Willie Bittner
Owner, lead designer and trainer
Great Lakes Trailbuilders, LLC
(608) 799-2389
[email protected]
Quick Links
Willie Bittner started working on trails 25 years ago with the Wisconsin DNR and over the years he has worked from coast to coast building trails and teaching the different methods and styles to volunteer groups, conservation corps and state and federal agencies. Willie started Great Lakes Trailbuilders, LLC in 2008 to bring a low impact and environmentally friendly approach to trailbuilding and design to the Midwest. These days Great Lakes Trailbuilders has worked both nationally and internationally, working with all types of user groups. As owner and lead designer, Willie is dedicated to sharing his experiences, engaging users and developing leading edge trails. His projects have taken him from designing new National Parks trails in Patagonia to co-founding WisCorps, Inc. a Wisconsin based Conservation Corps to leading trainings on everything from sustainable trail construction to trail psychology and backcountry rigging.
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Portfolio, Documents, and Certifications
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Trail Type Experience
Detailed Skill Profile
Skill Profile
Upcoming Trainings
No upcoming trainings
Trainings I Provide
I offer trainings for the following skills:
- Construction Specifications
- Corridor Clearing
- Hand-Built Trail Construction
- Mechanized Trail Construction
- Trail Finishwork
- Water Management/Drainage Features
- Water Crossing Structures
- Retaining Walls
- Tread Hardening
- Trailside Structures / Dispersed Recreation
- Decommissioning Trails
- Maintenance Specifications
- Inventory & Assessment
- Corridor Clearing: Power tools
- Corridor clearing: Hand Tools
- Tread Maintenance - Hand tools
- Tread Maintenance - Mechanized Equipment
- Drainage Features/Water Management
- Land Use Plan Alignment
- Define Purpose and Need of Project
- Corridor Planning
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Project Cost Estimation
- Implementation Plan
- Trail Specifications
- Design
- Trail Plans
- Universal Design/ADA Accessibility
- Crew Recruitment
- Crew Management
- Jobsite Safety
- Jobsite Risk Management
- Performance Management
- Field-based Resource Protection
Please contact me for more details on the trainings I offer.
Past Trainings
Stonework Training - Building, shaping, moving
August 20 - 25, 2023
Ely, Minnesota
Join Great Lakes Trailbuilders in building a native stone staircase at the Steger Center just outside of Ely, MN. This partnership will allow participants to learn and enhance technical trail skills with professional trailbuilder Willie Bittner, while immersed in the beautiful and educational environment the Steger Center provides. Over the week participants will learn stone shaping, moving and setting as well as backcountry rigging techniques on a current project at the Center. The training will be held onsite with meals and tent accommodations included.
Member since Apr 2023
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