The Green Mountain Club
is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to preserving and protecting Vermont's Long Trail
The Long Trail is a hiking trail located in Vermont, running the length of the state. It is the oldest long-distance trail in the United States, constructed between 1910 and 1930 by the Green Mountain Club...
- America's first long-distance hiking trail which stretches from Massachusetts to the Canadian border along Vermont's high ridgeline. Created in 1910 with a mission "make the Vermont mountains play a larger part in the life of the people by protecting and maintaining the Long Trail system and fostering, through education, the stewardship of Vermont's hiking trails and mountains", the club completed the Long Trail in 1930. With 10,000 members, the club remains responsible for the trail, and is recognized by the state legislature
The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself...
as "the founder, sponsor, defender, and protector" of the Long Trail System.
The Club's advocacy and education efforts also protect Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
's many other hiking trails. Through its land protection program in northern Vermont, the Club has protected almost 80 miles of the Long Trail System, conserved 25,099 acres, and completed 89 land and easement acquisitions since 1986.
The Green Mountain Club maintains the Long Trail in cooperation with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, Appalachian Trail Conservancy
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia...
, and private landowners.
Club chapters, called "sections" — since they maintain sections of the Long Trail and its side trails — are located throughout the state.
In addition to managing the 272 mile Long Trail and its side trails, the Green Mountain Club manages much of the Appalachian Trail through Vermont - both where it colocates with the Long Trail and as the AT goes toward New Hampshire. The club also manages trail in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom region.