Military Assists the Wayne National Forest

Two major projects on the Wayne were accomplished with the help of the US Army Reserve.

The Wayne National Forest found a new partner that brings a lot of muscle to the table - literally. The US Army Reserve 779th Engineering Company came on board as a new partner and took on two monumental tasks.

The Army Reserve had been looking for a real-world training area for their equipment operators. The Wayne National Forest, as with most forests, was looking for ways to accomplish more tasks with lower budgets each year. Although they were neighbors, neither had given much thought to what they could offer each other.

Information sharing finally paid off when Forest Technician Pam Meyer had a conversation with Robin Riggs, former SSS and Army Reservist with the 779th Engineering Company. After relaying information about the possibility of partnering with Army units to accomplish tasks, Riggs stated that her unit was looking for real world experience.

Meyer then sent an email to the Commander of the 779th and the meeting between the parties was set. After defining his unit's capabilities, LT Campbell asked if we would have any jobs that they might be able to assist us with. They would supply the people, equipment, supervision, and troop transportation. We would need to bring supplies, materials, and fuel. After the Interagency Agreement was in place, the first two tasks began.

The first task was an illegal dump that, according to local accounts, had been on the Forest for 60 years or more. The dump also flowed over onto private land owned by an absentee owner. The Forest contacted the owner and obtained permission to access his land to remove the dump from his property also.

During that time, the Forest met with several local law enforcement agencies to target any new dumping at the site. From that effort, approximately 35 new cases were prosecuted. Days before the cleanup effort, the Forest spoke with local residents and landowners to inform them of the dump removal.

Several residents recalled the dump being burned over the years "when the trash would get too high." Other comments included thank you and promises to protect the work that the Forest had done.

The dump was adjacent to the North Country National Scenic Trail and an eyesore for the Marietta, Ohio, section. The runoff from the dump emptied into the Little Muskingum River. The Little Muskingum River is one of the five cleanest rivers in Ohio. In their Forest Plan, the Wayne said they would protect the Little Muskingum River.

As the cleanup effort began, the Forest had no idea what they were undertaking. By all estimates, the trash was 40-50 tons with many tires strewn throughout. When the excavator was removing the first layer, it was like a spring. All of the layers underneath expanded with the release of the weight of the top layer. Each time another layer was removed, more layers would appear.

By the end of the first day, it became apparent that this site had been severely underestimated. By the end of the first day, the Forest had filled all of the rolloff dumpsters that had been ordered. We had also removed 45 tires. By the end of the weekend, we had removed 75 tires and 60 tons of trash.

The second work weekend on this site occurred in October. The dump cleanup crew was in full swing. With six rolloff dumpsters on hand and a semi trailer provided by the Ohio EPA for tires, we were ready to make progress. At the close of the first day, it was apparent that we were going to be close to filling our rolloffs again.

Waste Management came through with a container switch-out on a Sunday morning. They had seen what we were doing and wanted to help however they could. By the end of the second work day, we had come close to accomplishing this huge task. Two small areas of trash remain and a few loose tires. After that, it's just stone placement and time for the land to heal itself. All but the last can be scheduled. Our part will occur in March.

All in all, we removed approximately 160 tons of trash and over 400 tires. (We lost count when we got the human chain working well.) We also were able to repair a trailhead access road, protect a watershed, work across boundaries with our neighbors, and find a new partner.

By the end of both of these projects, I had been approached by at least four of the neighbors. They shook each of our hands and thanked all of us for our work at the site. There were also many promises of protecting what we had done. The Army security detail that spent the night at the dump site said that a runner had come past them on the trail early in the morning and yelled out "thank you for cleaning up that mess" as she passed.

The second task was the reconstruction of a roadbed and two culvert replacements on the horse trailhead access road. The road was marked with potholes from recent failures of the culverts. At the same time, we had to compact and establish a new surface for the road. We decided that this was also an opportune time to add new gravel and compact that into place in the parking area.

By the end of the first weekend, the Reservists had gained volumes of real world experience, with many new Reservists being trained on equipment that they had never operated previously. They also faced the challenges of any new project: new environment, new tasks, changing tactics as necessary, and new strategies.

With the conclusion of these two projects, we were happy to learn that we now have more of the Army Reserve Battalion planning to join our efforts. We met with Major Brierton of the 463rd Engineer Battalion. He thanked us for working with the Company so well and offered us even more capabilities: vertical construction, bridge building and inspection, demolitions, security, and communications. We have been working with the 463rd to create an MOU. They are excited and happy to partner with us since we are in their local community.

To this point, we have been able to save the Forest Service over $56,000. With the projects planned throughout 2009, savings should increase to over $100,000. Since these are all projects that may not have been completed without this partnership, we are excited about what the future may hold.