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Vermont, USA
The Green Mountain Club is the founder and maintainer of the Long Trail - the oldest long distance hiking trail in America. Established in 1910 to build this trail stretching the length of Vermont, the club is a non-profit with more than 10,000 members and reliant on more than 1,000 volunteers annually. According to the first Long Trail Guide in 1917, "The Green Mountain Club was organized in 1910 for the purpose of bringing the mountains closer to the life of the people, not only of Vermont, but of the entire country. It is building the Long Trail over the Green Mountains from Massachusetts to Canada, affording a high, scenic, mountain pathway where everyone who wishes may enjoy health and recreation at a reasonable expense. It is hoped that those who tramp the Club trails will come to have a keen personal interest in the preservation and upbuilding of our forests." The Green Mountain Club not only maintains the Long Trail System's 272 miles of the main trail, 175 miles of side trails, and almost 70 shelters, but also maintains the Appalachian Trail through Vermont and a new trail in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. The Green Mountain Club supplements the remarkable work of its volunteers with both a year-round and a seasonal staff. Seasonal staff includes the Long Trail Patrol which takes on the most challenging projects of trail maintenance such as shelter repairs, stone step work, trail relocation and treadway hardening. The club also relies on caretakers who spend the summer and fall living on the trail, advising hikers on Leave No Trace etiquette, and doing the dirty work necessary to keep trails and shelters (and their privies!) up to the standards hikers in Vermont expect. The Green Mountain Club works closely with its public and private partners to conserve a permanent public route for the Long Trail. To that end, the club has conserved more than 25,000 acres of Vermont land across which 78 miles of the trail travels. The club's goal is that every inch of the Long Trail be permanently and continuously open to the public. We have 6.5 miles to go.
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