Monday September, 9th 2024 | Will Fraser
Clean Air Council recently held a trail maintenance workshop as part of our work with the Circuit Trails Maintenance Committee. The workshop was funded by We Conserve PA and DCNR was held at Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center and offered community members, volunteers, and trail managers the opportunity to learn from local, regional, and national trail experts including Friends of the Wissahickon, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Morris County Parks Commission, National Park Service, and Appalachian Mountain Club.
The full day workshop was split into a morning classroom session and afternoon hands-on field session. Three specific maintenance topics were identified by a regional trail manager survey prior to the workshop: volunteer management, stormwater management, and vegetation management. Attendees learned basics on volunteer management including recruiting, training, and retaining volunteers and how to set up a volunteer day from start to finish including a breakdown in the types of tools used for trail maintenance. Workshop attendees learned about identifying common native and invasive plants and how to properly remove invasive plants with gloves and shears provided to them as part of the workshop. Participants also gained an understanding of ways in which stormwater can affect trails and learned how to identify stormwater runoff erosion and different solutions to prevent stormwater damage.
In addition to the workshop offering education on specific trail maintenance topics it also provided the opportunity for community members, trail managers and government and municipal partners to further connect on trail maintenance issues. Built-in breaks during the workshop allowed participants to discuss trail maintenance challenges and successes and share lessons learned from their experience while hearing from other attendees.
66tyThank you to We Conserve PA and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for funding this workshop and to the speakers who brought their passion, skills, and expertise to the workshop. A special acknowledgement to Friends of the Wissahickon and Pennsylvania Recreation and Park Society for helping plan and organize the workshop and to Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center for hosting.
