavy lifting” in tasks like trail maintenance or restoration work should be left to the men. Women are either left out of these activities entirely or forced to take a back seat. 

Women have historically visited public lands in smaller numbers than men, making up approximately 39% of visits to national forests and 42% of visits to wilderness areas as recently as 2018, per the USDA Forest Service. While these numbers have increased in recent years, women still make up less than half of outdoor recreationists for several reasons, such as cultural expectations and safety. Outside Magazine recently found that 70% of women have been harassed in the outdoors.

Women have also been historically excluded from outdoor careers. Throughout National Park Service history, men have consistently outnumbered women in the workforce. Although this is slowly changing, with nearly 38% of the NPS workforce being women in 2020, a majority of these positions are administrative. There are fewer female park rangers in 2025 than in 2010. Men dominate many other outdoor professions, including guiding (representing two-thirds of that workforce) and forestry and conservation (over 70%). Women continue to face sexism and harassment in the outdoor industry, limiting their professional development potential.

Our women-only stewardship projects will give participants a safe space to voice their ideas, take the lead and flex their muscles! We seek to empower women to take on leadership roles in outdoor stewardship – and see how much they can accomplish in a space historically reserved for men. 

In addition to empowering women and developing leaders in outdoor spaces, our two stewardship projects will accomplish high-priority, backlogged maintenance needs for two public lands in western South Dakota. 

In Black Hills National Forest, our crew will work to maintain Trail No. 9N, which provides access to South Dakota’s highest point: Black Elk Peak. Its sister trail, Trail No. 9S, is the more popular route up the peak. Trail No. 9N is less traveled, as it is longer, steep, and rugged. The trail has fallen into disarray: it has been heavily impacted by horse use and many of its water bars and erosion control structures have not been maintained and are not functioning properly, causing water damage. 

Maintaining this trail is a high priority for the Forest, but  machinery cannot be used in the Black Elk Wilderness and the trail’s remoteness and ruggedness makes it difficult for crews to access. 

In Buffalo Gap National Grassland, staff are confronting public safety and erosion issues caused by the overuse of the Pinnacles dispersed camping area, located just north of Badlands National Park. The Pinnacles sees over 400 campers most weekends during peak seasons, who typically park on the east side of the road that overlooks the Badlands “wall” (cliff face). Increased use has prevented grass from growing, leading to increased erosion of the loose soil, which also becomes slippery with a small amount of rain. These conditions have become a public safety concern: users park too close to the eroding cliff and campers have gone over the edge. 

Closing camping access on the east side of the road and opening designated dispersed camping on the west side is a high priority for BGNG, which lacks the material and human resources to accomplish this project.

Short term impacts of this project include volunteer engagement, experiential learning, skill development, trail improvements and restoration. Volunteers will learn about the environmental challenges facing Black Hills National Forest and Buffalo Gap National Grassland and contribute to positive outcomes for Trail No. 9N and the Pinnacles dispersed camping area. Volunteers will gain skills in trail maintenance, fence building, restoration work and more. 

Our women-focused model will provide a safe space for female and nonbinary participants to learn outdoor leadership skills, including safety and risk management, backcountry protocols and group management. Additionally, working as part of a team to accomplish shared goals will foster a sense of community and camaraderie among participants from diverse backgrounds and different generations. 

In the long term, we expect that this project will increase female and nonbinary participation in stewardship and lead to women participants being more likely to pursue outdoor leadership positions. Women will gain confidence in their ability to do trail maintenance and other stewardship activities and develop their leadership capabilities. 

This project aims to cultivate future female and nonbinary leaders, and women who participate in this project will become inspired and empowered to pursue careers in outdoor recreation, conservation, guiding, forestry and other male-dominated outdoor professions. Women trained through this program may become repeat participants on future stewardship projects and may become leaders for Wilderness Volunteers. Additionally, this project will result in the long-term protection of fragile lands in Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and increased public safety in both BGNG and Black Hills National Forest.