Volunteers work to join trails on Cape May NWR and TNC's Hand's Landing Preserve. (Photo by Virginia Rettig, 1/20/07)

Staff and volunteers from Cape May National Wildlife Refuge and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) recently joined forces to extend the refuge's Songbird Trail to loop into a trail in TNC's Hand's Landing Preserve. The two properties are adjacent to each other. About 20 volunteers, including a local 4-H group, spent over 3 hours clearing debris, picking up trash, blazing the trail, and installing new signs. The new project will allow visitors to make a 0.6-mile-long loop through a variety of habitats, including forest, shrub-scrub, and grassland. Several vernal pools are located along the trail as well.