PHeller
Hi folks,
I'm a young guy. 26, from a small town surrounded by big cities. College educated with a degree in Business and another in Environmental Geography. I come from a family of truck drivers and craftsman. Spent most of my life outdoors, playing in the woods. I ride lots of mountain bike, motorcycle, and do my fair share of backpacking and fishing.
Despite knowing the valuable computer aided mapping system called Geographic Information Systems, or GIS; I've not had the enjoyment of sitting in an office all day staring at a computer screen.
For the last year I've been working part time for a land trust, working to plan and develop hiking, biking, and horseback trails for public use. I use the GIS/GPS for mapping out the areas that are most suitable for "sustainable" trails, and help HANDBUILD the trails. The land trust has a good maintenance crew for building small trails, but for parking lots or roads...they get contractors with equipment. I'd prefer if those contractors knew how to build trails...usually they dont.
I'd like to get training not only for this job, but future jobs, in heavy equipment and light excavators. Building trails for horses or hikers, bicycles or OHV (off highway vehicle) is much different than building roads. I'd hope that this forum could point someplace where I can get good training without ripping myself off.