Kat Ergil grew up a couple of hours from the Adirondacks—a wilderness mountain range in upstate New York—but she was 18 before she visited them. “I lived near a lake and state parks which I often swam in and visited—New York has some great state parks—but bigger public lands weren’t on my radar,” she says. It was a position with AmeriCorps at the NorthWoods Stewardship Center in northeast Vermont that she says really introduced her to federal public lands and the many opportunities they offered.
“I had a position as an outdoor educator for local kids,” she says. “It was a wonderful way to come into outdoor work. The kids were so excited to learn about everything and so was I!” To this day, she carries lessons learned during this time with her: “It was a different group of kids every week, while the counselors did the same things. But I saw from the kids that there were always new things to notice and that things were always changing. I try to keep that with me,” she says.
It was while at the NorthWoods Stewardship Center that Kat met people who had been on Forest Service trail crews. “Hearing about the jobs that they once had made me curious about it,” she says. These friends helped her submit applications to National Forests across the country. Despite still having what she describes as “limited” experience in the outdoors, Kat got an interview with the BTNF’s Pinedale District, and was offered a job. “I feel lucky to have come across people—first at the center and then in the BTNF—who were stoked to teach someone who didn’t know about recreating in outdoor spaces how to do it. They could have let me figure it out on my own, but were really stoked to teach me.”
Kat enjoyed being a wilderness ranger on the Pinedale District for the last three years, and is happy to continue her work on the BTNF with the Forest Corps.
Favorite trail tool: “The Silky Katanaboy is just the best. You can clear small things with it and it is fun to see what big things you can cut with it too.”
Favorite pieces of backpacking gear: “I have a little coffee maker that I bring with me. It’s better than having to drink instant coffee while in the backcountry. I also bring a small watercolor set—it is a lovely thing to do after a long day.”