2007.03.03: March 3, 2007: Headlines: COS - Armenia: Conservation: Environment: Asheville Citizen-Times: Armenia RPCV Julie Judkins promotes Appalachian Trail Conservancy
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2007.03.03: March 3, 2007: Headlines: COS - Armenia: Conservation: Environment: Asheville Citizen-Times: Armenia RPCV Julie Judkins promotes Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Armenia RPCV Julie Judkins promotes Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Judkins graduated from N.C. State University with a degree in communications but took her first job with the Peace Corps in Armenia, where she hiked across the country to raise environmental awareness. She later worked for Outward Bound in Florida before taking a job with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Judkins works in the Asheville office of the ATC to protect the plants along the trail and control non-native invasive species, like kudzu, Oriental bittersweet and multiflora roses. Judkins also advocates for the trail, preaching Leave No Trace ethics to trailblazers and hosting events to promote the trail, like last week's Mountain Sports Festival panel that featured four panelists who shared their stories of thru-hiking the trail.
Armenia RPCV Julie Judkins promotes Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Trail advocate protects, conserves and promotes AT
by Lindsay Nash
published March 3, 2007 12:15 am
Caption: Julie Judkins, shown here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park working with forest health monitoring, is a resource program manager with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Name: Julie Judkins.
Age: 30.
Residence: Montford.
Family: Boyfriend David Legler, an instructor with Camp Whitson, a wilderness camp for incarcerated youths in Swannanoa.
Occupation: Resource program manager with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, a West Virginia-based nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of the 2,175-mile Appalachian Trail, the popular trail from Georgia to Maine that thru-hikers are starting to hit this month.
Job description: Judkins works in the Asheville office of the ATC to protect the plants along the trail and control non-native invasive species, like kudzu, Oriental bittersweet and multiflora roses.
Judkins also advocates for the trail, preaching Leave No Trace ethics to trailblazers and hosting events to promote the trail, like last week's Mountain Sports Festival panel that featured four panelists who shared their stories of thru-hiking the trail.
Along with trail promotion, she also works with education and outreach programs to add conservation curriculum to area schools and to set up partnerships with trail towns like Hot Springs.
"It's a way to open up communication with the towns that attract hikers and bring economic value to the town," she said. "We want to elevate the value of natural resources in those areas as a conservation effort."
Background/experience: Judkins graduated from N.C. State University with a degree in communications but took her first job with the Peace Corps in Armenia, where she hiked across the country to raise environmental awareness. She later worked for Outward Bound in Florida before taking a job with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Salary range: $25,000 to $35,000.
Favorite part of job: Working with volunteers, she said. (There are about 5,500 volunteers who work on the trail from Georgia to Maine.)
"They're all really different and unique, and it's fun being out there with them," she said.
Least favorite: Explaining to callers the best parts of the trail to go to, she said, and entering data into the databases.
Favorite outdoor activity: Hiking.
Favorite outdoor spot in WNC: Max Patch, a bald with a 360-degree view that sits right along the AT.
Sign up to volunteer or learn more: Visit www.appalachiantrail.org.
Each Saturday, the Citizen-Times profiles local people working in outdoor careers in 9 to 5: Outside. If there is someone with an outdoor career you would like to see profiled, contact Lindsay Nash at lnash@CITIZEN-TIMES.com or Karen Chávez at kchavez@CITIZEN-TIMES.com
PHOTOS: Special to the Citizen-Times.
Julie Judkins.jpg. Julie Judkins, shown here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park working with forest health monitoring, is a resource program manager with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
Julie Judkins2.jpg. Julie Judkins, right, with her friend Jaclyn Bernard, enjoy the views at Max Patch, which sits along the Appalachian Trail, a trail Judkins works to protect and promote.
Lindsay Nash
Contact Lindsay Nash at 828-232-5953, via e-mail at lnash@gannett.com
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: March, 2007; Peace Corps Armenia; Directory of Armenia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Armenia RPCVs; Conservation; Environment; North Carolina
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Story Source: Asheville Citizen-Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Armenia; Conservation; Environment
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