Feature: Anton Schauerte

Hey folks!

Now that we've successfully revamped our website (check it out if you haven't yet!), we're excited to bring back the features section that we were running, in which our friends and colleagues have discussed their own exciting work in various fields relating to the environment and outdoors.

This week we've got Anton Schauerte onboard. Anton worked with Henry at the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in central Minnesota back in the Summer of 2012, and actually biked from his childhood home in Michigan to Minnesota for his first day on the job. Suffice to say, Anton is a generally awesome dude who loves to travel. He studied Urban Planning at the University of Minnesota and now heads up a trail work crew in Colorado for the Southwest Conservation Corps.

Hey everyone, my name's Anton!

I build mountain bike and hiking trails throughout the San Isabel, Gunnison, and Pike National Forests in central Colorado along with my crew of seven (1 other leader & 6 members). We range in age from 19-25 and have come in from all over the country.

The non-profit that I work for, Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC), does a variety of environmental work aside from trail-building. Specifically, SCC focuses on projects in ecological restoration, erosion control, and fuels mitigation. At our branch of SCC in Salida, CO there are nine adult crews and a handful of youth crews. Projects typically run for nine days in a row, followed by four days off. Folks sleep in tents or hammocks while on projects, and usually off project as well.

On Day 1 of a tyipical project, crews will stock up on food (which is paid for!), drive to the project site, and get lined out on the work. Days 2-8 are spent working and Day 9 is for coming back in to town to clean/prepare gear for the next project. This season, my favorite project was when we planted over 2,000 trees at an abandoned gold mine just outside South Park, CO. Additionally, we've been able to build new trail for the Continental Divide Trail, which goes 3,100 miles from Canada to Mexico!

Many thanks to Henry and Grant for the cool work they're doing and for asking me to be featured on here. Cheers!

- Anton