SCA Work Crew on SPNHF Lands

The Forest Society was lucky enough to be awarded another Recreational Trails Grant this year, making it the fourth year in a row that we are able to hire a Student Conservation Association (SCA) work crew to tackle trail projects on our lands. The six-person crews do all sorts of work across the state in their year-long commitment to SCA New Hampshire, from conservation projects to outreach to environmental education in local schools. On the 20 day Forest Society hitch, this particular crew started at Cooper Cedar Woods in New Durham, completing a trail relocation and over 200 feet of bog bridging. Cooper Cedar Woods is such an interesting place to take a walk, as the trail skirts a state-threatened (and very prehistoric looking) Atlantic White Cedar swamp, but for years the trail has been a bit confusing to follow and very wet in stretches. Not anymore thanks to the recent efforts of the SCA crew and our land stewards for the property, Dan and Dianne Monahan. The trail is now well-marked and much more accessible, so we hope it will see lots of local use in the future.

Dan & Dianne Monahan @ Cooper Cedar Woods, checking in on the crew

The crew's next stop was Gap Mountain in Troy and Jaffrey. Here they worked on a very steep degraded section of trail that at some time in the past had been fortified by huge creosoted railroad ties. These were all undercut, eroding, or washed out entirely, so the crew had a busy time pulling them out and re-setting them, as well as cutting and peeling new logs to increase the number of steps and reduce the erosion problem here.

Newly reset steps at Gap Mountain (photo: H.Lindquist)

Finally, the crew moved over to Gap Mountain's bigger sister, Mount Monadnock. They worked about half way up the mountain (a good 45 minute hike in with tools) on the Marlboro Trail, creating new stone staircases and creating an elevated walking surface (rustic bog bridges and step stones) on an especially soggy stretch of trail. This was the most challenging project, especially the rock stair work, as there is not much soil to work with and the terrain is extremely steep here. But, true to form, the crew puzzled out the best ways to tackle each problem area and left the area much more hiker-friendly than it started out. Thanks to our 2011 SCA Crew and to all the stewards who checked in on their progress and worked along side them this year! Wonderful job!

Bog bridges and step stones on the Marlboro Trail