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-                       Volunteer spotlight: Roger Robidoux, White Mountain NF                  

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**Volunteer spotlight: Roger Robidoux, White Mountain NF**

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*NEW HAMPSHIRE*—Seeing his youthful vigor, you would never guess that White Mountain National Forest volunteer Roger Robidoux is 75 years old. Part of his secret are those hours he spends each week helping visitors on the forest.

“When you retire, it’s so important to find an avenue to keep your mind going and your body going, too,” Robidoux said.

As a volunteer for the White Mountain National Forest’s Visitor Information Services branch, Robidoux spends most of his volunteer hours helping hikers stay safe while out on the trails. When not working with visitors, he can be found at the forest’s woodworking shop where he and a fellow volunteer coworker named Al make trail signs to guide hikers and other visitors.

Robidoux is a lifelong hiker who has been volunteering at the forest for about four years. He loves his volunteer gig. He works Wednesdays at the woodworking shop and Thursdays at Lincoln Woods, about 14 hours a week in all. Sometimes he volunteers for other work.

The Lincoln Woods trailhead, where he spends many of his volunteer hours, connects hikers to a 31-mile trail with 9,000 feet of elevation change. It is considered one of the top 10 hikes in the country, Robidoux said. It is not for beginners.

In fact, Robidoux’s desire to volunteer was first sparked when he was hiking at Lincoln Woods with his son, also an avid hiker and a survival specialist with the military. When Robidoux would meet other hikers on the trail who were obviously unprepared for the arduous hike, he’d occasionally ask where they were from. His son suggested he become a volunteer on the national forest. The rest is history.

“I always volunteered in some way or form my whole life,” Robidoux said. “But I always wanted to do something for the Forest Service. I love the White Mountains here and I love the woods, so it was a perfect place for me to be in my retirement.”

Robidoux volunteers in part because he wants to keep other hikers safe.

“I enjoy people, and I enjoy helping people, specifically the hikers,” he said. For Robidoux, helping hikers begins by asking them a series of questions: “Where are you going? What’s your plan? And from that kind of thing, we can determine their knowledge base.”

Robidoux’s questioning technique identifies hikers who might be heading out without the right gear and supplies for the hike they’ve planned, giving him a chance to intervene before they end up in an unsafe situation.

“We have a term for hikers that don’t know what they’re doing,” he said. “We call them ‘Oh, Wow!’ moments. You ask somebody where they’re headed, and they tell you, and you look at what they’re wearing and stuff. And in your own mind you go, ‘Oh, wow!’” he laughed.

Robidoux looks forward every week to his volunteer days. He even shifts his doctor and other appointments around his volunteer hours, he said.

For Robidoux, volunteering is ultimately about finding rewards in giving to others. “You need to enjoy people, and you need to want to help them,” he said. “It really makes it fulfilling to do that. Every day, I feel good about myself.”

“One of the things I like about the national forest, too, is that we get to hike a lot, and that’s another thing that keeps you healthy.” 

**Monday, April 1, 2024**