Volunteers have been crucial to the development and maintenance of the Foothills Trail, performing such varied services as securing funding,building bridges, repairing flood damage, providing landscaping, and patroling the trail.

After the contractor erected the framework, volunteers installed the decking and railings on the Lower Burnett bridge.

Enumclaw Garden Club has taken on the project of landscaping the entire trail. They have a master plan, and focus on one area at a time.

The Garden Club has also donated memorials and bronze sculpture to the trail.

Volunteers raise funds, contribute plants and labor, while the city provides equipment and maintenance for the trail.

One day when I was riding the trail, I met a group of about 25 people weeding, raking, spreading bark, and doing a thorough cleanup. About half the volunteers were children. I asked one of the men which group they were, and he said they weren't really a group, but were a neighborhood. After President Obama challenged citizens to commit to community service, several families got together and decided the work on the trail would benefit a diverse group of local residents.

The kids were learning about service, but they were also learning about landscaping. I heard one mother asking her young daughter, "Now why do we put the bark down after we weed?" "Why is this tree planted here and not over there?" Which rake works better on the gravel?"

We donated several red oak trees to the trail. At present, the north half of the Enumclaw section is all out in the open, so we are planting deciduous trees to give shade in the summer and let light through in the winter. Color in the fall is an added bonus.