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Volunteers Build Two Footbridges on Great Meadows NWR River Trail
Northeast Region, October 30, 2004
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On October 30, 2004, a group of about 40 volunteers from the Town of Carlisle met for the second time in two weeks to construct a footbridge on the River Trail at Great Meadows NWR. This was an example of collaboration at its best between US Fish and Wildlife Refuge staff and local citizens. When the FWS purchased the O'Rourke property in the Town of Carlisle, with the active support of town citizens and officials, the FWS made a commitment to allow the nature trails on the property to remain open if they were maintained by the Carlisle Trails Committee. The River Trail, which connects to Town of Carlisle conservation property at both the north and south end of the trail, travels along the Concord River. At times impassable because it is in the river's floodplain, there are other times when wet spots on the trail exist even when the rest of the trail is dry. It had been a dream of the Carlisle Trails Committee to build footbridges on two of the wet spots along the trail. That dream became a reality when Project Leader Libby Herland joined the refuge staff in 2003 and met with the Trails Committee members. Libby secured $5,000 in challenge grant funds, which were matched by the volunteer labors of over 40 town citizens and the town Department of Public Works. Trail members designed and built two boardwalks in two weekends with materials purchased by the FWS. The footbridges reduce impacts to wetlands that were impacted by trail walkers, and they enable the River Trail to be more accessible for greater portions of the year. This project generated a tremendous amount of excitement and pride in the town, and created a lot of goodwill for the Great Meadows NWR.

Contact Info: Jennifer Lapis, (413) 253-8303, jennifer_lapis@fws.gov



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