2012 National Trails Fund Projects

Appalachian Mountain Club

Location: North Chatham, NH

About: The New Hampshire Chapter began as the Merrimack Valley Chapter. We’re the second largest AMC chapter with over 10,000 members. Our well-trained and dedicated leaders offer hundreds of trips each year from hiking and paddling to skiing, nature walks, and climbing.

Project and Use of NTF: This project is located in the White Mountain National Forest and along AMC maintained trails. Approximately 50 volunteers will be involved with this project. Baldface Royce Range exhibits significant erosion, trail widening, and vegetative impact. We will use this funding to purchase and airlift bog bridge materials to the sites; we will contribute a minimum of 5 week-long volunteer trail crews to build bog bridges, harden the treadway and construct drainage to prevent erosion.

Butler Outdoor Club

Location: Portersville, PA

About: The Butler Outdoor Club promotes outdoor education and provides year-round outdoor activities in Western PA and surrounding areas. These activities are geared for all levels and are designed to provide recreation and foster a better understanding and responsible use of the outdoors.

Project and Use of NTF: The BOC will install 26 signs over 29 miles on the North Country Trail. These signs will show mileage between points, road access and points of interest. Material will be a Corian-type solid surface or a non-porous laminate; both of which allow for the easy removal of graffiti.

Colorado Mountain Club

Location: Golden, CO

About: An organization devoted to connecting those who love the Colorado Rockies or who study or seek recreation in them.

Project and Use of NTF: Colorado Mountain Club volunteers originally constructed the Beaver Brook Trail in 1918. In 2012, we will perform trail maintenance on this historic 8.75 mile trail, repairing tread and signage for the safety and enjoyment of thousands of locals and metropolitan area residents. This project is in celebration of our centennial anniversary and is a partnership with Denver Mountain Parks. The project is designed to maintain one of the most popular hiking trails in the Denver metro area, located in Genesee Park, Denver Mountain Park’s largest and oldest mountain park.

Florida Trail Association

Location: Crawfordville, FL

About: Our association provides a place for hikers to gather and enjoy each other’s company in the great outdoors while serving the public through their trail work.

Project and Use of NTF: Florida Trail Association volunteers will replace 350 feet of hazardous elevated boardwalk to mitigate the impacts to a tidal wetland along the Florida National Scenic Trail in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Storm surges have destroyed the existing boardwalk rendering the trail virtually impassable except at low tide.

Friends of Lake Barkley

Location: Cadiz, KY

About: The Friends of Lake Barkley State Resort Park is a non-profit organization that supports the park in fulfilling and furthering the mission of the Kentucky Department of Parks through community involvement, volunteerism and fund-raising. And…we have fun while doing it!

Project and Use of NTF: Lake Barkley State Resort Park contains nine miles of hiking trails through 3700 acres of forested area adjacent to one of the largest man-made flood control lakes. The majority of these trails were constructed over 30 years ago and since that time the water levels have increased and impacted our trails. The goals of this project are to improve the LBSRP trail system and equip the Friends of Lake Barkley with the necessary tools to maintain trails. This will be accomplished through erosion control projects, invasive plant removal, habitat restoration, visitor education, and tool acquisitions.

Newton Marasco Foundation

Location: Purceville, VA

About:The Newton Marasco Foundation (NMF) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire responsible environmental stewardship. NMF designs innovative programs that foster learning, appreciation and caring for our natural environment.

Project and Use of NTF: This project will maintain a one-mile hiking trail and make 15 educational field kits available to student and youth hikers. The goal is to teach youth stewards about the role a properly maintained trail plays in environmental stewardship; support trail maintenance; promote hiking for exercise, education, and enjoyment; and encourage conservation and protection of this 10-acre old forest growth with a watershed that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.

Pine Mountain Trail Conference

Location: Burch Knob, KY

About:Their mission is to promote, construct, and manage a continuous hiking trail, with related spur, connector, and access trails, to be called the Pine Mountain Trail, and to conserve the natural enviornment of the Trail and its adjacent lands.

Project and Use of NTF: Construction of a durable over-night shared hiking shelter using volunteer labor, donated construction materials, and on-site resources. A shelter that will be seen as an accomplishment of community effort and a source of pride as we focus interest on hiking, health, and the beauty of our Pine Mountain Trail.

Starflower Experiences

Location: Huntington, NY

About:Starflower Experiences, Inc. is a local not-for-profit educational organization that offers programs and experiences to help people understand, appreciated, and live more in harmony with earth’s life systems.

Project and Use of NTF: Berkeley Jackson County Park is used by many local people, yet there has also been considerable abuse. Our goal is to replace and/or add to water bars and steps in two major sections of trail in the western end of Berkeley Jackson County Park as well as to paint over the unauthorized marks on trees in as much of the park as we can get to in one day. The intent is to reduce the impacts of erosion and improve the experience for users of this park. In addition, by working with the local chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club we will have some trail experts train our volunteers in trail repair. We expect to have at least one local Boy Scout troop involved so that, once trained, they can be ‘expert’ volunteers to call on in the future.

Trails4All

Location: Los Angeles, CA

About:Trails4All is a non-profit organization dedicated to the creation, restoration and preservation of trails and open space throughout Southern California.

Project and Use of NTF: As an added component of our existing Partnerships4Trails environmental youth leadership program, we would like to equip and train special teams of volunteers to tackle the graffiti on and around our trails. In particular, we’d like to focus on the graffiti on rocks and boulders in the hard to reach back country.

Wilderness International Inc.

Location: Post Falls, ID

About:Wilderness International exists to encourage everyone to experience, enjoy, and care for God’s amazing creation.

Project and Use of NTF: This project is to finish installing / repairing natural stone steps, ultimately consolidating a series of braided social trails into a major, sustainable “Loop-Trail”. The steps are on a very steep section of trail inside a very popular park not currently safe for general hikers.

Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park

Location: Wilton, NY

About:The Wilton Wildlife Preserve & Park is dedicated to conservation, education, and recreation. The protected land base, which encompasses ecologically significant habitats, rare plant communities, endangered and threatened wildlife, and public trails, is at the heart of all three. The organization was founded on the premise of balancing people and habitat, a preserve and a park.

Project and Use of NTF: The creation of a new trail in the recently-acquired Frawley Parcel will connect the trail system on two protected parcels and add over two miles to the trail system, a key piece to furthering the goal of linking the trails on all parcels, creating a long-trail from north to south..