The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is protected by a corridor of public lands that preserves the Trail experience. The “corridor" is the way we refer to the greenway of publicly owned and easement lands that surround the footpath. In addition to providing a buffer zone of natural undeveloped lands for the Trail, the corridor is also a natural haven for a wealth of plant and animal species, and includes significant cultural resources including native and civil war sites.

Run by ATC and funded in large part by the National Park Service, the goal of the Corridor Stewardship Program is to protect this corridor of public lands against degradation and encroachments. Corridor stewardship is encompassed by the three Ms: Monitoring, Maintenance and Mitigation.

Corridor Monitoring and Boundary Maintenance: Corridor monitors are volunteers who watch over A.T. lands. These volunteers function as the “eyes and ears” for their assigned section of A.T. corridor. The corridor is the permanent, protective buffer surrounding the A.T.; the boundary is the edge of the corridor. This property line demarcates where A.T. lands end and adjacent landowners’ properties begin.

Boundary maintainers perform the task of keeping the boundary well-marked and easy to follow both for A.T. volunteers and Trail neighbors. Volunteers can take on both monitoring and maintaining duties, in which case they are called corridor stewards.

Corridor monitoring and boundary maintenance are the first steps towards preventing encroachments, or catching them early enough to resolve them with a minimum of hardship. Find out more about corridor monitoring and boundary maintenance.

Encroachment Mitigation: Encroachment is the use of this land for purposes other than its intended use as a buffer for the Trail. Encroachments can range from dumping of trash, to Off-Road-Vehicle use and damage, to timber theft, and illegal building of structures. When monitoring does uncover encroachments, the Trail club volunteers, ATC, and partner agencies work cooperatively to address the problems. The strategies used to address a problem will depend on its nature and severity. Find out more about Encroachment Mitigation on A.T. lands.

Resources and Forms: Your one-stop shop for corridor stewardship resources, including the official Handbook, access to forms, and useful links.

Experience “life on the edge”: Volunteer

Corridor Stewardship volunteers from 21 of the 30 volunteer Trail clubs between southwest Virginia and Maine make up an elite corps of Trail stewards forming the first line of defense to protect this unique unit of the National Park system.

Whether you are already a Trail maintainer, an A.T. hiker, or just enjoy getting off Trail with a map and compass, this is a great way to give back to the world’s most famous long distance hiking path.

ATC and the National Park Service provide training and support for the volunteers, in large part through the work of an elite boundary crew.

To learn more about corridor stewardship and how to volunteer, please see ATC's Volunteer Database.