Forest Stewards Guild
Grants Awarded
The aim of this project is to restore, repair, and improve heavily used trails and recreation areas across the Santa Fe and Cibola National Forests and the Pueblo of Jemez. Rapid population growth, wildfire impacts, and erosion have accelerated damage to New Mexico’s outdoor infrastructure, creating an urgent need for intervention to protect natural resources and ensure continued public access. This collaborative effort brings together the National Forest Foundation, RiverSource, the Pueblo of Jemez, and the U.S. Forest Service to complete high-priority restoration work while training and empowering the next generation of forest stewards. Primary Goals Restore Trail Infrastructure: Repair and improve trails damaged by overuse, wildfire, and erosion through debris removal, tread reconstruction using durable materials, and improved drainage. Support Ecosystem Resilience: Complete improvements designed to withstand heavy recreation use while promoting proper public access. Fuels reduction work will also increase fire resilience and support healthier, more fire-adapted ecosystems. Train Future Forest Stewards: Provide hands-on training, certifications, and career pathways for young crew members through the Forest Stewards Youth Corps. Key Project Areas Santa Fe National Forest: Repair and improve 25 miles of trail impacted by wildfire (including the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire) and heavy use, along with construction or improvements to up to 161 recreation sites serving growing population centers. Work includes debris removal, tread reconstruction, drainage improvements, and installation of signage to improve safety and appropriate trail use. Cibola National Forest: Repair and improve 15 miles of trail, complete construction or improvements at up to 53 recreation sites, and prepare up to 3,000 acres for prescribed burns. Recreation work will focus largely on the heavily used 4th of July Canyon area. Prescribed burn preparation includes removal of dead and downed fuels, construction of burn piles, and up to 9.5 miles of fireline around planned burn units. Pueblo of Jemez: Repair and improve approximately 3 miles of trail, including the highly visited Red Rocks Trail. Work includes debris removal, tread reconstruction, and extensive drainage improvements to prevent erosion during monsoon season. Up to 10 miles of fencing will also be constructed to exclude grazing cattle from recreational trails and reduce ongoing damage. Across all project areas, this effort in 2026 will result in improvements to 44.2 miles of trail, construction of 17.25 miles of fencing, and treatment of 3,190 acres for fuels management, creating more sustainable and equitable access to public lands. Equally important is the investment in people: 40 New Mexicans per year, ages 16–25, will gain paid employment, training, and certifications while improving their home landscapes. These crews also provide critical capacity to understaffed ranger districts and natural resource departments, helping complete work that would otherwise remain undone.
The Forest Stewards Guild (Guild) is a non-profit organization dating back to 1984, then known as the Forest Trust. Over the past 42 years, the Guild has continued to work with and support rural forested communities across New Mexico. This project aligns with our organizational mission as it has benefits that cross between individuals, communities, and multiple ecosystems and natural resources. Since its inception in the late 1990s, the Guild’s Forest Stewards Youth Corps (FSYC) program has employed over 1000 youth, achieved 320,000+ hours of conservation service and education, awarded over 240 hours of college credit, and invested over $8 million in rural New Mexico communities. On-the-ground work accomplished includes trail construction, wildlife monitoring, forest thinning, recreation site improvement, and assistance with prescribed fire operations. Corps members have gone on to build successful careers in natural resource management and become strong leaders in their communities. The Guild has successfully completed over 18 previous contracts with the New Mexico YCC Commission. The Guild completed the specified work projects and trainings, maintained open lines of communication with YCC staff, submitted timely reimbursement requests, and appropriately submitted in-kind documentation forms. Not only does the Guild have over 27 years of experience with youth conservation, we also have extensive experience working with the State of New Mexico, the New Mexico Association of Counties, and federal land management agencies like the USDA Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. For over 18 years, the Guild has been the fiscal agent for the Forest Health Initiative run by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department-Forestry Division. We also have worked on several forest restoration planning and implementation projects with the NM State Land Office across thousands of acres. With the USDA Forest Service and Jemez Pueblo, separate from our YCC-related work, the Guild has successfully completed a wide array of grants and agreements over the years. This work has included planning, monitoring, forest management and prescribed fire treatments.