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Volunteers to be Recognized at ATC Biennial Conference

The National Park Service-Appalachian Trail Park Office is seeking the names of Appalachian Trail club volunteers who have worked on the A.T. for more than 25 and more than 50 years. Since 2001, ATPO has recognized long-time A.T. volunteers by presenting Silver Service (25 years) and Golden Service (50 years) awards at ATC’s biennial meetings.

This year’s recognition will be made at the Appalachian Trail Festival 2009, the biennial meeting of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Castleton, Vermont, in July. Years of “active volunteer service” include all time and effort contributed by an individual for the benefit of the Trail, regardless of the location—not just on NPS-acquired lands. Areas of service may include maintenance (Trail work, boundary monitoring, overnight sites), management (local management plans, resource monitoring, Trail assessments), administration (accounting, newsletter), and public service (leading hikes, ridgerunning, outreach).

To submit names, or for more information, contact Pete Irvine (pirvine@fs.fed.us) or Rita Hennessy (Rita_Hennessy@nps.gov), or write the A.T. Park Office—National Park Service, P.O. Box 50, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. The deadline is April 6.

Wednesday Trail Maintenance Crew Sets Club Record

Adapted with permission from The Virginia Hiker, newsletter of the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club
By Tom Brown

On Wednesday, October 15, the Wednesday Trail Maintenance Crew faced one of its biggest challenges and may have set a record in the process. Responding to a report of a large tree across the A.T. near Petite’s Gap, the crew set out with crosscut saws in hand in search of the blowdown. What they found was a daunting challenge: an enormous red oak so large that it would take at least two people to reach around it.

Crew member Joe Chavez was amazed, “I haven’t seen a blowdown that big in the eleven or twelve years I’ve been maintaining the Trail!” He estimated the tree to be about forty inches in diameter— a record-setting blowdown in Joe’s experience.

The tree was completely blocking the Trail. Fortunately, it was on a slope so that on the uphill side of the Trail there was sufficient clearance for hikers to crawl under the tree. Unfortunately, that part of the Trail was in a wilderness area meaning that chain saws were prohibited. Removing the tree would require two cuts using only crosscut saws and a lot of sweat and heavy breathing.

The Wednesday Crew was up to the challenge. There were nine people on the crew that day and everyone took a turn on the saws. After about two hours of steady sawing, the cuts were completed and measured. Joe’s estimate wasn’t far off: the tree’s actual diameter was thirty-six inches. Finally, a section of the tree measuring about five feet in length was rolled off the Trail and once again the A.T. was back to business as usual.

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