Our Stories
2025 NCTA Volunteer Awards: Trail Maintainer
This award is presented to volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional dedication or achievements in maintaining or restoring pre-existing North Country Trail segments.
Danny Austin
Danny has demonstrated unwavering dedication to the North Country Trail for more than 15 years. With the NCTA Western Michigan Chapter, he serves as a Trail Adopter for multiple segments. He is also chairman of the Chapter’s Trail Committee, playing a critical leadership role by organizing meetings, training new adopters, and ensuring sawyer certification and safety. As a sawyer himself, Danny sets the standard for excellence in trail stewardship, and continues to be an invaluable asset.
Lisa Bertolasio
Lisa has been a member of the NCTA Wampum Chapter since 2015. She drives an hour and a half one-way to maintain two sections she adopted in Ohio. She is the Chapter’s Trail Adopter Coordinator, assessing trail needs, scheduling workdays, and ensuring maintainers are trained and equipped. Because she is organized, thoughtful, and enthusiastic, Lisa’s service is in high demand across the Chapter – particularly the Landowners Relations Committee. She also leads hikes and strives to attract new hikers and volunteers. She handles many Chapter communications, volunteers her time for community events, and ultimately, embodies the spirit of the North Country Trail.
Stephen Kesler
Stephen has become a constant presence at NCTA Chief Noonday Chapter workdays. Whether he’s eradicating invasive species, helping to build puncheon, or pushing a DR mower through thick brush, Stephen goes above and beyond. He’s been a Trail Adopter for a three-mile wooded section for more than three years. When he’s not maintaining trail, Stephen is volunteering with fellow veterans and others who are receiving cochlear implants for hearing loss.
Tim and Nancy Van Nest
Tim and Nancy are Trail Adopters with the NCTA Western Michigan Chapter who have been maintaining a four-mile segment for more than a decade. They’re a certified sawyer and swamper team, regularly participate in workdays, then volunteer wherever else they think they can help. Thanks to their skills and knowledge, the Chapter has been able to complete many significant projects, from boardwalks to bridges to reroutes. Tim and Nancy work tirelessly to make the North Country Trail safe and accessible for everyone.
Chris Whitsel
Chris has maintained the North Country Trail with the NCTA Dakota Prairie Chapter for more than eight years. He mows, clears trail, and updates signage. He steps up when others cannot. In the last several years, Chris has coordinated maintenance of an 18-mile segment. He communicates and troubleshoots effectively, trains patiently, and monitors the trail closely. He also leads hikes and promotes the trail in any way he can.
Learn more about how the you can honor NCTA volunteers for their service on and for the North Country National Scenic Trail, and consider a nomination at northcountrytrail.org/volunteer-awards.
