Volunteers Join Forces with the Shawnee

National Forest to Accomplish Trail Projects

By: Jennifer Sublett

Southern Illinois volunteers from various agencies and backgrounds joined forces with the Shawnee National Forest to accomplish trail projects on national forest land this fall. Five trail clinics provided instruction on how to build basic and advanced trail and trail features, work with pack stock to haul gravel and rehabilitate and re-handle trail tools.

Each clinic provided volunteers with a glimpse of the many methods used to maintain and construct sustainable trails throughout the Forest. These volunteers, in turn, made improvements and had a profound impact in their national forest.

Volunteers ranged from high school groups to equestrians and provided them an opportunity to work towards a common goal. Specifically, representatives from the following groups could be seen cutting a new piece of trail, installing steps made of rock or fashioning a retaining wall from logs carried into the site: Saluki Volunteer Corps, Murphysboro Key Club, Shawnee Back Country Horseman, Sierra Club, Shawnee Mountain Bike Association, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIU-C) Geography Club, SIU-C Men of Vision, SIU-C Underground Arts, SIU-C Leadership Engineering Student program, Master Trail Steward Trails Training Course students and individuals from the surrounding communities. In addition, AmeriCorps, a national volunteer organization, participated in a few of these trail clinics.

On Make-A-Difference Day, October 25, five area organizations provided support and assistance on projects on Cove Hollow Trail.

The result of these successful trail clinics was the completion of targeted sections of the Cove Hollow Trail (adopted by the Shawnee Mountain Bike Association), the installation of fencing and signage to direct visitors safely through the canyon on Little Grand Canyon Trail (adopted by the SIU-C Geography Club), the transportation of gravel to project sites within the Bald Knob Wilderness and the re-handling and sharpening of tools essential for trail building.

Volunteer programs are essential for the Shawnee National Forest to walk the talk for sustainability while connecting citizens to the land.