Spring Lady Slipper Award

Introducing Charly Aurelia, our Spring Lady Slipper Award recipient! Charlie has been involved with Conserving Carolina for about a year and a half, primarily with our Rock Crushers trails crew. Charlie is not new to the trails world, previously working as a Trails Coordinator himself and working with Pisgah Area Sorba on trails in the area. His background was as a wilderness paramedic and firefighter, and he has always led a life of service. He found Conserving Carolina because of a love of one of our highly recognized trails, Weed Patch Mountain and he wanted to continue his love of service with the opportunity to work with people and the land community. He has become an amazing asset to our team with impeccable trail work, willingness to help with special projects that arise, and always sharing his skills and knowledge with others.

The health of the land community is important to Charly. As a Master Leave No Trace Educator, he values the opportunity to directly shape the way humans interact with the land so that these areas can be saved and explored for the future. He shared that trails can be thought of as communication, the intermediary between people and the land.

When asked what his favorite volunteer experience with our trails crew was, Charly said that he just enjoyed showing up and doing the work having the ability to impact how people use the land. He sees this time as a “Second Renaissance” of trails, with so much potential for new exciting trails being built by Conserving Carolina. He expressed how thankful he is for Conserving Carolina’s commitment to continuing to create sustainable ways to engage people in these beautiful spaces.

When he’s not swinging tools with our trails crew, you can find Charly hiking, backpacking, or even bike-packing! Regardless of where you find him though, you’ll likely find him teaching someone a new skill that “leads to the enjoyment of life.” We appreciate Charly and his continued dedication to Conserving Carolina and the Rock Crushers!