Emerging Trail Leader Scholarship Recipient

Dave Bingaman

McCall, Idaho, United States

I have been a trail user my whole life, but I didn't know that I wanted to be an advocate until 2008 when the USFS began building bike optimized trails close to my home. I immediately knew that I wanted to be involved with the development of better trails in our area. I was in a place in life where I was looking for a change and got an entry level job with our local USFS trail crew, I was immediately hooked. The opportunities to improve trails was addictive! I became the trail lead for the FS crew in 2012. In 2009 I began volunteering with our local IMBA chapter and participated in many projects. I became the Trail Coordinator for CIMBA in 2013 and organized projects and volunteer work days. Since 2017 I have been working as a project manager and grant writer for the One-Track Mind Foundation (mostly as a volunteer) and CIMBA to develop and build 2 new professionally built non-motorized trail systems in our area and to coordinate major maintenance projects with the FS utilizing conservation crews. Between the 2 groups, I have raised and facilitated the investment of nearly 1.3 million in our local trails in the last 5 years. I have never been able to make a career out of trails but I am obsessed with improving and designing new trails in our area. I would love the opportunity to attend this conference and network with others just getting involved with trail building.