Gary Werner
Volunteer Engaged in Planting Prairies and Rescuing Ancient Savanna Oaks, Ice Age Trail Alliance
Gary Werner served for 29 years first as Chair and then as Executive Director of the Partnership for the National Trails System, a 501c3 nonprofit federation of 35 trail organizations supporting the 30 national scenic and historic trails. He worked with staff from Congress and the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Federal Highway Administration to secure adequate funding, administrative support, and authorities for the National Trails System and the nonprofit organizations that sustain these trails.
A resident of Madison, Wisconsin, Gary worked for 12 years for the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation organizing volunteers, coordinating trail planning and construction projects with the National Park Service, Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources and Transportation, and negotiating right‑of‑way purchases with landowners. Over the past 40 years Gary has organized and led volunteers in a variety of trail construction and maintenance and natural resource preservation projects for the Sierra Club, The Nature Conservancy, the Rails‑to‑Trails Conservancy, American Hiking Society, and the Ice Age Trail Alliance.
Gary has planned, organized, and led prairie, savanna, and woodland restoration projects in southern Wisconsin for 40 years. This work has included helping with or leading collecting of seeds and planting more than 350 acres of prairie at several sites along the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Dane County. He has helped burn prairies, savannas, and oak woodlands for 35 years and has led controlled burns for 25 years. He has extensive experience in suppressing various herbaceous and woody invasive plants in prairies, savannas, and woodlands.
In 2003 Gary helped organize the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council, a 501c3 nonprofit federation of nonprofit organizations, contractors, landowners, Federal, State, and local agencies engaged in prescribed burning of fire-dependent ecosystems. The Fire Council works to increase the amount of land safely burned by educating and training fire practitioners. Gary serves as Chair of the Fire Council’s External Relations Committee.
Gary serves as the Stewardship Committee Chair of the Dane County Chapter of the Ice Age Trail Alliance He is a member of the Prairie Enthusiasts, The Nature Conservancy, the Wilderness Society, National Parks Conservation Association, American Hiking Society, Groundswell Conservancy, Baraboo Range Preservation Association, the Trust for Public Land, and other environmental organizations.