I've been an outdoor person all my life,
and done a lot of hiking.
While I was hiking over the years,
I've noticed that a lot of trail signs are missing,
they're old and you couldn't read them anymore.
And people I hiked with would often say,
"You know, the Forest Service
needs to put up some new trail signs."
And I found out it wasn't that easy with the Forest Service,
because they're pretty limited on their staff,
and they just don't have the money to buy signs.
So, I offered my services to help make them.
NARRATOR: Dan Finn is a volunteer
for the Mount Adams Ranger District.
[door clacking]
Several days a week, he comes to the woodworking shop
at the ranger station to make trail signs.
DAN: I've never done a lot of woodworking.
I struggled a little bit with it at first,
but in time why, it came to me.
[saw whirling]
[saw buzzing]
Unfortunately, I had a mild stroke,
but I was still able to make the signs.
[planer buzzing]
You can't always tell, by looking at the piece of wood,
that it'll make a good sign.
The oak lasts quite a while.
[tape measure snaps]
NARRATOR: Many signs today are carved
with the aid of a computer.
Dan uses an old-fashioned router tool.
This is the router table.
It's an older piece of equipment, [laughs]
and parts are kinda hard to find.
So, we've got three different sizes we can make.
[router whirling]
Some of the simple signs probably takes a couple of hours,
but some of the more extensive ones,
it takes well, up to a day, maybe a day and a half.
[router buzzing]
[hand sweeping]
Well, little fuzzy, but I'll put that through the planer,
and it'll smooth it right up.
NARRATOR: Dan makes two kinds of signs,
the iconic brown signs with the yellow lettering,
and signs that are specific to designated wilderness areas.
Signs that we make for the designated wilderness,
we usually have them kind of a natural look,
kinda scarfed on the edges.
And posts that we've made out of cedar,
that's what these are here,
'cause in the old days,
they would cut the signs out with an ax.
That's why the wilderness signs are kinda scarfed,
and cut along the edges
to make them look like they're hand-hewn.
If when I finish them, they don't look right,
I'll take them back in
and try to correct whatever I feel is wrong.
NARRATOR: Over the past few years,
Dan has made some 300 trail signs.
They can be seen across the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
A lot of these signs that I make,
you can't tell how old they are.
I mean, you could put them up next to one
that's been there for many, many years,
and it looks the same.
You know, some people have said, "They're just out there
in the weather and hanging on a tree.
What does that matter?"
But I guess it matters to me. I wanna make sure it's right.
I'm hoping that the ones I make'll be there for a long time.
The wilderness has given me a lot,
and this is one small way I can give a little back.