Archive for June 30th, 2011

30 Jun

VYCC Gives Faulkner Trail Some TLC

Posted by Julia Carlisle in Vermont.

Nick Sprague of Pomfret and Josh Bentley of Plymouth are working on the Faulkner Trail this summer as part of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

Two separate crews of kids  with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps are giving Woodstock’s Faulkner  Trail some much-needed tender loving care — sweeping, digging, sawing and sweating to bring the easy-going switchback trail to the top of Mt. Tom back to some of its original historically relevant glory. The trail was modelled on the Baden-Baden trails in Germany used to help restore health through easy walking.

 I found the VYCC kids  today pulling leaves out of drainages, clearing  out roots, digging up rocks, securing stone steps and generally figuring out how to make the trail more pleasant, easier-going and safer.

One of the more interesting pieces of this summer’s VYCC work, which was going on today, is maintenance of the view. As locals may have noticed, over the years the broad sweeping views  have become  obstructed by newly rooted trees or those whose branches have grown taller. Back in the day, creation of vistas was as important as the trail itself.
 
One VYCC crew was on a trail just below the top of Mt. Tom shaking small trees while another crew person stood at the top and told them whether that tree was getting in the way of the Woodstock Village view. The crew below then flagged the small saplings for trimming with theirhand saws. 

This Woodstock-area VYCC crew member helps open up the view at the top of Mt. Tom. These high school students get paid for their work.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

VYCC Crew Chief Kat Coons leads a group of WUHS students including Reid Langona who takes a mid-morning break against a tree

 
According to Crew Chief Kat Coons, the  Vermont Youth Conservation Corps  has one crew on Mt. Tom that is actually “roving” all over Vermont helping with trail maintenance. The second VYCC crew is a “day crew” affiliated with Woodstock Union High School and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park;  local kids on loan so-to-speak for the work required on the Faulkner Trail. The trail is part of town property sitting adjacent to the National Park on land donated by Billings family to the Town of Woodstock. The trailhead is located at the back of the Faulkner Park area on Mountain Avenue.

This summer’s work is a follow-up to a major re-do of hand rail cables along steep parts of the trail . The Billings Park Commission paid some $23,000 last year to get that work done.

I can report that already the trail has vastly improved. Thank VYCC kids for doing such good work. It’s been a long-time coming!

Another partner on this project is the Rivers and Trails Program, affiliated with the National Park here in Woodstockt, which provides assistance to organizations wanting to work together for common conservation goals. One of the Vermont/New Hampshire leaders of the Rivers and Trails Program,  Jennifer Waite,  was on the trail today helping the kids on the Faulkner Trail project.